2020-21 Domestic Rankings - Greco-Roman

77 Kilograms

He locked down his third career National title, and in the process, superior’ed the top-ranked two-time World Team member. There was nowhere else for Kendrick Sanders to go but up -- way up. In September, Sanders was ranked #12 -- admittedly a little low given his history and talent, but also fair due to his inconsistency. Now? He has skyrocketed to #6. What everyone witnessed on Friday was that when Sanders is feeling confident, he is inarguably one of the most devastatingly efficient and dynamic athletes in the entire country. 

New in the rankings are three athletes, and two with ties to the Minnesota program. First is Alec Ortiz (#11), who wow’ed observers with his movement, explosiveness, and nonstop pace. Ortiz has always been a go’er, but seemed to have an extra gear in the tournament. A lot of eyes were on uber-prospect Peyton Robb, and he did not disappoint. A gifted and intense athlete, Robb couldn’t have been more impressive in his first major Senior event. And, to whom did he fall? The two biggest maniacs in the weight class, Pat Smith and Ortiz. 

Three-time U23 World Team member Jesse Porter just missed the cut in September but is now ranked #14, one ahead of Robb. Augsburg’s two-time National champ Ryan Epps is not ranked this time around, but if he keeps showing up to these things, his climb up the charts is seen as an eventuality. His potential is can’t-miss.

Transparency Report: The ‘20 Nationals -- for everyone -- was obviously an event held under unique circumstances. Wrestlers from military programs were not permitted to compete, and many top athletes chose not to enter due to a variety of reasons, be it travel restrictions, lack of adequate training, dissatisfaction with the event’s place on the calendar -- or in some cases, the absence of prize money and procedural incentives. 

Because of this, an effort was made not to penalize those who decided to sit out of the tournament. This is not to say that all athletes who declined to participate kept their prior ranking. In several weight categories, there are athletes who dropped a spot or two. One in particular was ‘18 US National Team member David Tate Orndorff, who competed in Iowa but bypassed Greco in favor of freestyle. And given their results, some wrestlers have deservedly moved up in their respective weight classes. Such is how rankings operate. 

At the same time, one fortuitous byproduct of the encouraging amount of participation was that it now allows for rankings to go from #1 to #15, which was the original objective for this endeavor upon conception.

For a full overview on how the ranking system works, please view this article.

For questions and feedback, contact Tim Hands of 5 Point Move vis email (info@fivepointmove.com) and Twitter (@5PtMove).