Jason Nolf (above) and PSU teammate Zain Retherford remain atop the Most Dominant Wrestler standings.
INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA has released the updated standings for the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Awards that will be awarded in March at the respective Division I, II and III Wrestling Championships.
The inaugural NCAA Wrestling Awards were presented at the 2012 wrestling championships. The three awards, given in each division, honor the Most Dominant Wrestler as well as the student-athletes that have accumulated the most falls and the most technical falls throughout the course of the regular and postseasons.
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For falls and tech falls to be counted they must come against opponents in the same division. Ties in the two categories are broken based on the aggregate time.
In Division I, Penn State 149-pounder Zain Retherford keeps the top average with 5.47 team points per match in the race for the Most Dominant Wrestler, while teammate Jason Nolf is at 5.42 points at 157 pounds.
Francis Mizia of Mercyhurst, the 2015 champion for most technical falls, leads the Division II Most Dominant Wrestler standings with an average of 4.89 points at 165 pounds for the lead over Gannon 133-pounder Carmine Ciotti at 4.56.
With the minimum to be ranked this week raised to 17 matches, three-time national champion and the 2016 Division III Most Dominant Wrestler Riley Lefever of Wabash doesn’t meet the minimum so Wartburg heavyweight Lance Evans regains the lead with an average of 5.28 points.
The Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated by adding the total number of points awarded through match results and dividing that number by the total number of matches wrestled. Points per match are awarded as follows.
* Fall, forfeit, injury default or DQ = 6 points (-6 points for a loss)
* Tech falls = 5 points (-5 points for a loss)
* Major decision = 4 points (-4 points for a loss)
* Decision = 3 points (-3 points for a loss)
This week’s Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated with a 17-match minimum against wrestlers from the same division.
Dean and Rider 165-pounder Chad Walsh have 15 falls this season to lead Division I, with Dean holding the tiebreaker with a significant time advantage of 35:20 to 71:19.
Western State 125-pounder Ronald Wardleigh has the lead in Division II with 15 falls to lead Tiffin heavyweight Garrett Gray with 13.
Hunter Harris of Messiah has pulled ahead in Division III with 27 falls this season at 141 pounds, four more than his nearest competitor.
True freshman Jack Mueller of Virginia has led Division I in tech falls all season, but was surpassed by Wisconsin heavyweight Connor Medbery with 11 tech falls, while Mueller and two-time national champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois each have 10.
Nic Goebel of Findlay has surged to the lead in Division II tech falls with 10 at 157 pounds, three ahead of Martin Ramirez of Adams State and Nicholas Fiegener of California Baptist.
Stephen Jarrell of Johnson & Wales (Rhode Island) has 17 tech falls at 174 pounds to hold a lead of four over Ursinus 149-pounder Alex Kramer.
