3x NCAA champion Carter Starocci (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)Early 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.
Moving along to 174 lbs. Both the final and consolation final featured clashes between competitors that were high-caliber recruits from the same home state. In addition to placements, there were deeper bragging rights involved.
This is also a bracket that is filled with wrestlers from the Class of 2019. Post-covid has made determining years/eligibility more difficult than in the past, but we
125 lbs
133 lbs
141 lbs
149 lbs
157 lbs
165 lbs
2023 NCAA Qualifiers (174 lbs) by Recruiting Rankings
#1-#10
#2 (2020) Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)
#5 (2017) Mikey Labriola (Nebraska)
#9 (2019) Carter Starocci (Penn State)
#11-#30
#13 (2021) Cael Valencia (Arizona State)
#19 (2017) Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
#19 (2021) Tate Picklo (Oklahoma)
#21 (2019) Chris Foca (Cornell)
#31-#50
#33 (2017) Ethan Smith (Ohio State)
#35 (2018) Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga)
#35 (2021) Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh)
#39 (2018) Peyton Mocco (Missouri)
#43 (2018) Mickey O'Malley (Drexel)
#43 (2019) Jackson Turley (Rutgers)
#51-#100
#53 (2019) Troy Fisher (Northwestern)
#55 (2020) Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven)
#62 (2019) Edmond Ruth (Illinois)
#75 (2019) Alex Cramer (Central Michigan)
#76 (2018) Phil Conigliaro (Harvard)
#76 (2019) Cade Devos (South Dakota State)
#93 (2018) Nelson Brands (Iowa)
#99 (2018) Tyler Eischens (Stanford)
#101-#200
#131 (2021) Sal Perrine (Ohio)
Not Ranked
Alex Faison (NC State)
Nick Incontrera (Penn)
Will Miller (Appalachian State)
Aaron Olmos (Oregon State)
Bailee O'Reilly (MInnesota)
Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point)
Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley)
DJ Washington (Indiana)
Lennox Wolak (Columbia)
Sam Wolf (Air Force)
John Worthing (Clarion)
2023 NCAA Qualifiers (174 lbs) by Recruiting Class
2015
Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley)
2017
Mikey Labriola (Nebraska)
Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
Aaron Olmos (Oregon State)
Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota)
Ethan Smith (Ohio State)
2018
Nelson Brands (Iowa)
Phil Conigliaro (Harvard)
Tyler Eischens (Stanford)
Alex Faison (NC State)
Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga)
Peyton Mocco (Missouri)
Mickey O'Malley (Drexel)
2019
Alex Cramer (Central Michigan)
Cade DeVos (South Dakota State)
Troy Fisher (Northwestern)
Chris Foca (Cornell)
Nick Incontrera (Penn)
Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point)
Edmond Ruth (Illinois)
Carter Starocci (Penn State)
Jackson Turley (Rutgers)
DJ Washington (Indiana)
Lennox Wolax (Columbia)
Sam Wolf (Air Force)
John Worthing (Clarion)
2020
Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)
Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven)
2021
Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh)
Will Miller (Appalachian State)
Sal Perrine (Ohio)
Tate Picklo (Oklahoma)
Cael Valencia (Arizona State)
Home States for 174 lb NCAA Qualifiers
Alabama
Will Miller (Appalachian State)
California
Aaron Olmos (Oregon State)
Cael Valencia (Arizona State)
Idaho
Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley)
Illinois
Alex Cramer (Central Michigan)
Indiana
DJ Washington (Indiana)
Iowa
Nelson Brands (Iowa)
Cade DeVos (South Dakota State)
Kansas
Troy Fisher (Northwestern)
Massachusetts
Phil Conigliaro (Harvard)
Minnesota
Tyler Eischens (Stanford)
Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota)
New Jersey
Chris Foca (Cornell)
Nick Incontrera (Penn)
Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
Mickey O'Malley (Drexel)
New York
Sam Wolf (Air Force)
John Worthing (Clarion)
North Carolina
Alex Faison (NC State)
Ohio
Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga)
Sal Perrine (Ohio)
Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point)
Lennox Wolak (Columbia)
Oklahoma
Tate Picklo (Oklahoma)
Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)
Pennsylvania
Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh)
Mikey Labriola (Nebraska)
Edmond Ruth (Illinois)
Ethan Smith (Ohio State)
Carter Starocci (Penn State)
Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven)
Virginia
Jackson Turley (Rutgers)
Wisconsin
Peyton Mocco (Missouri)
174 lb NCAA Qualifiers Signed by a Previous Program
Alex Cramer (Old Dominion)
Rocky Jordan (Ohio State)
Demetrius Romero (Boise State)
Edmond Ruth (Lehigh)
Recruiting Rankings for 2023 All-Americans
1st: Carter Starocci (Penn State) #9 in 2019
2nd: Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) #5 in 2017
3rd: Chris Foca (Cornell) #21 in 2019
4th: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) #19 in 2017
5th: Nelson Brands (Iowa) #93 in 2018
6th: Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) #2 in 2020
7th: Ethan Smith (Ohio State) #33 in 2017
8th: Peyton Mocco (Missouri) #39 in 2018
