NCAA standings for Most Dominant Wrestler, most falls and most tech falls

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.

In Division I, two-time national champion Zahid Valencia of Arizona State holds the lead over a pair of Penn State wrestlers in the running for most dominant. Valencia averages 4.89 team points per match, while national champion 174-pounder Mark Hall is second with 4.79 points and 141-pounder Nick Lee is third with 4.76.  Princeton 125-pounder Pat Glory is part of a strong top four with 4.74 points, while fifth place sits at 4.42.

POLL: Check out the latest NWCA rankings

Two-time national champion Chris Eddins Jr., of Pittsburgh-Johnstown leads the Most Dominant Wrestler standings in Division II with an average of 4.74 points.  McKendree 197-pounder Ryan Vasbinder and Notre Dame (Ohio) heavyweight Jared Campbell complete the top three in the division.

Division III Most Dominant Wrestler is led by Coast Guard 165-pounder Nicholas Moreno with 5.40 team points per match, followed by Troy Stanich of Stevens with 5.35 and Robert Areyano of Central (Iowa) with 5.25.

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 with a minimum of 16 matches to be ranked. Points per match are awarded as follows.

NCAA Stat Leaders - Most Dominant

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.A 1:15 fall by Cornell’s Ben Darmstadt over Binghamton on Saturday was his 13th of the season and fast enough for him to lead a three-way tie for most falls in Division I. Last year’s winner, Matt Stencel of Central Michigan is second, while Northern Iowa’s Jacob Schwarm is third.

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. Bellarmine 141-pounder Gage Branson is the only other Division II wrestler in double figures with 10.

A 42-second fall by New England College’s Evan Fidelibus over Nathaniel Grimard of Southern Maine moved him into first place in Division III with 21 as his 28-minute lead in aggregate time gives him the tiebreaker over Marvin Cunningham of JWU (Providence).

George Mason 141-pounder Alex Madrigal won 19-2 over Bloomsburg on Sunday to notch his Division I-leading 12th tech fall of the season and move four ahead of Iowa’s Spencer Lee, Oklahoma State’s Nicholas Piccininni and Princeton’s Pat Glory with eight.

CLOSE CALL: The race for the 133-pound champion heats up

McKendree 197-pounder Ryan Vasbinder shut out Zach Fry of UIndy, 18-0, and increased his lead in Division II tech falls as his nine on the season are three more than a quartet of wrestlers with six.

The race remains tight in Division III for most tech falls with three wrestlers within one fall of each other. Ahken Chu of SUNY Oneonta and Stephen Maloney of Messiah both have 14, while Tyler Gazaway is sitting on 13 tech falls for Roger Williams.

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.

NCAA Stat Leaders – Falls

NCAA Stat Leaders – Tech Falls