We’re just a few days away from the start of the 2023-24 college wrestling season! Before wrestling gets underway, we thought it’d be a great time to do a deep dive into this year’s trophy contenders by looking at the teams that are returning the most points from the 2023 NCAA Tournament into the 2023-24 season and our current NCAA Team Rankings. This isn’t a predictive article, but the data below does help show what teams have experienced wrestlers in their lineups compared to those who have yet to prove themselves on the big stage. 

Team Rank By Returning Points From 2023 NCAAs

The table below shows the top 20 ranked teams based on points scored at the 2023 NCAA Championships from athletes who are returning for the 2023-24 season. We also included columns that show the points scored by each team at the 2023 Tournament along with the points earned that each team will "lose" from wrestlers graduating or transferring.

Top 10 Returning Points By Weight

1. Penn State

Penn State lost valuable team points last year with the graduation of Roman Bravo-Young (133) and Max Dean (197). However, the Nittany Lions had success in the transfer portal with the addition of Aaron Nagao and Bernie Truax. With those additions, Penn State actually returns more team points this year than they scored at the NCAA Tournament last year! That’s a remarkable stat and is just another reason why the Nittany Lions are big favorites to win another National Title in 2024. 

2. Iowa

Replacing Spencer Lee, Max Murin, and Jacob Warner won’t be an easy task for Iowa this year but even with those losses, Iowa still returns the second-most team points in the country. Like Penn State, Iowa had success in the transfer portal picking up Victor Voinovich (149), Jared Franek (157), and Michael Caliendo (165). Those transfers, along with Drake Ayala coming into the lineup at 125, will keep Iowa as a trophy contender and the current favorite to finish second-place behind Penn State. 

3. Missouri

Unlike Penn State and Iowa, all of Missouri’s returning team points are from wrestlers who started for Missouri last season. The Tigers lost only two starters from their 2023 squad - Allan Hart (141) and Jarrett Jacques (157). Josh Edmond and Cam Steed will likely replace man the starting spots at 141 and 157 respectively this year and have the potential to match and exceed the 3.5 points Missouri lost due to graduation.

4. Cornell

Cornell took third place at the NCAA Tournament last year but is losing the 22 points scored by NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis. At first glance, that’s a lot to recover but digging a little deeper Cornell might actually be set up to have an even better tournament in 2024. Meyer Shapiro will enter the lineup at 157 and looks to be a national title contender right now. 2022 All-American Jonathan Loew will return to the lineup at 184 after going down last season with an injury. Then there’s Lewis Fernandes who also suffered a season-ending injury last year but is now ranked #10 at heavyweight. Put all of that together and the Big Red look poised to bring home another trophy in 2024.

5. Michigan

Not only did Michigan lose 23.5 points from their Hodge winner in Mason Parris, but they also are losing points from Cole Mattin (5) Chance Lamer (4), and Matt Finesilver (1.5). However, the Wolverines may have made the most noise in the transfer portal by picking up 4 past All-Americans - Michael DeAgustino, Chris Cannon, Shane Griffith, and Lucas Davison. Michigan finished 6th at last year’s NCAA Tournament and with 6 past All-Americans on their team, they have the ability to challenge for a trophy this year. The biggest question marks for the Wolverines this year will be 141, 149, and 197. They'll need to find significant team points in those weights to fend off some of the other teams on this list.

6. Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech returns 5 All-Americans to their lineup this season and is currently ranked to finish 4th in our NCAA Team Rankings. The Hokies will have All-American contenders throughout their lineup but will need production out of Mac Church (141), Connor Brady (165), Sam Fisher (184), Andy Smith (197), and Hunter Catka (285) if they hope to bring home a trophy from this year’s NCAA Tournament

6. NC State

NC State is only losing points due to Isaac Trumble taking a redshirt this season. Other than that, the Wolfpack are returning all of their NCAA All-Americans/qualifiers from last season and have the potential to upgrade their 10th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Jarrett Tromlbey/Jakob Camacho (125), Ryan Jack (141), Jackson Arrington (149), and Owen Trephan all finished off the podium last year but will be All-American threats in 2024 and could give NC State enough points to break into the top 5 this year.

8. South Dakota State

South Dakota State finished 14th at last year’s NCAA Tournament and only lost points from graduating heavyweight AJ Nevills. Returning NCAA finalist Tanner Sloan and All-American Clay Carlson bring back the bulk of the points this year but the Jack Rabbits also have All-American contenders in Cael Swensen (157) and Cade DeVos (174). Beyond that, top recruit Bennett Berge could make some noise at 184 and help give South Dakota State their first top-10 finish in school history.

9. Iowa State

Iowa State finished 11th at last year’s NCAA Tournament and lost valuable points from Paniro Johnson (redshirting), Marcus Coleman (graduated), and Sam Schuyler (graduated). Despite losing those wrestlers, the Cyclones added All-American Will Feldkamp from the transfer portal as well as top recruit Cody Chittum (who had previously committed to Iowa). It’s also worth noting that Yonger Bastida is moving up to heavyweight after failing to All-American at 197 last year. If Bastida is able to return to his form from 2022 when he placed 5th at NCAAs, the Cyclones should expect to finish in the top 10 and have trophy potential.

10. Oklahoma State

After finishing a disappointing 18th place at the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Oklahoma State strengthened its lineup through the transfer portal by adding All-American Izzak Olejnik at 165 along with Troy Spratley (125), Sammy Alvarez (141), and Tagen Jamison (141). With Olejnik’s team points, the Cowboys actually return more points than they scored at last year’s tournament. However, they’ll still need solid production from young wrestlers in the lineup like Jordan Williams (149) and Brayden Thompson (174) if they hope to move up the top 10.

Other Trophy Potential Teams

While the ten teams above are returning the most team points from last year to this year, there are a few other teams that are worth highlighting. The below rankings are our current NCAA Team Rankings calculated by tournament points attributed from our individual weight class rankings. With these rankings in mind, Nebraska, Arizona State, and Ohio State should all be considered trophy contenders this year.

Current Top 20 NCAA Team Rankings:

Nebraska 

Nebraska finished 8th last year but lost 28 points with the graduation of Liam Cronin and Mikey Labriola. However, Ridge Lovett is returning to the starting lineup this year after redshirting last year and is currently ranked #1 in the nation at 149 pounds. On top of that, the Huskers added transfer Caleb Smith at 125 who will be an All-American contender this year. All-Americans Brock Hardy and Peyton Robb also return for the Huskers this year and are capable of scoring big points at the NCAA Tournament. Add on guys like Silas Allred (197), Elise Brown Ton (174), Lenny Pinto (184), and Jacob Van Dee (133), and Nebraska can definitely contend for a trophy this year.

Arizona State

Arizona State finished 7th at the 2023 NCAA Tournament and graduated All-Americans Brandon Courtney (125) and Michael McGee (133). However, the Sun Devils will insert Richard Figueroa into the lineup this year at 125 and he looks to be an NCAA title contender right now. Along with the addition of Figueroa, Arizona State returns Jacori Teemer to the lineup at 157 after he missed last season with an injury. Teemer, Kyle Parco, and Cohlton Schultz are all multiple-time All-Americans and will look to lead the Sun Devils to their 3rd trophy finish in the last four years.

Ohio State

Ohio State is actually losing the most team points of any school in the country at 46.5 team points lost from the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes will have to replace 3 of their most significant point scores from last season in Sammy Sasso, Ethan Smith, and Kaleb Romero. Despite those losses, Buckeye fans should be excited about the 2023-24 lineup with potential All-American threats at almost every weight. Nic Bouzakis, Paddy Gallagher, Bryce Hepner, Seth Shumate, and Nick Feldman will all need to wrestle beyond their current ranking in order to vault Ohio State up the standing but the potential is there for the Buckeyes and they will be a fascinating team to watch this season.