INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has released updated standings for the 2018 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.
RELATED: Iowa vaults to No. 4 in latest poll
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.
Hofstra heavyweight Mike Hughes and Penn State teammates Jason Nolf and Zain Retherford each have 12 falls in Division I, but Hughes holds the tiebreaker for the top position with an aggregate time of 18:39, 14 minutes faster than Nolf in second.
In Division II, Central Oklahoma 165-pounder Mason Thompson is off to a fast start with 10 falls. Trenton Piatt of Western State and Jarrod Hinrichs of Nebraska-Kearney have each compiled nine.
Wheaton (Illinois) 184-pounder Isaac Odell leads all three divisions with 15 falls, three more than Isaiah Bellamy of Wesleyan (Connecticut) and Dante Ginnetti of Baldwin Wallace.
North Dakota State’s Cam Sykora has taken sole possession of the Division I lead for tech falls with eight at 133 pounds, while four wrestlers are still in good position with seven.
It’s a family affair atop the standings in Division II where brothers Nick and Nate Vandermeer lead the way. Nick Vandermeer is in first with six tech falls at 165 pounds for Lake Erie, while younger brother Nate has five at 174 pounds for Findlay.
Loras 149-pounder Jimmy Davis leads Division III with 10 tech falls in an aggregate time of 40:19 to rank ahead of Cross Cannone (Wartburg) and Kyle Koser (Messiah), who each also have 10 tech falls in a longer amount of time.
The initial Most Dominant Wrestler standings will be released later this season to allow wrestlers to achieve the minimum amount of matches that is required to be eligible for the standings.
