2x NCAA All-American Sammy Sasso (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)During the 2021-22 preseason, InterMat debuted our top-50 wrestlers list and revealed all 50 day-by-day in the lead up to the regular season. Our second iteration of this feature will spotlight five wrestlers at a time, going from 50 to number one.
For each wrestler, we'll have some basic information along with career highlights, a brief analysis of their collegiate career (with a focus on last season), along with their outlook for the upcoming season.
For earlier wrestlers
#46 - 50
#41 - 45
#36 - 40
#31 - 35
30) Ridge Lovett (Nebraska)
2022 NCAA Runner-Up Ridge Lovett (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Weight: 149 lbs
Year: Junior
Career Record: 50-15
Hometown: Post Falls, Idaho
Collegiate Accomplishments: 2022 NCAA Runner-Up, 2021 Big Ten Runner-Up, 2020 NWCA Honorable Mention All-American
2021 Top 50 Ranking: Not Ranked
The 2021 season saw Ridge Lovett compete for a few matches at 141 lbs, before moving up to 149. He had an entire offseason to prepare for the weight in 2021-22 and had his best year to date. Lovett won 10 of his first 11 bouts to start the year, defeating a pair of returning All-Americans along the way. The only loss during that span came in the semifinals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational to then-two-time champion Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell). Since Lovett pushed Diakomihalis to sudden victory, many wondered if he could pull the upset in a rematch scenario. That second chance came in the NCAA finals, where Lovett fell 11-5. To make it to the championship bout, Lovett downed the class of the ACC in back-to-back bouts downing Tariq Wilson (NC State) by fall and winning a wild affair with Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech), 5-4.
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