NC State won't be back on the wrestling mat for another two weeks, but the national rankings got shaken up due to the Cliff Keen Invite in Vegas and a few other big results.
In the coaches' poll, NC State is No. 6, one slot behind Virginia Tech.
However, the coaches' poll is dual rankings, which nobody is as interested in as tournament rankings. Here's a breakdown of where things stand in tourney rankings from a few different outlets:
FloWrestling
My personal favorite rankings site. 125 Jakob Camacho, 133 Jarrett Trombley and 174 Daniel Bullard are all out of their top 25s (I don't think 149 AJ Leitten or either heavyweight cracked the rankings yet this year). Here's where everyone else checks in:
141 Tariq Wilson - 13
157 Hayden Hidlay - 2
165 Thomas Bullard - 11
184 Trent Hidlay- 2
197 Nick Reenan - 11
With the above plugged into a scoring rubric (No. 1 gets points corresponding to 1st at NCAAs, No. 2 to second, etc.), NC State sits ninth as a team. However, Wilson and Reenan are both capable of placing much higher than 11th and D.Bullard, Camacho and Trombley should be able to score points at NCAAs (they contribute zero to the formula now), so you can see where there's room to rise.
One other thing to look at is how much these guys can go up. For example, Virginia Tech has eight of their 10 starters in the top 25 … that's great for a dual match. But for tourney purposes, you have to have guys that can place top 8 or higher to do really well. All but three of their guys are ranked 15th or lower — one of the three ranked higher than that is 12th and their highest is No. 3 Hunter Bolen (184) … so the rubric spits out them being in 16th place at NCAAs with only two All-Americans.
I mention that to say this — I feel Wilson and Reenan in particular at 11th is very conservative, so that gives NC State a lot of room for growth potential. If we're talking NC State with four All-Americans (Wilson, Hidlay, Hidlay, Reenan) and one or all of Camacho, D. Bullard or Trombley are in the teens (a few wins at NCAAs), that's a formula for tourney success.
WIN Magazine
I feel WIN is worth bringing up because of what I said above AND the tight spread their rankings show for third through the two teams tied for ninth … less than 10 points. Using the scoring rubric, 10 tourney points (without bonus points) is essentially a fifth-place finisher.
Out of the teams in that 3-9 conversation, No. 4 Nebraska (9) and No. 7 NCSU (7) have the most ranked grapplers, which gives them a lot of bullets in the chamber to try finding that extra All-American to come out of top (or third, in this case … it's highly unlikely anybody but Iowa or Penn State finish among the top 2).
Here's where the Wolfpackers rank:
133 Trombley 20
141 Wilson 16
157 Hidlay 2
165 T. Bullard 14
174 D. Bullard 17
184 Hidlay 2
197 Reenan 6
Again, lots of room for Wilson to improve on his ranking. If he, for example, places fifth instead of 16th that would likely move NC State up to third place, and probably pretty comfortably. As it stands, their rubric results in the Pack placing seventh.
InterMat
I include these because they are considered "official" by NC State. They are also the most bullish on the Wolfpack (and these two facts do not coincide, NC State has always used intermat as official rankings):
141 Wilson 13
157 Hidlay 2
165 T. Bullard 8
174 D. Bullard 17
184 Hidlay 2
197 Reenan 4
Obviously, the Pack gets a bump from both Thomas Bullard and Reenan being All-Americans, alongside the Hidlays, and this doesn't even have Wilson placing. However, I feel their numbers are pretty close to a best-case scenario for NCSU … the rubric results in the Pack placing fourth — six points behind No. 3 Ohio State, one point ahead of No. 5 Nebraska and two points ahead of No. 6 Arizona State. So another tight grouping.
Anyway, that's where things stand from a national rankings perspective right now. Hope it all made sense and I didn't ramble on too much.
There will be a ton more movement as the year goes on, the season is just getting started! Pack will be back in action Jan. 1-2 at the Southern Scuffle, always a great tournament (though unfortunately no longer in Greensboro).
In the coaches' poll, NC State is No. 6, one slot behind Virginia Tech.
However, the coaches' poll is dual rankings, which nobody is as interested in as tournament rankings. Here's a breakdown of where things stand in tourney rankings from a few different outlets:
FloWrestling
My personal favorite rankings site. 125 Jakob Camacho, 133 Jarrett Trombley and 174 Daniel Bullard are all out of their top 25s (I don't think 149 AJ Leitten or either heavyweight cracked the rankings yet this year). Here's where everyone else checks in:
141 Tariq Wilson - 13
157 Hayden Hidlay - 2
165 Thomas Bullard - 11
184 Trent Hidlay- 2
197 Nick Reenan - 11
With the above plugged into a scoring rubric (No. 1 gets points corresponding to 1st at NCAAs, No. 2 to second, etc.), NC State sits ninth as a team. However, Wilson and Reenan are both capable of placing much higher than 11th and D.Bullard, Camacho and Trombley should be able to score points at NCAAs (they contribute zero to the formula now), so you can see where there's room to rise.
One other thing to look at is how much these guys can go up. For example, Virginia Tech has eight of their 10 starters in the top 25 … that's great for a dual match. But for tourney purposes, you have to have guys that can place top 8 or higher to do really well. All but three of their guys are ranked 15th or lower — one of the three ranked higher than that is 12th and their highest is No. 3 Hunter Bolen (184) … so the rubric spits out them being in 16th place at NCAAs with only two All-Americans.
I mention that to say this — I feel Wilson and Reenan in particular at 11th is very conservative, so that gives NC State a lot of room for growth potential. If we're talking NC State with four All-Americans (Wilson, Hidlay, Hidlay, Reenan) and one or all of Camacho, D. Bullard or Trombley are in the teens (a few wins at NCAAs), that's a formula for tourney success.
WIN Magazine
I feel WIN is worth bringing up because of what I said above AND the tight spread their rankings show for third through the two teams tied for ninth … less than 10 points. Using the scoring rubric, 10 tourney points (without bonus points) is essentially a fifth-place finisher.
Out of the teams in that 3-9 conversation, No. 4 Nebraska (9) and No. 7 NCSU (7) have the most ranked grapplers, which gives them a lot of bullets in the chamber to try finding that extra All-American to come out of top (or third, in this case … it's highly unlikely anybody but Iowa or Penn State finish among the top 2).
Here's where the Wolfpackers rank:
133 Trombley 20
141 Wilson 16
157 Hidlay 2
165 T. Bullard 14
174 D. Bullard 17
184 Hidlay 2
197 Reenan 6
Again, lots of room for Wilson to improve on his ranking. If he, for example, places fifth instead of 16th that would likely move NC State up to third place, and probably pretty comfortably. As it stands, their rubric results in the Pack placing seventh.
InterMat
I include these because they are considered "official" by NC State. They are also the most bullish on the Wolfpack (and these two facts do not coincide, NC State has always used intermat as official rankings):
141 Wilson 13
157 Hidlay 2
165 T. Bullard 8
174 D. Bullard 17
184 Hidlay 2
197 Reenan 4
Obviously, the Pack gets a bump from both Thomas Bullard and Reenan being All-Americans, alongside the Hidlays, and this doesn't even have Wilson placing. However, I feel their numbers are pretty close to a best-case scenario for NCSU … the rubric results in the Pack placing fourth — six points behind No. 3 Ohio State, one point ahead of No. 5 Nebraska and two points ahead of No. 6 Arizona State. So another tight grouping.
Anyway, that's where things stand from a national rankings perspective right now. Hope it all made sense and I didn't ramble on too much.
There will be a ton more movement as the year goes on, the season is just getting started! Pack will be back in action Jan. 1-2 at the Southern Scuffle, always a great tournament (though unfortunately no longer in Greensboro).
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