Kemerer takes over top spot at 174 in WIN’s Feb. 3 rankings

Photo: Iowa’s Michael Kemerer (right) scored two takedowns and a reversal en route to beating Penn State’s Mark Hall, 11-6, last Friday night in their 174-pound bout. The victory moved the Hawkeye ahead of the Nittany Lion in WIN’s Feb. 3 rankings.

NEWTON, Iowa — Iowa’s Michael Kemerer, coming off an 11-6 victory over Penn State’s No. 1 Mark Hall last Friday night in Iowa City, has replaced the Nittany Lion as the NCAA’s top 174-pound wrestler, according to WIN Magazine’s Feb. 3, 2020 Rankings, presented by Cliff Keen Athletic.

Kemerer, ranked second a week ago, is now one of three top-ranked wrestlers for the unbeaten Hawkeyes, who remain No. 1 in WIN’s Dual-Team Rankings (10-0) and Tournament Power Index (133 points). Iowa, which features a ranked wrestler at all 10 weights, also has a No. 1-ranked wrestler in 125-pound Spencer Lee and 149-pound Pat Lugo, who returned to the top spot after Oklahoma State’s Boo Lewallen lost to Missouri’s Brock Mauller this past weekend.

Penn State is ranked No. 2 in the Dual Rankings (8-2) and features seven ranked wrestlers for 81 TPI points. The Nittany Lions have top-ranked wrestlers in 141-pound Nick Lee and 165-pound Vincenzo Joseph, who beat Iowa’s No. 2 Alex Marinelli in last weekend’s dual meet.

WIN’s individual rankings are predictions to where wrestles might place at the 2020 NCAA Championships, March 19-21, in Minneapolis, Minn., and WIN’s Tournament Power Index is a prediction of accumulated NCAA points of those ranked wrestlers.

WIN’s TPI point totals are broken down by the following individual rankings: 1st – 20 (16 AA points + 4 advancement points); 2nd – 16 (12+4); 3rd – 13.5 (10+3.5); 4th – 12.5 (9+3.5); 5th – 10 (7+3); 6th – 9 (6+3); 7th – 6.5 (4+2.5); 8th – 5.5 (3+2.5). Additional points for other rankings include: 9th/12th – 2; 13th/16th – 1.5; 17th-20th – 1. TPI points will be lower than the final actual NCAA tournament points because it does not include bonus points.

The other five top-ranked wrestlers remain the same: Wisconsin’s Seth Gross at 133, Northwestern Ryan Deakin at 157, Arizona State’s Zahid Valencia at 184, Ohio State’s Kollin Moore at 197 and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson at heavyweight.

There are 10 newcomers in this week’s rankings: American University’s Cage Curry and Northern Iowa’s Jay Schwarm at 125 pounds; Utah Valley’s Taylor Lamont, Buffalo’s Derek Spann and Kent State’s Tim Rooney at 133 pounds; Central Michigan’s Dresden Simon at 141 pounds; Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Sheets at 157 pounds; and Oklahoma’s Anthony Mantanona, Edinboro’s Jacob Oliver and Pitt’s Gregg Harvey at 174 pounds.

WIN Magazine’s Feb. 3, 2020 Dual Team Rankings

WIN Magazine’s Feb. 3, 2020 Tournament Power Index

WIN Magazine’s Feb. 3, 2020 Individual Rankings

125 pounds

133 pounds                                               

141 pounds

149 pounds           

157 pounds           

165 pounds                                               

174 pounds

184 pounds                                   

197 pounds

Heavyweight