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The regular season is complete. Now the time has come to focus on the path to the 2016 NCAA Championships in New York City. For every wrestler in the country that path begins with a strong performance at their conference tournament. Just how strong that performance needs to be varies greatly from conference to conference and weight to weight. The NCAA uses a dynamic system to allocate NCAA spots to each conference based on the performance of individual wrestlers during the regular season. Those allocations were released this afternoon.
Conference Allocations For Each Weight
| Conference | 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | HWT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Coast Conference | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 34 |
| Big 12 Conference | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 36 |
| Big Ten Conference | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 71 |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 51 |
| Eastern Wrestling League | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| Mid-American Conference | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 41 |
| Pacific-12 Conference | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 21 |
| Southern Conference | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| TOTAL QUALIFIERS | 28 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 284 |
You'll probably note that some of the weights have 28 allocations instead of 29. That can happen if there is a tie for the 29th allocation. Rather than give both wrestlers an allocation they just reduce the number to 28 and add a fifth spot to the at large pool
What Does The Number of Allocations Mean?
The number of allocations determines how many wrestlers in each weight class at each conference championship will go on to the NCAA tournament in New York City. If a conference has earned three allocations at 149 pounds, for example, that would mean the wrestlers taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in that bracket will punch their ticket to New York.
How Were These Allocations Earned?
Wrestlers earn allocations by meeting at least two of the three qualification criteria. The three criteria are listed below.
- 0.700 win percentage against D-1 opponents. This can be slid up or down to reach 29 allocations
- Top 27 RPI. This can be slid up or down in concert with Coaches Panel ranking to reach 29 allocations
- Top 27 Coaches Panel ranking. This can be slid up of down in concert with RPI to reach 29 allocations
A wrestler who has met all three of these criteria is considered to be a Gold Standard wrestler and a wrestler who has met two of the criteria is considered to be Silver Standard. But that's not important right now.
A few things are worth noting here. First, allocations are earned by individual wrestlers but allocated to conference tournaments. That means a wrestler who did not earn an allocation can "steal" the spot of a Silver or Gold standard wrestler by upsetting them at their conference tournament. On the flipside of that, a wrestler who did earn an allocation can fail to place high enough to claim it. Second, if a conference does not have any wrestlers who earned an allocation at a given weight, one spot is given to the conference champion regardless. Third, if a wrestler earns an allocation for his conference but does not compete his bid is lost and added to the at large pool. And fourth, you never talk about Fight Club.
Who were the wrestlers that earned allocations for their conference?
That is never officially released but can be deduced with a reasonably high degree of accuracy. Based on the final coaches panel, RPI, and win percentage against Division 1 opponents, here's WRNL's best guess for who earned their conference a spot.
125
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 4 | Joey Dance - Virginia Tech | Sean Fausz - NC State | Lorenzo Bentley - Pittsburgh | Nick Herrmann - Virginia | |
| Big XII | 6 | Eddie Klimara - Oklahoma St. | Ryan Millhof - Oklahoma | Zeke Moisey - West Virginia | Josh Rodriguez - NDSU | Chasen Tolbert - Utah Valley |
| Drew Templeman - Wyoming | ||||||
| Big Ten | 7 | Nathan Tomasello - Ohio St. | Thomas Gilman - Iowa | Nico Megaludis - Penn St. | Tim Lambert - Nebraska | Elijah Oliver - Indiana |
| Conor Youtsey - Michigan | Sean McCabe - Rutgers | |||||
| EIWA | 3 | Paul Petrov - Bucknell | David Terao - American | Darian Cruz - Lehigh | ||
| EWL | 1 | Sean Russell - Edinburo | ||||
| MAC | 4 | Dylan Peters - UNI | Shakur Laney - Ohio | Barlow McGhee - Missouri | Brent Fleetwood - Central Michigan | |
| Pac-12 | 2 | Ronnie Rios - Oregon St. | Connor Schram - Stanford | |||
| SoCon | 1 | Vito Pasone - Appalachian St. |
133
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 3 | George DiCamillo - Virginia | Dom Forys - Pittsburgh | Jamal Morris - North Carolina St. | ||
| Big XII | 4 | Cody Brewer - Oklahoma | Earl Hall - Iowa St. | Josh Martinez - Air Force | Gary Wayne Harding - Oklahoma St. | |
| Big Ten | 9 | Zane Richards - Illinois | Cory Clark - Iowa | Jordan Conaway - Penn St. | Eric Montoya - Nebraska | Johnni DiJulius - Ohio St. |
| Geoffrey Alexander - Maryland | Anthony Giraldo - Rutgers | Dominick Malone - Northwestern | Samuel Brancale - Minnesota | |||
| EIWA | 3 | Nahshon Garrett - Cornell | Mason Beckman - Lehigh | Angelo Amenta - Columbia | ||
| EWL | 1 | Robert Deutsch - Rider | ||||
| MAC | 6 | Mack McGuire - Kent St. | Cameron Kelly - Ohio | Josh Alber - UNI | Emilio Saavedra - Old Dominion | Corey Keener - Central Mich. |
| Zach Synon - Missouri | ||||||
| Pac-12 | 1 | Joey Palmer - Oregon St. | ||||
| SoCon | 1 | Nathan Kraisser - Campbell |
141
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 4 | Kevin Jack - North Carolina St. | Solomon Chishko - Virginia Tech | Joseph Ward - North Carolina | Zach Finesilver - Duke | |
| Big XII | 3 | Dean Heil - Oklahoma St. | Bryce Meredith - Wyoming | Seth Gross - South Dakota St. | ||
| Big Ten | 7 | Micah Jordan - Ohio St. | Anthony Ashnault - Rutgers | Thomas Thorn - Minnesota | Anthony Abidin - Nebraska | Javier Gasca III - Michigan St. |
| Jameson Oster - Northwestern | Danny Sabatello - Purdue | |||||
| EIWA | 6 | Todd Preston - Harvard | Rick Durso - Franklin & Marshall | Randy Cruz - Lehigh | Tyler Smith - Bucknell | Jordan Laster - Princeton |
| Jamel Hudson - Hofstra | ||||||
| EWL | 1 | Brock Zacherl - Clarion | ||||
| MAC | 4 | Matt Manley - Missouri | Chris Mecate - Old Dominion | Steve Bleise - Northern Ill. | Zachary Horan - Central Mich. | |
| Pac-12 | 3 | Joey McKenna - Stanford | Ian Nickell - CSU Bakersfield | Robert Mathers - Arizona St. | ||
| SoCon | 1 | Mike Pongracz - Chattanooga |
149
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 2 | Evan Henderson - North Carolina | Mitch Finesilver - Duke | |||
| Big XII | 3 | Anthony Collica - Oklahoma St. | Davion Jeffries - Oklahoma | Alex Kocer - South Dakota St. | ||
| Big Ten | 6 | Zain Retherford - Penn St. | Brandon Sorensen - Iowa | Jake Sueflohn - Nebraska | Alec Pantaleo - Michigan | Alex Griffin - Purdue |
| Jake Short - Minnesota | ||||||
| EIWA | 5 | Charles Cobb - Penn | Matthew Cimato - Drexel | Laike Gardner - Lehigh | Victor Lopez - Bucknell | Steven Galiardo - Brown |
| EWL | 3 | Patricio Lugo - Edinboro | Daniel Neff - Lock Haven | Bryant Clagon - Rider | ||
| MAC | 5 | Lavion Mayes - Missouri | Alexander Richardson - Old Dominion | Justin Oliver - Central Mich | Mike DePalma - Kent St. | Nick Barber - Eastern Mich. |
| Pac-12 | 3 | Matthew Kraus - Arizona St. | Geo Martinez - Boise St. | Coleman Hammond - CSU Bakersfield | ||
| SoCon | 1 | Christopher Vassar - Gardner‐Webb |
157
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 3 | Thomas Gantt - North Carolina St. | Nick Brascetta - Virginia Tech | Andrew Atkinson - Virginia | ||
| Big XII | 3 | Cody Pack - South Dakota St. | Joseph Smith - Oklahoma St. | Dylan Cottrell - West Virginia | ||
| Big Ten | 7 | Jason Nolf - Penn St. | Isaiah Martinez - Illinois | Richie Lewis - Rutgers | Jake Ryan - Ohio St. | Edwin Cooper, Jr. - Iowa |
| Tyler Berger - Nebraska | Louis Mascola - Maryland | |||||
| EIWA | 6 | Dylan Palacio - Cornell | John Boyle - American | Justin Staudenmayer - Brown | Markus Scheidel - Columbia | May Bethea - Penn |
| Russell Parsons - Army | ||||||
| EWL | 2 | Chad Walsh - Rider | Gregory Flournoy - George Mason | |||
| MAC | 5 | Ian Miller - Kent St. | Luke Smith - Central Mich. | Bryce Steiert - UNI | Spartak Chino - Ohio | LeRoy Barnes - Missouri |
| Pac-12 | 1 | Conference Champion | ||||
| SoCon | 2 | Kamaal Shakur - Chattanooga | Aaron Walker - The Citadel |
165
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 5 | Max Rohskopf - North Carolina St. | David McFadden - Virginia Tech | Jake Faust - Duke | Cody Wiercioch - Pittsburgh | John Staudenmayer - North Carolina | |
| Big XII | 3 | Alex Dieringer - Oklahoma St. | Tanner Weatherman - Iowa St. | Clark Glass - Oklahoma | |||
| Big Ten | 6 | Isaac Jordan - Wisconsin | Steven Rodrigues - Illinois | Chad Welch - Purdue | Anthony Perrotti - Rutgers | Bo Jordan - Ohio St. | |
| Austin Wilson - Nebraska | |||||||
| EIWA | 4 | Ryan Preisch - Lehigh | George Pickett - Cornell | Devon Gobbo - Harvard | Tyrel White - Columbia | ||
| EWL | 2 | Connor Brennan - Rider | Casey Fuller - Edinboro | ||||
| MAC | 4 | Daniel Lewis - Missouri | Cooper Moore - UNI | Tyler Buckwalter - Kent St. | Austin Reese - Ohio | ||
| Pac-12 | 3 | Jim Wilson - Stanford | Adam Fierro - CSU Bakersfield | Seth Thomas - Oregon St. | |||
| SoCon | 1 | Conference Champion |
174
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 2 | Ethan Ramos - North Carolina | Zach Epperly - Virginia Tech | |||
| Big XII | 4 | Chandler Rogers - Oklahoma St. | Matt Reed - Oklahoma | Lelund Weatherspoon - Iowa St. | David Kocer - South Dakota St. | |
| Big Ten | 9 | Bo Nickal - Penn St. | Zach Brunson - Illinois | Alex Meyer - Iowa | Nathan Jackson - Indiana | Myles Martin - Ohio St. |
| Micah Barnes - Nebraska | Phil Bakuckas - Rutgers | Richard Robertson - Wisconsin | Nicholas Wanzek - Minnesota | |||
| EIWA | 7 | Brian Realbuto - Cornell | Casey Kent - Penn | Jonathan Schleifer - Princeton | Brian Harvey - Army West Point | Jadaen Bernstein - Navy |
| Rustin Barrick - Bucknell | Jack McKeever - Binghamton | |||||
| EWL | 1 | Conference Champion | ||||
| MAC | 3 | Blaise Butler - Missouri | Cody Walters - Ohio | Michael Ottinger - Central Mich. | ||
| Pac-12 | 2 | Bryce Hammond - CSU Bakersfield | Keaton Subjeck - Stanford | |||
| SoCon | 1 | Nick Kee - Appalachian St. |
184
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 3 | Zachary Zavatsky - Virginia Tech | Pete Renda - North Carolina St. | Alex Utley - North Carolina | ||
| Big XII | 3 | Hayden Zillmer - North Dakota St. | Nolan Boyd - Oklahoma St. | Dane Pestano - Iowa State | ||
| Big Ten | 7 | Domenic Abounader - Michigan | Timothy Dudley - Nebraska | Matt McCutcheon - Penn St. | Sammy Brooks - Iowa | Nicholas Gravina - Rutgers |
| Jeffrey Koepke - Illinois | Kenny Courts - Ohio St. | |||||
| EIWA | 7 | Gabriel Dean - Cornell | Nate Brown - Lehigh | Mathew Miller - Navy | Lorenzo Thomas - Penn | Steven Schneider - Binghamton |
| Abram Ayala - Princeton | Tom Sleigh - Bucknell | |||||
| EWL | 1 | Victor Avery - Edinboro | ||||
| MAC | 4 | Willie Miklus - Missouri | Jack Dechow - Old Dominion | Andrew Romanchik - Ohio | Jordan Ellingwood - Central Mich. | |
| Pac-12 | 2 | Blake Stauffer - Arizona St. | Garet Krohn - Stanford | |||
| SoCon | 1 | John Lampe - Chattanooga |
197
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 5 | Conner Hartmann - Duke | Jared Haught - Virginia Tech | Zachary Nye - Virginia | Michael Boykin - North Carolina St. | Chip Ness - North Carolina |
| Big XII | 4 | Jacob A. Smith - West Virginia | Nate Rotert - South Dakota St. | Preston Weigel - Oklahoma State | Trent Noon - Northern Colo. | |
| Big Ten | 6 | Morgan McIntosh - Penn St. | Brett Pfarr - Minnesota | Nathan Burak - Iowa | Maxwell Huntley - Michigan | Aaron Studebaker - Nebraska |
| Mark Martin - Ohio St. | ||||||
| EIWA | 4 | Brett Harner - Princeton | John Bolich - Lehigh | Michael Woulfe - Navy | Bryce Barnes - Army West Point | |
| EWL | 3 | Ryan Wolfe - Rider | Sam Wheeler - Cleveland St. | Phil Sprenkle - Lock Haven | ||
| MAC | 5 | J`Den Cox - Missouri | Phil Wellington - Ohio | Kyle Conel - Kent St. | Shawn Scott - Northern Ill. | Anthony Abro - Eastern Mich. |
| Pac-12 | 1 | Ruben Franklin - CSU Bakersfield | ||||
| SoCon | 1 | Marshall Haas - The Citadel |
HWT
| Conference | # of Allocations | Silver/Gold Wrestlers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | 3 | Nick Gwiazdowski - North Carolina St. | Ty Walz - Virginia Tech | Ryan Solomon - Pittsburgh | ||
| Big XII | 3 | Austin Marsden - Oklahoma St. | Ross Larson - Oklahoma | Tanner Harms - Wyoming | ||
| Big Ten | 7 | Adam Coon - Michigan | Sam Stoll - Iowa | Michael Kroells - Minnesota | Billy Smith - Rutgers | Collin Jensen - Nebraska |
| Dawson Peck - Maryland | Brooks Black - Illinois | |||||
| EIWA | 6 | Joe Stolfi - Bucknell | Max Wessell - Lehigh | Mike Hughes - Hofstra | Jeramy Sweany - Cornell | Ray O`Donnell - Princeton |
| Garrett Ryan - Columbia | ||||||
| EWL | 2 | Riley Shaw - Cleveland St. | William Miller - Edinboro | |||
| MAC | 1 | Blaize Cabell - UNI | ||||
| Pac-12 | 3 | Amarveer Dhesi - Oregon St. | Tanner Hall - Arizona St. | Nathan Butler - Stanford | ||
| SoCon | 3 | Denzel Dejournette - Appalachian St. | Jared Johnson - Chattanooga | Boyce Cornwell - Gardner‐Webb |
What about the other four NCAA spots at each weight
In addition to the 29 spots that are allocated to the various conference championships at each weight class, four spots are held back by the tournament committee to be awarded after all conference championships are over. These spots generally go to highly ranked wrestlers who get upset and/or injured at their conference tournament. However, if there are few upsets at a given weight sometimes a wrestler who just missed getting an allocation can sneak in to NCAAs with one of the last few at large spots.
To be eligible for at large consideration a wrestler must meet at least two of the following criteria:
- 0.700 win percentage against D-1 opponents.
- Top 33 RPI (recalculated after conference tournaments have finished)
- Top 33 in post conference tournaments Coaches Panel ranking
- 0.700 win percentage against all opponents
- One win against a Gold or Silver standard wrestler
- Finishing one spot below NCAA qualification at their conference tournament
Wrestlers who meet this standard are all placed into a pool and ranked on the following using a formula, with the top four earning an at large bid.
- Head to head results (25%)
- Wins over ranked opponents (20%)
- Coaches Panel rank (15%)
- Results against common opponents (10%)
- RPI (10%)
- Conference tournament placement (10%)
- Overall win percentage (10%)
At large berths are announced along with the reveal of brackets for the National Championship tournament on March 10th.
When Are The Conference Tournaments And How Can I Watch Them?
Good question. See below.
Participating schools: Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech
Where: Charlottesville, VA
When: March 6th
How to watch: ESPN3
Participating schools: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin
Where: Iowa City, IA
When: March 5th & 6th
How to watch: Early rounds on BTN2Go. Finals on BTN.
Participating schools: Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Wyoming, Utah Valley
Where: Kansas City, MO
When: March 5th & 6th
How to watch: Flowrestling for the early rounds. Fox Sports Net for the finals
Participating schools: American, Army, Binghamton, Brown, Bucknell, Columbia, Cornell, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, Harvard, Hofstra, Lehigh, Navy, Penn, Princeton, Sacred Heart
Where: Princeton, NJ
When: March 5th and 6th
How to watch: FloWrestling
Participating schools: Bloomsburg, Clarion, Cleveland State, Edinburo, George Mason, Lock Haven, Rider
Where: Lock Haven, PA
When: March 5th
How to watch: No stream or TV available
MAC Championships:
Participating schools: Missouri, Kent State, Central Michigan, Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Northern Iowa, Buffalo, Northern Illinois, Old Dominion
Where: Ypsilanti, MI
When: March 5th & 6th
How to watch: ESPN3
Participating schools: Arizona State, Stanford, Oregon State, Boise State, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield
Where: Tempe, AZ
When: February 27th
How to watch: Early rounds will be available to stream for free via the Pac-12 Network. Finals will be on the Pac-12 Network at 8 p.m. Eastern on February 27th
Participating schools: App State, Chattanooga, Gardner-Webb, Southern Illinois - Edwardsville, Campbell, The Citadel, VMI, Davidson
Where: Asheville, NC
When: March 5th
How to watch: No stream or TV available
Next up
We'll preview the Big XII Championship next Friday.