Sept. 7, 2017

NEWTON, Iowa — Defending NCAA Division I champion Penn State is the preseason No. 1 team to start the season according to WIN Magazine’s Preseason Tournament Power Index and Rankings. The Nittany Lions, who return five NCAA champions who are ranked No. 1 to start the 2017-18 season — Hodge Trophy winner (149), Jason Nolf (157), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174) and (184) — are among eight wrestlers ranked in the Top 20 of their weight classes. Other rated Nittany Lions are Corey Keener (16th at 133 and a transfer from Central Michigan), Matt McCutcheon (seventh at 197) and Nick Nevills (fifth at heavyweight). Penn State is expected to be challenged by a pair of fellow programs: Ohio State and Michigan. Both the Buckeyes and Wolverines have seven individuals in the preseason Top 8 according to WIN’s individual rankings. Among Ohio State’s top returning wrestlers are two-time NCAA champion , the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, who just won a second World title, and 2015 NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello, who will drop back down to 125 pounds after at 133 the past two seasons. Also, sophomore Kollin Moore is ranked No. 1 at 197 pounds, while NCAA runner-up Bo Jordan is ranked No. 2 at 174 and 2016 champion Myles Martin is No. 2 at 184. The Buckeyes also got a lift when All-American Joey McKenna — ranked seventh at 141 — transferred from Stanford. Michigan returns three 2017 All-Americans in Stevan Micic (2nd at 133), Logan Massa (third at 165) and Myles Amine (fourth at 174) and bring back three other Wolverine All-Americans who redshirted last season: (fifth at 157) and Dominic Abounader (fourth at 184) and Adam Coon (second at heavyweight). Former Old Dominion All-American Kevin Beazley has transferred to Michigan is rated fourth at 197. 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. Other wrestlers ranked No. 1 at their weights by WIN are defending champion Darian Cruz (125) of Lehigh, national runner-up Seth Gross (133) from South Dakota State and Oklahoma State’s two-time NCAA champ Dean Heil (141). WIN does not include true freshmen in its preseason rankings.

WIN’s 2017-18 Preseason Tournament Power Index (TPI) Rk School (Top 8) TPI Pts

1 Penn State (7) 118

2 Ohio State (7) 111.5

3 Michigan (7) 93

Oklahoma State 4 (5) 75.5

5 Missouri (4) 51.5

6 Arizona State (5) 51

7 Lehigh (4) 50.5

8t. Minnesota (4) 43.5

8t. NC State (4) 43.5

10 Iowa (3) 39.5

11 Virginia Tech (3) 34.5 12 Northern Iowa (3) 32

South Dakota 13 State (1) 23

14 Illinois (2) 20

15 Oregon State (1) 18

16t. Rutgers (1) 17.5

16t. Stanford (2) 17.5

Central Michigan 18 (2) 17

19 Wyoming (1) 16.5

20t. Nebraska (1) 15.5

20t. West Virginia (2) 15.5

22t. Buffalo (1) 13

22t. Rider (1) 13

24 Navy (1) 11.5

25 Virginia (1) 11

26 Duke (1) 10.5

27 Princeton (1) 10

28t. Maryland (1) 9.5

28t. Pitt (1) 9.5

30 Wisconsin 8.5

31 Cornell (1) 8

32 Michigan State (1) 7.5

33 North Carolina 5.5

34 Northwestern 5

35t. No. Dakota State 4.5

35t. Penn 4.5

37t. Bucknell 4

37t. CSU Bakersfield 4

37t. Lock Haven 4

40t. Campbell 3

40t. American U 3 40t. Chattanooga 3

40t. Oklahoma 3

44t. Appalachian State 2.5

44t. Columbia 2.5

Northern 44t. Colorado 2.5

47t. Binghamton 2

47t. Clarion 2

47t. Northern Illinois 2

47t. Ohio U. 2

51t. Cleveland State 1.5

51t. Purdue 1.5

51t. Utah Valley 1.5

54t. Brown 1

54t. Drexel 1

54t. Eastern Michigan 1

54t. Indiana 1

54t. Iowa State 1

54t. Kent State 1

WIN’s 2017-18 Preseason Individual Rankings 125 pounds Rk. Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Darian Cruz Lehigh 1st Senior 2 Nathan Tomasello Ohio State 3rd/133 Senior 3 Ethan Lizak Minnesota 2nd Junior 4 Nick Piccininni Oklahoma State 4th Sophomore 5 Jack Mueller Virginia 6th Sophomore 6 Sean Russell Edinboro 7th Junior 7 Zeke Moisey West Virginia dnp Junior 8 Sean Fausz NC State NQ Junior 9 Josh Terao American U. NQ Junior 10 Kyle Akins Buffalo NQ Junior 11 Shakur Laney Ohio U. NQ Junior 12 Brock Hudkins Northern Illinois NQ Sophomore 13 Ronnie Bresser Oregon State RS Junior 14 Gabe Townsell Stanford NQ Sophomore 15 Travis Piotrowski Illinois NQ Sophomore 16 Johnny Jimenez Wisconsin NQ Senior 17 Sean Nickell CSU Bakersfield NQ Junior 18 Noah Gonser Eastern Michigan NQ Sophomore 19 Barlow McGhee Missouri NQ Senior 20 Elijah Oliver Indiana NQ Junior 133 pounds Rk Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Seth Gross So. Dakota State 2nd Junior 2 Stevan Micic Michigan 4th Sophomore 3 Kaid Brock Oklahoma State 5th Sophomore 4 Scott Parker Lehigh 8th Junior 5 Bryan Lantry Buffalo NQ Junior 6 Mitch McKee Minnesota NQ Sophomore 7 Dom Forys Pitt NQ Senior 8 Connor Schram Stanford NQ Senior 9 John Erneste Missouri NQ Junior 10 Scott Delvecchio Rutgers NQ Senior 11 Josh Alber Northern Iowa NQ Junior 12 Luke Pletcher Ohio State NQ/141 Sophomore 13 Tyler Goodwin Maryland Injured Senior 14 Nathan Boston Campbell Transfer Junior 15 Ryan Millhof Arizona State Transfer Junior 16 Corey Keener Penn State Transfer Graduate 17 Korbin Myers Edinboro NQ Sophomore 18 Anthony Tutolo Kent State NQ Junior 19 Tariq Wilson NC State RS RS Freshman 20 Cam Sykora No. Dakota State NQ Sophomore 141 pounds Rk Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Dean Heil Oklahoma State 1st Senior 2 Kevin Jack NC State 3rd Senior 3 Bryce Meredith Wyoming 4th Senior 4 Jaydin Eierman Missouri 5th Sophomore 5 Anthony Ashnault Rutgers 6th Senior 6 Tommy Thorn Minnesota 8th Junior 7 Joey McKenna Ohio State NQ Transfer - Junior 8 Javier Gasca III Michigan State NQ Senior 9 Colton McCrystal Nebraska NQ Senior 10 Tyler Smith Bucknell NQ Senior 11 Jared Prince Navy NQ Sophomore 12 Brock Zacherl Clarion NQ Junior 13 Jack Hathaway Oregon State NQ Senior 14 Cole Martin Wisconsin NQ Sophomore 15 Mitch Bengtson No. Dakota State dnp Senior 16 Tyson Dippery Rider Transfer Senior 17 Russell Rohlfing CSU Bakersfield NQ Sophomore 18 Kanen Storr Iowa State RS RS Freshman 19 Mike Longo Oklahoma NQ Senior 20 Kyle Shoop Lock Haven NQ/149 Sophomore 149 pounds Rk Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Zain Retherford Penn State 1st Senior 2 Brandon Sorensen Iowa 3rd Senior 3 Micah Jordan Ohio State 4th Junior 4 Max Thomsen Northern Iowa 5th Sophomore 5 Solomon Chishko Virginia Tech 6th Junior 6 Matthew Kolodzik Princeton 7th/141 Sophomore 7 Justin Oliver Central Michigan NQ Junior 8 Jason Tsirtsis Arizona State Transfer Senior 9 Geo Martinez Oklahoma State Transfer Senior 10 Andrew Crone Wisconsin NQ Senior 11 Steve Bleise Minnesota NQ/Transfer Junior 12 Ryan Deakin Northwestern RS RS Freshman 13 Matt Zovistoski Appalachian State NQ Junior 14 Mitch Finesilver Duke RS Junior 15 Alfred Bannister Maryland NQ Junior 16 Troy Heilmann North Carolina NQ Senior 17 Davion Jeffries Oklahoma NQ Junior 18 Eric Barone Illinois NQ Sophomore 19 Jamal Morris NC State NQ/133 Junior 20 Ronnie Perry Lock Haven NQ Senior

157 pounds Rk Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Jason Nolf Penn State 1st Junior 2 Joey Lavallee Missouri 2nd Senior 3 Michael Kemerer Iowa 3rd Sophomore 4 Tyler Berger Nebraska 5th Junior 5 Alec Pantaleo Michigan RS Junior 6 Josh Shields Arizona State NQ Sophomore 7 Paul Fox Stanford 7th Junior 8 Jake Short Minnesota NQ Senior 9 Colin Heffernan Central Michigan NQ Senior 10 Richie Lewis Rutgers Injured Graduate 11 Clayton Ream No. Dakota State NQ Senior 12 Cole Walter Lehigh NQ/165 Sophomore 13 Archie Colgan Wyoming NQ Senior 14 May Bethea Penn NQ Senior 15 B.J. Clagon Rider NQ Senior 16 Kyle Langenderfer Illinois NQ Senior 17 Andrew Atkinson Virginia NQ Senior 18 Taleb Rahmani Pitt NQ Sophomore 19 Justin Staudenmayer Brown RS Senior 20 Markus Scheidel Columbia NQ Senior

165 pounds Rk Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Vincenzo Joseph Penn State 1st Sophomore 2 Illinois 2nd Senior 3 Logan Massa Michigan 3rd Sophomore 4 Chandler Rogers Oklahoma State 5th Junior 5 Chad Walsh Rider 7th Senior 6 Anthony Valencia Arizona State NQ Sophomore 7 Brandon Womack Cornell 8th Junior 8 Jordan Kutler Lehigh Injured Sophomore 9 David McFadden Virginia Tech RS Sophomore 10 Drew Hughes Michigan State NQ Sophomore 11 Bryce Steiert Northern Iowa NQ Junior 12 Nick Wanzek Minnesota NQ Senior 13 Te Shan Campbell Ohio State NQ Transfer-Junior 14 Branson Ashworth Wyoming NQ Junior 15 Austin Matthews Edinboro NQ Senior 16 Alex Marinelli Iowa RS RS Freshman 17 Yoanse Mejias Oklahoma NQ Senior 18 Jonathan Schleifer Princeton NQ/174 Senior 19 Keilan Torres Northern Colorado NQ Senior 20 Isaiah White Nebraska Transfer Sophomore

174 pounds Rk Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Mark Hall Penn State 1st Sophomore 2 Bo Jordan Ohio State 2nd Senior 3 Zahid Valencia Arizona State 3rd Sophomore 4 Myles Amine Michigan 4th Sophomore 5 Daniel Lewis Missouri 6th/165 Junior 6 Ryan Preisch Lehigh NQ Junior 7 Jadaen Bernstein Navy NQ Senior 8 Taylor Lujan Northern Iowa NQ Sophomore 9 Ethan Ramos North Carolina NQ Senior 10 CJ Brucki Central Michigan NQ Senior 11 Keaton Subjeck Stanford NQ/165 Senior 12 Ryan Christensen Wisconsin NQ Junior 13 Jacobe Smith Oklahoma State Transfer Senior 14 Jordan Pagano Rutgers NQ Junior 15 Ty Schoffstall Edinboro NQ Senior 16 Kaleb Young Iowa RS RS Freshman 17 Forrest Przybysz Appalachian State RS Senior 18 Josef Johnson Harvard NQ Senior 19 Christopher Pfarr Minnesota NQ Senior 20 David Kocer So. Dakota State NQ Senior

184 pounds Rk Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Bo Nickal Penn State 1st Junior 2 Myles Martin Ohio State 5th Junior 3 Pete Renda NC State RS Senior 4 Domenic Abounader Michigan RS Senior 5 Drew Foster Northern Iowa 7th Junior 6 Emery Parker Illinois NQ Junior 7 Zack Zavatsky Virginia Tech NQ Junior 8 Jordan Ellingwood Central Michigan NQ Senior 9 Nick Gravina Rutgers NQ Senior 10 Steven Schneider Binghamton NQ Senior 11 Bryce Carr Chattanooga NQ Senior 12 Michael Coleman Navy NQ Senior 13 Hunter Ritter Wisconsin NQ Sophomore 14 Owen Webster Minnesota Transfer Sophomore 15 Dylan Gabel Northern Colorado NQ Junior 16 Nick Corba Cleveland State NQ Senior 17 Mitch Sliga Northwestern NQ Senior 18 Garrett Hoffman Bucknell NQ Sophomore 19 Joe Heyob Penn NQ Senior 20 Alexander DeCiantis Drexel NQ Senior 197 pounds Rk Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Kollin Moore Ohio State 3rd Sophomore 2 Jared Haught Virginia Tech 4th Senior 3 Preston Weigel Oklahoma State 6th Junior 4 Kevin Beazley Michigan 8th Gr/Transfer 5 Willie Miklus Missouri Injured Senior 6 Jake Smith West Virginia Injured Senior 7 Matt McCutcheon Penn State NQ Senior 8 Mike Macchiavello NC State NQ/184 Senior 9 Nate Rotert So. Dakota State NQ Senior 10 Daniel Chaid North Carolina NQ Senior 11 Frank Mattiace Penn NQ Senior 12 Matt Williams CSU Bakersfield NQ Senior 13 Cash Wilcke Iowa NQ Sophomore 14 Corey Griego Oregon State NQ Junior 15 Ben Honis Cornell NQ Junior 16 Christian Brunner Purdue NQ Sophomore 17 Tom Sleigh Bucknell NQ Senior 18 Steban Cervantes Navy NQ Senior 19 Jeric Kasunic American U NQ Senior 20 Scottie Boykin Chattanooga RS Senior Heavyweight Rk Name School 2017 Finish Year 1 Kyle Snyder Ohio State 1st Senior 2 Adam Coon Michigan RS Grad 3 Amarveer Dhesi Oregon State Injured Senior 4 Tanner Hall Arizona State 3rd Junior 5 Nick Nevills Penn State 5th Junior 6 Jacob Kasper Duke 6th Senior 7 Youssif Hemida Maryland NQ Junior 8 Sam Stoll Iowa Injured Junior 9 Ryan Solomon Pitt NQ Senior 10 Nathan Butler Stanford NQ Senior 11 Conan Jennings Northwestern NQ Junior 12 Thomas Haines Lock Haven NQ Junior 13 Jere Heino Campbell NQ Junior 14 Jordan Wood Lehigh RS RS Freshman 15 Dustin Dennison Utah Valley NQ Senior 16 Billy Miller Edinboro NQ Junior 17 Garrett Ryan Columbia NQ Senior 18 Michael Boykin NC State RS Senior 19 Newton Smerchek Central Michigan NQ Senior 20 Jake Gunning Buffalo NQ Junior