2x NCAA champion Keegan O'Toole (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)Earlier last week, InterMat released its re-ranking for the high school Class of 2018. With recruiting on the mind, we decided to jump in and look at each individual weight class for the 2023 NCAA DI Championships.
As is customary in wrestling we'll start with the lower weights and work our way up.
This analysis will break down the 2023 NCAA qualifiers a weight class at a time, by their pre-collegiate ranking within their recruiting class, their year of high school graduation, transfers, home states, and, of course, rankings for the 2023 All-Americans.
The second half of our look focuses on the 165 lb weight class. All year fans anticipated how this loaded bracket would play out in Tulsa. It didn't disappoint as the third time was the charm for Keegan O'Toole against David Carr.
It wasn't in November that this weight class became "loaded." Looking at the recruiting rankings for this bracket, many of its participants were among the top recruits in their respective graduating classes. 8 of the 33 wrestlers were deemed top ten recruits coming out of high school. About half were top 50 recruits. Despite this, one of the eight spots on the podium was taken by a wrestler that was unranked coming out of high school.
The fun part is we'll get to do it again in 2023-24, as seven of the eight AA's and three of the four Round of 12 finishers are slated to return.
125 lbs
133 lbs
141 lbs
149 lbs
157 lbs
2023 NCAA Qualifiers (165 lbs) by Recruiting Rankings
#1-#10
#2 (2021) Alex Facundo (Penn State)
#4 (2019) Carson Kharchla (Ohio State)
#4 (2020) Patrick Kennedy (Iowa)
#5 (2018) David Carr (Iowa State)
#5 (2020) Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
#6 (2021) Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin)
#10 (2019) Julian Ramirez (Cornell)
#10 (2020) Gerrit Nijenhuis (Oklahoma)
#11-#30
#12 (2019) Matthew Olguin (Oregon State)
#13 (2019) Connor Brady (Virginia Tech)
#17 (2019) Cameron Amine (Michigan)
#19 (2018) Shane Griffith (Stanford)
#31-#50
#40 (2018) Quincy Monday (Princeton)
#45 (2020) Peyton Hall (West Virginia)
#49 (2020) Andrew Sparks (Minnesota)
#51-#100
#52 (2016) Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State)
#72 (2020) Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern)
#73 (2021) Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State)
#83 (2018) Joshua Kim (Harvard)
#92 (2018) Justin McCoy (Virginia)
#97 (2018) Cole Moody (Wyoming)
#99 (2020) Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia)
#101-#200
#137 (2020) Caleb Fish (Michigan State)
Not Ranked
Evan Barczak (Drexel) 2017
Danny Braunagel (Illinois) 2018
Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) 2020
Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) 2017
Will Formato (Appalachian State) 2018
Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) 2018
Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) 2018
Izzak Oljenik (Northern Illinois) 2018
Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) 2019
Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) 2017
2023 NCAA Qualifiers (165 lbs) by Recruiting Class
2016
Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State)
2017
Evan Barczak (Drexel)
Tanner Cook (South Dakota State)
Austin Yant (Northern Iowa)
2018
Danny Braunagel (Illinois)
David Carr (Iowa State)
Will Formato (Appalachian State)
Shane Griffith (Stanford)
Holden Heller (Pittsburgh)
Joshua Kim (Harvard)
Justin McCoy (Virginia)
Quincy Monday (Princeton)
Cole Moody (Wyoming)
Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb)
Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois)
2019
Cameron Amine (Michigan)
Connor Brady (Virginia Tech)
Carson Kharchla (Ohio State)
Matthew Olguin (Oregon State)
Julian Ramirez (Cornell)
Bubba Wilson (Nebraska)
2020
Brevin Cassella (Binghamton)
Caleb Fish (Michigan State)
Peyton Hall (West Virginia)
Patrick Kennedy (Iowa)
Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern)
Gerrit Nijenhuis (Oklahoma)
Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia)
Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
Andrew Sparks (Minnesota)
2021
Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State)
Alex Facundo (Penn State)
Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin)
Home States for 165 lb NCAA Qualifiers
California
Joshua Kim (Harvard)
Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois)
Matthew Olguin (Oregon State)
Andrew Sparks (Minnesota)
Florida
Julian Ramirez (Cornell)
Georgia
Will Formato (Appalachian State)
Illinois
Danny Braunagel (Illinois)
Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State)
Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin)
Holden Heller (Pittsburgh)
Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia)
Iowa
Austin Yant (Northern Iowa)
Kansas
Bubba Wilson (Nebraska)
Massachusetts
Brevin Cassella (Binghamton)
Michigan
Cameron Amine (Michigan)
Alex Facundo (Penn State)
Caleb Fish (Michigan State)
Minnesota
Patrick Kennedy (Iowa)
Nebraska
Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern)
New Jersey
Shane Griffith (Stanford)
New York
Evan Barczak (Drexel)
Tanner Cook (South Dakota State)
North Carolina
Quincy Monday (Princeton)
Ohio
Connor Brady (Virginia Tech)
David Carr (Iowa State)
Carson Kharchla (Ohio State)
Oklahoma
Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb)
Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State)
Pennsylvania
Justin McCoy (Virginia)
Gerrit Nijenhuis (Oklahoma)
Utah
Cole Moody (Wyoming)
West Virginia
Peyton Hall (West Virginia)
Wisconsin
Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
165 lb NCAA Qualifiers Signed by a Previous Program
Holden Heller (Hofstra)
Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue)
Matthew Olguin (Fresno State)
Recruiting Rankings for 2023 All-Americans
1st: Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) - #5 in 2020
2nd: David Carr (Iowa State) - #5 in 2018
3rd: Quincy Monday (Princeton) - #40 in 2018
4th: Cameron Amine (Michigan) - #17 in 2019
5th: Shane Griffith (Stanford) - #19 in 2018
6th: Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) - #6 in 2021
7th: Michael Caliendo (North Dakota State) - #73 in 2021
8th: Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) - NR in 2018
