Just two months into the college wrestling season, 197 pounds is proving to be the most chaotic weight in the country. The returning national champ loses twice in one weekend, top 5 guys are upset weekly, past All-Americans are ranked outside the top 10, and there looks to be no end in sight to the madness at this weight. Because there’s been so much chaos, the below article gets deep into the weeds, breaking down the most significant results at 197 pounds this season and detailing how we sorted out the rankings. 

Collegiate Duals Muddies The Waters

There’s no denying that Max Dean had the best 2021-22 season of any 197-pound wrestler. Dean went 23-1 and closed out the year by winning a national title with a 3-2 decision over Jacob Warner. 

Despite Dean’s incredible season last year, he’s taken a slight step back this year. On the first weekend in December, Dean suffered two straight losses to Rider’s Ethan Laird and former teammate Michael Beard. However, it hasn’t been all bad for Max Dean - he responded at the Collegiate Duals with a 4-1 win over Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida. 

There were other notable results that caused chaos at 197 on top of Dean’s win over Bastida at the recent Collegiate Duals. First, Bernie Truax stung Michael Beard with a last-second takedown to win 3-2. Truax’s next match came against Isaac Trumble where he was leading 2-1 before Trumble came back to pin Truax! The madness wouldn’t stop there. In the next match, Michael Beard earned a controlling 11-3 major decision over Isaac Trumble. 

Michael Beard's win over Max Dean from earlier this season:

The Undefeated Wrestlers

There are only 3 undefeated wrestlers in the entire country this year at 197 pounds - Rocky Elam, Ethan Laird, and Nino Bonaccorsi. Rocky Elam began the year ranked #4 after his 4th place finish at NCAAs last season. He was then vaulted up to #2 after he defeated Jacob Warner at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Elam also notably has wins from the 2021-22 season over Nino Bonaccorsi and Yonger Bastida. Then when Max Dean lost twice, Elam took over the #1 spot. 

Rocky Elam's win over Jacob Warner at the All-Star Classic:

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Ethan Laird put the rest of the country on notice with his win over Max Dean and also has ranked wins over Kordell Norfleet, Cole Urbas, and Luke Stout. Laird also defeated Michael Beard all the way back at the 2020 Southern Scuffle. However, Laird redshirted last year and wrestled up at heavyweight. That means he has never wrestled Rocky Elam, Yonger Bastida, Nino Bonaccorsi, Jacob Warner, Isaac Trumble, or Bernie Truax. That makes it especially challenging to evaluate Laird against the rest of the field.

A behind-the-scenes look at Ethan Laird's win over Max Dean:

Then there’s Nino Bonaccorsi. He was an NCAA runner-up in 2021 but finished 1-match shy of All-American status last year when he lost both Gavin Hoffman and Rocky Elam at the NCAA tournament. This year, Bonaccorsi is off to a great start with ranked wins over Michael Beard, Jaxon Smith, and Zach Braunagel. However, in his college career, he is 0-1 against both Max Dean and Rocky Elam.

What About Jacob Warner & Yonger Bastida?

Jacob Warner, the returning NCAA runner-up started the season at #2 but is currently ranked 7th after losses to Rocky Elam and Yonger Bastida on the season. Despite the incredible finish last year, Warner has zero wins in his college career over anyone currently ranked 1-6 - he's a career 0-1 against Elam, 0-2 against Bastida, and 0-2 against Dean. On the other hand, Warner defeated Stephen Buchanan in the NCAA semis last year. Buchanan notably is redshirting this year but has three wins over both Rocky Elam and Yonger Bastida.

And speaking of Yonger Bastida - he may have lost to Dean at the Collegiate Duals, but he has ranked wins on the year over Tanner Harvey, Levi Hopkins, Braxton Amos, and Jacob Warner. To add to his resume, Bastida placed 5th at the 2022 NCAA tournament and had wins last year over All-Americans Gavin Hoffman, Jake Woodley, Jacob Warner, and current #1 Rocky Elam.

If the above information was hard to follow, the below charts detail the notable wins and losses of the top 9 over the last 2 seasons. 

1. Rocky Elam, Missouri

2. Ethan Laird, Rider

3. Max Dean, Penn State

4. Yonger Bastida, Iowa State

5. Nino Bonaccorsi, Pitt

6. Michael Beard, Lehigh

7. Jacob Warner, Iowa

8. Bernie Truax, Cal Poly

9. Isaac Trumble, NC State

HOW DO WE RANK THESE GUYS?

The easiest way to explain our ranking is to start from the #8 and #9 spots. Though Trumble just beat Truax, he also has the “worst” losses of anyone in the top 9 - last year Trumble lost to Luke Stout, Jay Aiello, and Aidan Conner. Truax is coming up from 184 and while the Beard win is notable, he also is kept from climbing higher because of the Trumble loss.

Jacob Warner comes in at the #7 spot because of his winless record against Elam, Dean, and Bastida. Michael Beard’s win over Dean gives him the nod over Warner, but his losses to Bonaccorsi and Truax this year keep him outside of the top 5.

Nino Bonaccorsi has a case to be higher because he's undefeated this year. On the other hand, his best career win is either Michael Beard or Gavin Hoffman. Neither of those is equal to the quality wins of the wrestlers ranked above Bonaccorsi.

Yonger Bastida’s recent loss to Dean keeps him at the #4 spot. However, he doesn't drop further because of his past wins over current #1 Rocky Elam.

Max Dean has two losses on the year but he is also the returning national champion with a recent win over Yonger Bastida. At the #3 spot, he’s ahead of one wrestler who defeated him - #6 Michael Beard but behind the other - #2 Ethan Laird. 

As mentioned, Laird wrestling heavyweight last season complicates things because he hasn't wrestled many of the top guys at 197. That doesn't change the fact that he's undefeated on the year, has a win over Max Dean this year, and a past win over Michael Beard. In this chaotic of a weight, that's enough to earn him the #2 spot.

Rocky Elam lands in the #1 spot due to closing the year out strong with his wins at NCAAs over Gavin Hoffman, Nino Bonaccorsi, and Yonger Bastida while starting off the year with his win over Jacob Warner. 

Watch Out For The Rest Of The Field

While we’ve mostly focused on wrestlers ranked 1-9, there are some dangerous guys all throughout the field. Because we've already been deep in the weeds breaking down the top 9, check out the bullet points that prove the depth of the field.

•  #13 Gavin Hoffman and #21 Lou DePrez are past All-Americans. 
• #11 Zac Braunagel, #12 Kordell Norfleet, #14 Tanner Sloan, and #20 Cam Caffey (who has a win over Max Dean) have all finished 1 match shy of All-American status in the round of 12 at past NCAA tournaments. 
• #16 Braxton Amos is a junior world champion and #17 Jacob Cardenas is a U23 world silver medalist.
• #15 Silas Allred pinned Yonger Bastida last year.

Silas Allred's win over Yonger Bastida from last season:

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And then there are guys like #10 Jaxon Smith, #18 Tanner Harvey, and #19 Luke Stout who are all off to great starts this year with notable wins. Smith pinned Braunagel, Harvey beat Norfleet, and Stout took out Caffey.

The point is clear - 197 is the most unpredictable and chaotic weight this season! With what we’ve seen in the first half of the season, all signs point to the chaos continuing for the rest of the year and through the NCAA Tournament. 

See the top 33 at 197 pounds here in our NCAA D1 Rankings!