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2016 D1 NCAA Wrestling Championships Conference Allocations Announced

The Big XII earns 36 spots, led by 125 pounds with six allocations

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

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.

ACC Championships:

Participating schools: Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Where: Charlottesville, VA

When: March 6th

How to watch: ESPN3

Big Ten Championships:

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.

BIG XII Championships:

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

EIWA Championships:

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

EWL Championships:

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

Pac-12 Championships:

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

SoCon Championships:

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.