Bo Nickal was the nation's No. 5 recruit in the Class of 2014 (Photos/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)The 2018-19 collegiate wrestling season came to its conclusion this past weekend with the completion of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Pittsburgh. The seniors competing in that tournament were mostly fifth-year seniors, so that means in most cases they graduated high school in 2014. An interesting discussion to have is one about the overall careers of the graduated wrestlers.
Another perpetual question is if those that come into college as the best prospects perform the best in college. There's also the conversation about those that grow, develop, and thrive through their college careers from both highly touted prep prospects and being lesser touted entering college.
Below are the top 25 NCAA Division I collegiate careers for wrestlers that graduated high school in 2014.
No. 1 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State)
Rank in 2014: No. 1
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA finalist (without a redshirt year), three-time NCAA champion (2016-2018); also 2015, 2017 world champion, 2016 Olympic champion, 2018 world silver medalist
No. 2 Bo Nickal (Penn State)
Rank in 2014: No. 5
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA finalist, three-time NCAA champion (2017-2019); also favorite for the 2019 Hodge Trophy
No. 3 Jason Nolf (Penn State)
Rank in 2014: No. 7
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA finalist, three-time NCAA champion (2017-2019)
No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri)
Rank in 2014: No. 34
Accomplishments: Four-time All-American
No. 5 Seth Gross (South Dakota State)
Rank in 2014: No. 68
Accomplishments: Three-time NCAA qualifier, two-time NCAA finalist (2017/2018), 2018 NCAA champion; injured in 2018-19 and seeking sixth year of eligibility
No. 6 Bryce Meredith (North Carolina State/Wyoming)
Rank in 2014: Not ranked
Accomplishments: Three-time All-American (without a redshirt year), 2016 and 2018 NCAA runner-up
No. 7 Stevan Micic (Michigan)
Rank in 2014: No. 19
Accomplishments: Olympic redshirt in 2016, three-time All-American, 2018 NCAA runner-up; has one year eligibility remaining
No. 8 Joey McKenna (Stanford/Ohio State)
Rank in 2014: No. 8
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, three-time All-American, 2019 NCAA runner-up; was round of 12 in 2017
No. 9 Tyler Berger (Nebraska)
Rank in 2014: No. 29
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, three-time All-American, 2019 NCAA runner-up; was round of 12 in 2016
No. 10 Micah Jordan (Ohio State)
Rank in 2014: No. 6
Accomplishments:Four-time NCAA qualifier, three-time All-American, 2019 NCAA runner-up; was round of 12 in 2016
No. 11 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota)
Rank in 2014: No. 73
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, three-time All-American, 2017 NCAA runner-up; qualified for nationals in 2015, redshirted in 2016
No. 12 Kevin Jack (North Carolina State)
Rank in 2014: Ranked in weight class
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier (without a redshirt year), three-time All-American; was round of 12 in 2016
No. 13 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan)
Rank in 2014: Not ranked
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, three-time All-American; redshirt year was in 2017
No. 14 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa)
Rank in 2014: Not ranked
Accomplishments: Three-time NCAA qualifier, two-time All-American, 2019 NCAA champion
No. 15 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State)
Rank in 2014: Ranked in weight class
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, two-time All-American; round of 12 in 2016
No. 16 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia/Nebraska)
Rank in 2014: No. 49
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, two-time All-American, 2015 NCAA runner-up; redshirt year was in 2017
No. 17 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech)
Rank in 2014: No. 48
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, two-time All-American; round of 12 in 2016
No. 18 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven)
Rank in 2014: No. 2
Accomplishments: Two-time All-American (fourth, third)
No. 19 Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech)
Rank in 2014: No. 11
Accomplishments: Two-time All-American, placed sixth in 2016 and 2017 before injuries ended his career
No. 20 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State)
Rank in 2014: No. 20
Accomplishments: Three-time NCAA qualifier, two-time All-American; round of 12 in 2016
No. 21 Emery Parker (Illinois)
Rank in 2014: Not ranked
Accomplishments:Three-time NCAA qualifier, two-time All-American; round of 12 in 2017
No. 22 Anthony Cassar (Penn State)
Rank in 2014: Ranked in weight class
Accomplishments:2019 NCAA champion in his only appearance at NCAAs
No. 23 Nick Nevills (Penn State)
Rank in 2014: No. 4
Accomplishments: Two-time All-American; did not qualify for NCAAs in 2016 (injury)
No. 24 Scott Parker (Lehigh)
Rank in 2014: No. 66
Accomplishments: Three-time NCAA qualifier, two-time All-American before injury precluded him from competing in 2018-19; qualified for NCAAs in 2015, redshirted in 2016
No. 25 Chip Ness (North Carolina)
Rank in 2014: No. 65
Accomplishments: Three-time NCAA qualifier, two-time All-American; did not qualify for NCAAs as true freshman, redshirted in 2017
Honorable Mention
Note: Wrestlers are listed alphabetically.
Mitch Finesilver (Duke)
Rank in 2014: Not ranked
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, 2019 All-American; round of 12 in 2016, redshirt year in 2017
Paul Fox (Stanford)
Rank in 2014: No. 92
Accomplishments: Two-time NCAA qualifier, 2017 All-American; round of 12 in 2018
Ryan Millhof (Oklahoma/Arizona State)
Rank in 2014: No. 38
Accomplishments: Three-time NCAA qualifier, 2016 All-American; redshirt year was 2017
Justin Oliver (Central Michigan/North Carolina State)
Rank in 2014: No. 99
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, 2016 All-American; round of 12 in 2017 and 2018
Ryan Preisch (Lehigh)
Rank in 2014: Not ranked
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, 2019 All-American; round of 12 in 2017 and 2018
Sean Russell (Edinboro/Minnesota)
Rank in 2014: No. 54
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, 2017 All-American; round of 12 in 2019
Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton)
Rank in 2014: No. 24
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier (without a redshirt year)
Tyler Smith (Bucknell)
Rank in 2014: No. 79
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier (without a redshirt year); round of 12 in 2017 and 2018
Sam Stoll (Iowa)
Rank in 2014: No. 10
Accomplishments: Three-time NCAA qualifier, 2018 All-American; round of 12 in 2019
Tommy Thorn (Minnesota)
Rank in 2014: No. 21
Accomplishments: Four-time NCAA qualifier, 2017 All-American; round of 12 in 2019
Derek White (Oklahoma State)
Rank in 2014: No. 70
Accomplishments: Two-time NCAA qualifier, 2019 NCAA runner-up; round of 12 in 2018
Other notables
Brian Allenhigh
Rank in 2014: Ranked in weight class
Accomplishments: Three-year starter at Michigan State on the offensive line, selected in the fourth round by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2018 NFL draft
Jon-Jay Chavez (Cornell)
Rank in 2014: No. 32
Accomplishments: Qualified for the Greco-Roman World Championships in 2018 at 78 kilograms, also a 2018 All-American
Harrison Phillips
Rank in 2014: No. 64
Accomplishments: Two-year starter at Stanford at defensive tackle, named as All-American in 2017, selected in the third round by the Buffalo Bills in the 2018 NFL draft
Michael Pixley
Rank in 2014: No. 13
Accomplishments:2016 NAIA national champion at Grand View, 2019 NCAA Division II champion at McKendree
Hayden Tuma
Rank in 2014: No. 30
Accomplishments: 2017 runner-up at the World Team Trials in Greco-Roman
For reference purposes, below were the final top 25 Class of 2014 wrestler rankings:
1. Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md./USOTC)
2. Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale, Pa.)
3. Bryce Brill (Chicago Mt. Carmel, Ill.)
4. Nick Nevills (Clovis, Calif.)
5. Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas)
6. Micah Jordan (St. Paris Graham, Ohio)
7. Jason Nolf (Kittanning, Pa.)
8. Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.)
9. Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.)
10. Sam Stolll (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.)
11. Solomon Chishko (Canon-McMillan, Pa.)
12. Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic, N.J.)
13. Michael Pixley (Blue Springs, Mo.)
14. Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy, N.J.)
15. Zac Hall (St. Johns, Mich.)
16. Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.)
17. Jacob Danishek (Dayton Christian, Ohio)
18. Ryan Blees (Bismarck, N.D.)
19. Stevan Micic (Clear Lake, Mich.)
20. Chandler Rogers (Stillwater, Okla.)
21. Tommy Thorn (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.)
22. Dylan Artigliere (Roxbury, N.J.)
23. Roy Nash (Taylorsville, Utah)
24. Jonathan Schleifer (East Brunswick, N.J.)
25. T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley, Pa.)
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