Minnesota edges Iowa & Cornell in WIN’s 2014-15 Preseason TPI & Ranks

Editor’s Note: These rankings are subject to change once schools finalize plans to what weight their wrestlers will compete and/or if their wrestlers redshirt this season. WIN’s next individual rankings will be announced on Nov. 3, 2014.

Sept. 2, 2014

NEWTON, Iowa — Minnesota, which settled for a disappointing second place in last year’s NCAAs after it looked like they could dethrone Penn State for a time during the event, has been picked No. 1 in WIN’s Preseason Tournament Power Index (TPI), which predicts how team will finish in the 2015 NCAAs in St. Louis next March.

The Gophers, who return all but one of their seven All-Americans from last year’s runner-up team, have tallied 76 points, which is based on how many All-American points they could score.

Point totals associated with individual rankings are as followed: 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); 9th/12th – 2; 13th/16th – 1.5; 17th-20th – 1. TPI points will be lower than the final NCAA tournament points because it does not include bonus points.

Among those Minnesota wrestlers ranked in the Top 8 of their weight class are two No. 1s: 157-pound Dylan Ness, a two-time national runner-up (2012, ‘14) and 174-pound Logan Storley. As reported in the Sept. issue of WIN from an interview the Gopher coach J Robinson, Minnesota is looking at a number of weight-class changes would could greatly impact where some of the current starters are ranked and the team-race picture.

Just behind the Gophers and tied for second place are Iowa and Cornell, which finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in 2014. The Hawkeyes feature the most predicted All-Americans (7), but none are ranked No. 1 at their weight class, while the Big Red will be led by 184-pound Gabe Dean, the only man to beat Penn State’s three-time champ Ed Ruth before settling for third place at the Nationals.

Penn State, the four-time defending NCAA team champs, is picked in fifth place, one-half point behind Big Ten-rival Ohio State. Nittany Lion coach Cael Sanderson lost his two champs — Ruth and two-time Hodge Trophy winner David Taylor — but features six predicted All-Americans, including two-time national runner-up Nico Megaludis (125). However, some reports have both Megaludis and true sophomore Zain Retherford (141) redshirting, much limiting the number of potential All-American points PSU would start the year with on paper.

The Buckeyes are expected to earn six All-American honors, including OSU’s three-time champ Logan Stieber (141), who will be reunited with his All-American brother Hunter Stieber (149), who redshirted last winter. Not factored into WIN’s Preseason Rankings because they have yet to wrestle a college varsity match for the Buckeyes: Kyle Snyder, Bo Jordan and Nathan Tomasello. Snyder, for example, would start off the year ranked No. 4 at 197 and would give the Buckeyes enough TPI points to start the year ranked No. 1 ahead of Minnesota.

WIN will announce a separate Dual Team rankings, beginning Dec. 1. WIN’s TPI will be updated in early November once line-ups are set and will continue on a weekly basis through the NCAA Division I qualifying tournaments in early March.

2014-15 WIN’s Preseason Tournament Power Index (TPI)

The following is a breakdown of WIN’s 2014-15 Tournament Power Index. This includes a projection of Top 8 All-American finishers and TPI points each school will score next March in the NCAA tournament … as well as a listing where each school placed in last year’s Nationals, including how many individual champs and All-Americans each school had. Updated TPI rankings will begin on Nov. 3.

WIN’s 2014-15 Individual Rankings

Rk.   Name, School, Year, ’13-14 Record  NCAA Finish

125 pounds