NCAA DI Rankings Updated (1/16/2024)

We'll start right off with 125 lbs, as usual. The previous #1 Anthony Noto fell to Diego Sotelo in dual action last week, which spurred a change at the top spot. Generally, I like to have some sort of a flow with the rankings from week-to-week, letting them build off each previous week. With a weight like 125 and a situation like we had, that wasn't possible in determining the #1 ranked wrestler. It was more like starting from scratch. 

Measuring resumes (quality wins and losses), Drake Ayala stood out from the rest of the field. After last night's win over Patrick McKee, Ayala now has wins over #6 Jore Volk, #7 Caleb Smith, #18 McKee (x2), #25 Kysen Terukina, #27 Eli Griffin, along with previously ranked Max Gallagher and Nick Babin. His only loss this year wasn't a bad one, a one-point loss to #16 Brandon Kaylor. 

Matt Ramos has wins over #13 Dean Peterson, #17 Tanner Jordan, #21 Diego Sotelo, #26 Anthony Molton, #32 Dominic Mendez, #33 Ethan Berginc. Along with previously ranked Tristan Lujan and Nick Babin. His losses are to #7 Caleb Smith, #12 Nico Provo, and #22 Jakob Camacho plus the unofficial loss to high schooler Marcus Blaze. 

To either make things easier or more confusing, Ayala/Ramos are slated to meet Friday night. 

In the non-125 lb news of the week, three ranked Ohio State wrestlers have been removed. Paddy Gallagher (157), Carson Kharchla (174), and Gavin Hoffman (184). All are expected out for an extended period of time, perhaps for the season. Those losses have greatly impacted their team tournament ranking. For now, the dual ranking dropped by a spot. We'll see how that plays out. 

True freshmen Luke Stanich and Braeden Davis were added to the 125 lb rankings. They make a deep weight even deeper. Their addition is why some wrestlers who might be coming off a win or two, but still dropped a place or two this week. On that same note, Tyler Kasak has been added at 149 lbs. 

Since Patrick Kennedy has been back in action for Iowa at 174 lbs, he was inserted at that weight. True freshman Ben Kueter could be ranked after a good win against Minnesota; however, we'll wait a week or two to see how Tom Brands handles the situation. He obviously has a redshirt available. 

At 157 lbs, both the #2 and #3 wrestler suffered losses over the past few days. #2 Jared Franek defeated #3 Peyton Robb, but then fell to #10 Michael Blockhus. For now, we're holding static with both in those same slots. Each have very strong cases for their respective ranking. The only other option to assume the #2 spot would be Vince Zerban, who is undefeated; however, his best win came against Daniel Cardenas, who also lost within this ranking cycle. 

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