2021-22 NCAA DI Rankings

IndubitabLEE

It may look odd to see a two-time NCAA champ who hasn't lost since 2017 to receive the #2 ranking, but Yianni is behind Nick Lee because he also hasn't wrestled a collegiate match since the 2019 NCAA finals. So when comparing resumes, we're giving the benefit of the doubt to the 2021 champ, and make that call without any regard to the outcome of any freestyle matches by those two wrestlers or any others for that matter. 

We've got two newcomers to the weight class (with a caveat that all weights are provisional at this time), with Austin Gomez back in action with the Badgers and Rutgers' Sammy Alvarez moving up a division. Alvarez was ranked higher for most of the 2021 season but not wrestling at Big Tens (and thus the NCAAs) hurt his preseason ranking.

We're penciling Lehigh's national qualifier, Malyke Hines, in up a weight at 141. As with everyone else, matches were few and far between last season so placing Hines in context was no easy task. 

It also looks like Utah Valley's Ty Smith will be up a weight class from where he competed during the 2021 season. 

Update - November 1, 2021

Big changes at the top as a pair of NCAA finalists announce they are planning to wrestle 141. We had both Rivera and Micic down at 133, but we've moved them back into what now looks like one of the toughest divisions in college.

Although Micic has the last win over Rivera, that was back in 2019, and Rivera has wrestled two seasons worth of matches since then, whereas Micic deferred eligibility to focus on freestyle and the Olympics. Thus, we give Rivera the edge for now. 

We had Andrew Alirez up at 149, but it appears the Greeley, Colorado native will be down at 141 this season, and so we have him ranked accordingly. 

McKenzie Bell will be taking a redshirt, which makes room for transfer Quinn Kinner to take the spot for the Rider Broncs. Additionally, Jordan Decatur won his wrestle-offs with both Anthony Echemendia and Dylan D'Emilio, and so we have him in the rankings for the Buckeyes. 

Finally, Austin Gomez announced his intention to move up to 149, which left a spot in the rankings for Franklin & Marshall's Wil Gil to nab. 

Do you have questions or comments for the rankers? We welcome and encourage your feedback. Hit up Andrew Spey (email: Andrew.Spey@flosports.tv; Twitter: @SpeyWrestle) and JD Rader (email: jd.rader@flosports.tv; Twitter: @rader_jd)