2021 NCAA Champion Shane Griffith (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)
Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released.
These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too.
Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled:
#50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
#49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell)
#48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State)
#47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa)
#46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri)
#45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)
#44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)
#43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri)
#42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)
#41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers)
#40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota)
#39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
#38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
#37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State)
#36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa)
#35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)
#34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)
#33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell)
#32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton)
#31 - Max Dean (Penn State)
#30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
#29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska)
#28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh)
#27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa)
#26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)
#25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly)
#24 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
#23 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)
#22 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers)
#21 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)
#20 - Trent Hidlay (NC State)
#19 - Stevan Micic (Michigan)
#18 - Hayden Hidlay (NC State)
#17 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
#16 - Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
#15 - Mason Parris (Michigan)
Next up is…
#14 Shane Griffith (Stanford)
Weight: 165 lbs
Year: Junior
Career Record: 40-1
Hometown: Westwood, New Jersey
College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA Champion, 2020 NWCA First-Team All-American, 2020 Pac-12 Champion
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #1 at 165 lbs
Shane Griffith is one half of an impressive tag team of blue-chip recruits signed by Stanford from the high school Class of 2018. He was ranked #19 overall in the class, while Real Woods was ranked #21.
Griffith redshirted during his first year in Palo Alto, though with his impressive results, there was speculation that the Cardinal staff would be tempted to rip him out of redshirt. The freshman from New Jersey started his unattached campaign with back-to-back tournament wins at the Princeton Open and the Roadrunner Open. His best win during those events was an 8-1 victory over multiple-time national qualifier Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State).
Griffith suffered his first setback at the Reno Tournament of Champions when he fell to Grand View's Ryan Niven, 3-1. Less than two weeks later, Griffith went to the Southern Scuffle and finished third in a loaded weight. His only loss was a 6-4 decision to two-time national champion Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State). Some of his top wins came at the expense of Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider), Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State), and Tanner Skidgel (Navy).
The redshirt year concluded with a title at the National Collegiate Open. Griffith finished with a 24-2 record and three open titles, along with a 50% bonus point rate.
In his dual meet debut, Griffith started with a bang by pinning Ohio State's Ethan Smith. From there, Griffith cruised until he reached the Southern Scuffle. While still victorious, Griffith wasn't able to roll through the competition as he did leading into Chattanooga. There he had close wins over Skidgel and Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) to capture the Scuffle crown.
The most notable dual for the remainder of the regular season occurred when the Cardinal traveled to Arizona State. There he knocked off returning All-American Josh Shields, 5-3 in sudden victory. The win over Shields was the last roadblock between Griffith and an undefeated regular season. At 26-0, Griffith entered his first Pac-12 tournament with a likely rematch against Shields looming. As expected, the pair advanced to the finals, but this time it was all-Griffith in a 4-0 victory.
A perfect record as a redshirt freshman, with a Southern Scuffle title and a Pac-12 crown, wasn't enough for Griffith to earn the top seed at nationals. He was given the #3 seed for Minneapolis. As we all know, that tournament was never conducted due to the Covid pandemic. Some of the notables on Griffith's half of the bracket included #2 Joseph, #6 Shields, #7 David McFadden (Virginia Tech), #10 Thomas Bullard (NC State), and #11 Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh). Based on his seed, Griffith was named an NWCA first-team All-American.
After the 2019-20 season, Stanford's athletic department announced that they would be cutting wrestling and 10 other sports. Griffith, along with most of his teammates, entered the transfer portal as their future at the school was highly uncertain.
While the wrestling program was in flux, to say the least, because of the Covid restrictions in the area, Stanford was not allowed to practice for longer than any other area in the nation and they weren't given the “go-ahead†to compete until late in the season.
With all of those factors working against him, Griffith still took the mat in late January and earned a major decision in his first 2021 bout. He won the remainder of his next four regular-season bouts, too, earning bonus points in all but one.
At the Pac-12 Championships, Griffith advanced to the finals and squared off with Anthony Valencia (Arizona State), who handed him his first official collegiate loss 7-1. After winning another bout, Griffith finished in second place and earned an automatic bid to nationals. He was given the eighth seed in St. Louis.
In what ended up being a fairy tale ending, Griffith upset the undefeated #1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa), #5 Zach Hartman (Bucknell), and #3 Jake Wentzel to earn a national title. Afterward, he led the limited spectators allowed in the venue in “Keep Stanford Wrestling†chants. The win made mainstream sports news and put more national pressure on the school to keep wrestling.
Eventually, the Stanford administration relented and decided not to drop any of the 11 sports. Shortly thereafter, Griffith announced via social media that he would remain in Palo Alto to wrestle for new head coach Rob Koll.
Strengths: Griffith has good size and length for the weight class, which he uses to his advantage. He also is excellent at controlling ties. Griffith will mainly work from either a two-on-one or underhook. From there, he can generate a variety of offense, with low attacks or doubles. When fighting for his ties, Griffith can look for trips or even go upperbody. Griffith is also very dangerous from the top, riding legs, looking for bars and cradles.
2021-22 Outlook: Of course, a returning national champion will be in the mix for another title in the upcoming year. It's scary to think how Griffith will fare with a typical training cycle and a partner like new assistant head coach Vincenzo Joseph at his disposal.
2021 NCAA Champion Shane Griffith (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
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