NCAA wrestling award standings update for the 2022 season, including falls and tech falls leaders

INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA has released updated standings for the 2022 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.

King Sandoval of Maryland holds the sole lead in Division I with 11 falls at 133 pounds, but he has a group of four wrestlers chasing him with 10 falls. That group is led by Owen Pentz of North Dakota State, followed by Tanner Cook of South Dakota State and Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force who are separated by less than two minutes of aggregate time.

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UIndy 149-pounder Logan Bailey had a big weekend with three falls to move into the lead in Division II over Tiffin’s Nicholas Mason. Both wrestlers have 11 falls, but Bailey has reached that mark in eight minutes less aggregate time than Mason.

Michael Gonyea of Castleton has raced to the top spot in Division III with 19 falls at 133 pounds this season, while Washington & Lee 165-pounder Joe Salerno has 18.

Rutgers 141-pounder Sebastian Rivera has already established a dominant lead in Division I with 11 tech falls this season, including five in a row during the season against Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan. The next closest group of wrestlers have six tech falls, led by Michael McGee of Arizona State in an aggregate time of 25:32. 

Nebraska-Kearney 174-pounder Austin Eldredge has pulled ahead of teammate Matt Malcom in Division II with a lead of two, 11-9, in tech falls. Brock Biddle of Pittsburgh-Johnstown and Cole Houser of Glenville State each have eight tech falls. 

Johnson & Wales 174-pounder Michael Ross had a dominant start to the season and has already broken the Division III record since the implementation of the awards with 19 tech falls this season, one more than the 18 from Stephen Jarrell of Johnson & Wales in 2017. 

The initial Most Dominant Wrestler standings will be released later this season to allow wrestlers to achieve the minimum number of matches required to be eligible for the standings.