NCAA DI Rankings Updated (2/18/2025)

You had to know that the final few weeks of the collegiate season were going to be eventful! There were just too many good matchups for the status quo to run into March. On the second to last Friday of the regular season, we saw another #1 fall from the ranks of the unbeaten. For the second straight year, Beau Bartlett knocked off Jesse Mendez in a dual meet. The two would meet in the Big Ten and NCAA finals. Time will tell if that’s the case again. 

With Mendez’s loss, we had to make some changes at the top of 141 lbs. Bartlett remains unbeaten and rose from number three to number one. Mendez has a win over Bartlett in the All-Star Classic and has the Vegas title, wins over four others in the top ten and three others in the top 15. Not that we really use it as a metric in these rankings, but Mendez had the best RPI in this weight and it’s easy to see why. He gets the number two and Andrew Alirez slides down to three. Though he’s unbeaten, Alirez’s only matches against top 16 opponents are #9 CJ Composto and #16 Josh Edmond. 

A similar adjustment was made at 197 lbs. Josh Barr and Jacob Cardenas were moved up into the #2 and #3 slot, respectively. AJ Ferrari moved down to #4 despite being unbeaten. Since he didn’t compete last weekend, Ferrari missed out on a match against #7 Stephen Little. He’ll go into the postseason without having faced anyone ranked higher than #15 Nick Stemmet. Barr has three top-ten wins with Cardenas, Little, and Michael Beard. Cardenas has a top-ten win (Isaiah Salazar) and a handful of wins over 13-20 range. 

We’ve also received the news that Ohio State will be moving forward with redshirt freshman Brandon Cannon at 157 lbs in the postseason. Cannon has been very impressive while primarily competing in open tournaments (18-2 record). He majored Penn State freshman Joe Sealey in Friday’s dual and has a win over Iowa State’s Cody Chittum. 

The move to Cannon is a bittersweet one for wrestling fans, in general, as it signals the end of the career of two-time NCAA finalist Sammy Sasso. Last summer, Sasso was shot during a carjacking attempt, underwent multiple surgeries, and spent almost a month and a half in the hospital. Sasso returned to the mat and scored a 12-6 win over Chattanooga’s Jackson Hurst in his season debut. He started the year at 165 lbs, but dropped down to 157 lbs - amassing a 12-7 record along the way. 

While it may not be the ending Sasso imagined, just getting back on the mat and defeating quality DI wrestlers is a remarkable accomplishment in and of itself. 

For the updated set of DI rankings: Click Here