3x NCAA champion Aaron Brooks (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.
Coming down the home stretch to 184 lbs. This bracket had an inordinate amount of unranked wrestlers that developed once they hit their respective college campuses. Almost half the weight class came into college without being ranked in their graduating class. That unranked group ended up producing as one earned All-American honors in 2023, while two others made the bloodround and another pair earned two wins in Tulsa.
On the other end of the spectrum, the top four finishers at this weight were all deemed top-20 recruits in their respective classes and had a collegiate career that was commensurate with that ranking.
125 lbs
133 lbs
141 lbs
149 lbs
157 lbs
165 lbs
174 lbs
2023 NCAA Qualifiers (184 lbs) by Recruiting Rankings
#1-#10
#2 (2018) Aaron Brooks (Penn State)
#6 (2018) Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
#7 (2021) Lenny Pinto (Nebraska)
#11-#30
#12 (2022) Brian Soldano (Rutgers)
#14 (2019) Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
#16 (2017) Kaleb Romero (Ohio State)
#18 (2018) Trent Hidlay (NC State)
#29 (2019) Abe Assad (Iowa)
#30 (2020) Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota)
#31-#50
#31 (2020) Gavin Kane (North Carolina)
#35 (2019) Trey Munoz (Oregon State)
#50 (2017) Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech)
#51-#100
#63 (2020) Colton Hawks (Missouri)
#77 (2021) DJ Parker (North Dakota State)
#78 (2017) Marcus Coleman (Iowa State)
#101-#200
#129 (2021) Dylan Connell (Illinois)
#176 (2021) Zayne Lehman (Ohio)
Not Ranked (by Willie Saylor/MatScouts; Ranked by The Open Mat)
#59 (2019) David Key (Navy)
Not Ranked
Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb)
Neil Antrassian (Virginia)
Brian Bonino (Drexel)
Anthony Carman (West Virginia)
Will Feldkamp (Clarion)
Jacob Ferreria (Hofstra)
Matt Finesilver (Michigan)
Reece Heller (Pittsburgh)
Giuseppe Hoose (Buffalo)
Caleb Hopkins (Campbell)
Cade King (South Dakota State)
Layne Malczewski (Michigan State)
Jacob Nolan (Binghamton)
Tate Samuelson (Lehigh)
Matt Waddell (Chattanooga)
2023 NCAA Qualifiers (184 lbs) by Recruiting Class
2016
Matt Finesilver (Michigan)
2017
Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech)
Brian Bonino (Drexel)
Marcus Coleman (Iowa State)
Will Feldkamp (Clarion)
Kaleb Romero (Ohio State)
Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga)
2018
Neil Antrassian (Virginia)
Aaron Brooks (Penn State)
Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra)
Trent Hidlay (NC State)
Giuseppe Hoose (Buffalo)
Caleb Hopkins (Campbell)
Layne Malczewski (Michigan State)
Tate Samuelson (Lehigh)
Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
2019
Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb)
Abe Assad (Iowa)
Anthony Carman (West Virginia)
Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
David Key (Navy)
Cade King (South Dakota State)
Reece Heller (Pittsburgh)
Trey Munoz (Oregon State)
Jacob Nolan (Binghamton)
2020
Colton Hawks (Missouri)
Gavin Kane (North Carolina)
Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota)
2021
Dylan Connell (Illinois)
Zayne Lehman (Ohio)
DJ Parker (North Dakota State)
Lenny Pinto (Nebraska)
2022
Brian Soldano (Rutgers)
Home States for 184 lb NCAA Qualifiers
Alaska
Caleb Hopkins (Campbell)
California
Trey Munoz (Oregon State)
Colorado
Matt Finesilver (Michigan)
Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota)
Tate Samuelson (Lehigh)
Georgia
Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb)
Gavin Kane (North Carolina)
David Key (Georgia)
Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga)
Illinois
Abe Assad (Iowa)
Dylan Connell (Illinois)
Reece Heller (Pittsburgh)
DJ Parker (North Dakota State)
Iowa
Marcus Coleman (Iowa State)
Maryland
Aaron Brooks (Penn State)
Michigan
Neil Antrassian (Virginia)
Will Feldkamp (Clarion)
Layne Malczewski (Michigan State)
Missouri
Colton Hawks (Missouri)
Minnesota
Cade King (South Dakota State)
New Jersey
Brian Bonino (Drexel)
Brian Soldano (Rutgers)
New York
Giuseppe Hoose (Buffalo)
Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra)
Jacob Nolan (Binghamton)
Ohio
Zayne Lehman (Ohio)
Kaleb Romero (Ohio State)
Oregon
Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
Pennsylvania
Trent Hidlay (NC State)
Lenny Pinto (Nebraska)
Virginia
Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech)
West Virginia
Anthony Carman (West Virginia)
Wisconsin
Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
184 lbs NCAA Qualifiers Signed by Another Program
Neil Antrassian (Penn)
Brian Bonino (Columbia)
Will Feldkamp (Northern Illinois)
Jacob Ferreira (Bucknell)
Matt Finesilver (Duke)
Reece Heller (Hofstra)
Trey Munoz (Arizona State)
Tate Samuelson (Wyoming)
Matthew Waddell (Oklahoma)
Recruiting Rankings for 2023 All-Americans
1st: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) #2 in 2018
2nd: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) #14 in 2019
3rd: Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) #16 in 2017
4th: Trent Hidlay (NC State) #18 in 2018
5th: Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) #78 in 2017
6th: Trey Munoz (Oregon State) #35 in 2019
7th: Will Feldkamp (Clarion) NR in 2017
8th: Gavin Kane (North Carolina) #31 in 2020
