NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler Award standings unveiled

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has released updated standings for the 2020 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. 

For falls and tech falls to be counted for the awards they must come against opponents in the same division (i.e. Division II vs. Division II). Ties in the two categories are broken based on the aggregate time.

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This week features the unveiling of standings for the Most Dominant Wrestler award, which features a 15-match minimum to qualify for the standings.

In Division I, two-time national champion Zahid Valencia of Arizona State holds the slimmest of leads over Penn State 141-pounder Nick Lee for the award. Valencia averages 4.89 team points per match, while Lee sits at 4.88. Princeton 125-pounder Pat Glory, Nittany Lion 174-pounder Mark Hall and Michigan heavyweight Mason Parris round out the top five.

Two-time national champion Chris Eddins Jr., of Pittsburgh-Johnstown leads the Most Dominant Wrestler standings in Division II with an average of 4.83 points.  McKendree 197-pounder Ryan Vasbinder and Central Oklahoma 184-pounder Heath Gray complete the top three in the division.

Division III Most Dominant Wrestler is led by Stevens 149-pounder Brett Kaliner with an average of 5.52 points, while a pair of teammates from Coast Guard are in close pursuit with Nicholas Moreno and Patrick Irwin at 5.40 and 5.30 points, respectively.

 The Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated by adding the total number of team points awarded through match results and dividing that number by the total number of matches wrestled. Points per match are awarded as follows. 

• Fall, forfeit, injury default or DQ = 6 points (-6 points for a loss)
• Tech falls = 5 points (-5 points for a loss)
• Major decision = 4 points (-4 points for a loss)
• Decision = 3 points (-3 points for a loss

NCAA Stat Leaders – Most Dominant

*15-match minimum in division required to be ranked.

Last season’s winner of the award for most falls in Division I is back in the lead looking for a repeat as Central Michigan heavyweight Matt Stencel posted a pair of falls, both in less than a minute, over Buffalo and Kent State last week.  Cornell’s Ben Darmstadt earned a fall over Penn to keep pace with 12 on the season in second.

Tiffin 174-pounder Hayden Bronne, the 2018 winner in Division II for most falls, is pulling away as he looks for his second career award in this category.  He is up to 18 falls on the season, five more than Fort Hays State’s AJ Cooper and nine more than the next group of wrestlers in the standings.

New England College’s Evan Fidelibus tallied one fall last week to move to 20 on the season and within one of national leader Marvin Cunningham of JWU (Providence) in Division III.

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George Mason 141-pounder Alex Madrigal won 19-2 over Hofstra over the weekend to notch his Division I-leading 11th tech fall of the season and move three ahead of Iowa’s Spencer Lee, Oklahoma State’s Nicholas Piccininni and Princeton’s Pat Glory. 

With a 20-4 victory over Central Missouri, McKendree 197-pounder Ryan Vasbinder increased his lead in Division II tech falls as his eight on the season are two more than Anthony Mancini of Nebraska-Kearney and Carlos Jacquez of Lindenwood (Missouri).

A pair of technical falls over Penn College and Oswego State have moved SUNY Oneonta 141-pounder Ahken Chu into the national lead in Division III with 13 tech falls in a combined time of 49:26. The time is critical because that gives him the tiebreaker over Tyler Gazaway of Roger Williams and Stephen Maloney of Messiah who also have compiled 13 tech falls.

NCAA Stat Leaders – Falls

NCAA Stat Leaders – Tech Falls