NCAA wrestling award standings update for the 2022 season, including most dominant 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 results 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 falls and tech falls categories are broken based on the aggregate time.

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, Air Force heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson leads the early standings for Most Dominant Wrestler with an average of 5.44 team points per match behind his 16-0 D-I record with 11 falls, which is tied for the second-most in the division. The national leader in tech falls, Sebastian Rivera of Rutgers, is second with a 4.90 average, while two-time national champion Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell is third with a 4.72 average.

A national champion in 2019, Matt Malcom of Nebraska-Kearney leads the Most Dominant standings in Division II with 4.88 team points per match, which is a significant lead over second place Dalton Abney of Central Oklahoma at 4.50, while West Liberty 125-pounder Cole Laya is third at 4.33.

MORE RANKINGS: Penn cracks NWCA top 25 for first time since 2013 after wild weekend

RIT 157-pounder Kaidon Winters leads in the race for Division III Most Dominant with 5.57 team points per match but is followed closely by the tandem of Millikin 165-pounder Braden Birt and Coe heavyweight Kaleb Reeves who are both averaging 5.48 team points per match.

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)

King Sandoval of Maryland continues to pace Division I in falls with 13 on the season as he’s moved two ahead of the pack with four wrestlers holding 11 falls.  Based on aggregate time that group is led by North Dakota State 197-pounder Owen Pentz, followed by South Dakota State 165-pounder Tanner Cook, Bloomsburg 141-pounder Josh Mason and Hendrickson.

UIndy 149-pounder Logan Bailey notched another fall and now has the sole lead in Division II with 12 falls, one more than Tiffin’s Nicholas Mason and two more than Augustus Dalton of Colorado Mesa.

TAKING OVER: Here's how Penn State claimed the top spot in the national rankings for the first time in 2022

Division III has a new leader in falls as Washington & Lee 165-pounder Joe Salerno has reached 19 falls and holds a 1:03 aggregate time advantage over Michael Gonyea of Castleton’s 19 falls. Salerno and Gonyea hold a two-fall lead over the next group which is led by the top two wrestlers in the Most Dominant standings of Birt and Winters. 

Rivera has picked up another technical fall to reach 12 and extend his lead to six over the quartet of wrestlers that have six tech falls in Division I.

Nebraska-Kearney teammates Austin Eldridge and Malcom continue to lead the way in Division II tech falls. Eldridge holds the overall lead with 12, while Malcom has 10 as the only two wrestlers to reach double figures in the division.

Johnson & Wales 174-pounder Michael Ross had a dominant start to the season and recently added a 20th technical fall to his new Division III record since the implementation of the awards, moving two ahead of the 18 from Stephen Jarrell of Johnson & Wales in 2017. Augsburg 157-pounder Tyler Shilson is having an excellent season in his own right with his 14 tech falls in second putting him significantly ahead of third-place Cooper Pontelandolfo of NYU in third with 11.