2x NCAA All-American Ryan Deakin (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)
Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released.
These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too.
Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled:
#50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
#49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell)
#48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State)
#47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa)
#46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri)
#45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)
#44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)
#43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri)
#42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)
#41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers)
#40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota)
#39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
#38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
#37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State)
#36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa)
#35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)
#34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)
#33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell)
#32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton)
#31 - Max Dean (Penn State)
#30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
#29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska)
#28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh)
#27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa)
#26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)
#25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly)
#24 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
Next is…
#23 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)
Weight: 157 lbs
Year: Senior
Career Record: 96-15
Hometown: Broomfield, Colorado
College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 3rd, 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American, 2019 NCAA 6th, 2x Big Ten Champion
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #3 at 157 lbs
Coming out of high school, Ryan Deakin was not considered a slam-dunk, sure-thing for the Northwestern staff. Deakin was ranked among the Class of 2016; however, it was barely in the top-100, coming in at #97.
It didn't take long to discover that the Wildcats may have had a steal on their hands as Deakin won four bouts at his first open tournament, then finished third at the Michigan State Open, a week later. At the Midlands Championships, Deakin really broke out with a third-place showing at the 149 lb weight class. His only loss came to four-time AA Brandon Sorensen (Iowa). Along the way, he logged wins over FIVE national qualifiers. Deakin wrapped up his redshirt campaign by winning the Duhawk Open and pinning three of his four opponents in the process.
After the collegiate season was over, Deakin on a UWW Junior National title, then claimed a spot on the Junior World Team. Deakin earned a silver medal at 65 kg and helped lead the men's freestyle team to their first team title in over 30 years.
The Junior World medal made Deakin a household name and raised the expectations heading into his freshman year. He didn't disappoint making the finals of his first official tournament, the Michigan State Open, before falling to returning All-American Justin Oliver (Central Michigan). In his next tournament, Deakin made the Keystone Classic finals before getting majored by Zain Retherford (Penn State).
For the second consecutive year, Deakin took third at the Midlands. His only loss came to All-American Matt Kolodzik (Princeton). Once again, he tallied some impressive victories there. Wins over past national champion Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State) and Pat Lugo (Iowa), were among the best.
After the new year, with a dual slate consisting primarily of Big Ten foes, Deakin went eight of nine. His only loss during that span came to Sorensen in extra time. That would be his only dual defeat of the year.
At his first Big Ten meet, Deakin again fell to Sorensen, this time by a 7-2 margin in the semifinals. He did not wrestle back and default out to sixth place. His total body of work was good enough for a seventh seed at the 2018 NCAA Championships.
In Cleveland, Deakin cruised to an opening-round win over Binghamton's Frank Garcia, 7-0. In the next round, it was the former Wildcat, Tsirtsis, who got a measure of revenge on Deakin with a 4-3 upset. After a tech fall, Deakin found himself against Sorensen, who also was upended in the second round. The Hawkeye continued his dominance of Deakin and was the 4-2 winner.
Though he came up shy of the NCAA podium, Deakin posted a 32-7 mark as a freshman and went 14-1 in dual meet competition. All seven of his losses came to prior All-Americans.
As a sophomore, Deakin decided to move up to 157 lbs. The jump proved to be a sound decision as Deakin won his first 16 matches at the new weight class. During that time, the Wildcat star claimed titles at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and the Midlands.
In Vegas, his closest contest was a six-point decision. For the Midlands title, he took out Iowa's Kaleb Young. Sandwiched between those tournaments were dual meet wins against past All-Americans Larry Early (Old Dominion) and Paul Fox (Stanford).
After the Midlands, Deakin ran into the eventual NCAA finalists in his next two bouts. He hung close with Tyler Berger (Nebraska) in a 6-3 loss, but was dismantled by then-two-time champion Jason Nolf (Penn State) 19-7.
Those two losses would account for his only two of the regular season. Perhaps Deakin's biggest regular-season win came near the tail end of the conference dual slate, when he won an 11-9 shootout versus Alec Pantaleo (Michigan).
Pantaleo would end up evening the score at the Big Ten Championships when he routed Deakin, 10-4, during the consolation semifinals. Deakin would settle for fifth-place. In his final bout, Deakin made up for an earlier loss to Steve Bleise (Minnesota). Even so, Deakin still received the third seed for the 2019 NCAA Championships.
At nationals, Deakin got a tougher than expected first-round match with Christian LaBrie (Brown), before majoring Griffin Parriott (Purdue) in the Round of 16. With a berth in the semifinals on the line, Deakin was edged in sudden victory by Young,
The loss to Young dropped Deakin into the bloodround, where he was in danger of not placing, though he was a prominent seed, again. No worries, this time. He cruised to a 9-2 win over Lehigh freshman Josh Humphreys. Deakin clinched a spot in the top-six after shutting out Early, 5-0, in his next bout. That's as high as Deakin would go though, as he fell in consecutive bouts to Hayden Hidlay (NC State) and Young and settled for sixth place.
The spring of 2019 ended up being monumental for Deakin on the freestyle scene. He entered and won the US Open and shocked world silver medalist James Green in the process. The win clinched a spot in Final X with a world team berth on the line. Green and Deakin would meet again in Final X and the veteran, Green, won both contests decisively, but Deakin established himself as a top contender on the Senior circuit going forward.
In the 2019-20 season, Deakin started off on fire and never let up. For the second consecutive year, he captured a title at the CKLV Invitational. Deakin's bracket was one of the most difficult, but it didn't seem to matter as he navigated through with relatively easy wins over Hidlay and freshman sensation David Carr (Iowa State).
The post-Vegas duals saw Deakin only held to a regular decision in two of his ten contests. It would be more of the same at the Big Ten Championships. A crop of freshman stars proved to be no match for the Wildcat junior as he downed Will Lewan (Michigan) and Kendall Coleman (Purdue), without much trouble to claim his first conference title.
A Big Ten crown and a perfect record overall were good enough to warrant the top seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. Deakin wouldn't get the opportunity to capitalize on his top billing as the tournament never happened because of the onset of Covid. Some notables on Deakin's half of the bracket included, #4 Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider), #5 Quincy Monday (Princeton), #8 Young, and #9 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State). After the season, Deakin was named a first-team All-American by the NWCA.
The shortened 2021 saw Deakin take the mat in only three duals. His final one came against top-contender Brayton Lee (Minnesota) and Deakin looked as good as ever, with a 12-0 major decision.
The top-seed at the 2021 Big Ten Championships, Deakin crushed the field. He allowed one single point during his three bouts at the tournament. This time it was Young who Deakin downed in the finals, by the score of 6-0.
In back-to-back years, Deakin entered the NCAA Championships as the undefeated top-seed, though in 2021, he was actually able to compete. As a possible precursor of things to come, Deakin had more trouble than you'd expect in his Round of 16 win over Requir van der Merwe (Stanford) and Jared Franek (North Dakota State), in the quarters. That set the stage for a semifinal bout against Dellavecchia, who was also the fourth seed this year. Early on, in the second period, Dellavecchia used a crab ride and half to put Deakin on his back for a fall.
The only loss via pin in Deakin's career sent him to the consolation semis on Saturday morning. There would claim third place by majoring Lee and cooling down a hot Teemer, 1-0.
Just a month ago, Deakin advanced to the 70 kg finals of the World Team Trials, opposite Green, again.
Deakin enters his final season with an incredible resume. Two NCAA All-American finishes and a pair of Big Ten titles. He's twice been named the #1 seed at the NCAA Championships and went undefeated in the regular season on both occasions. Deakin has a pair of CKLV titles, along with one Midlands win. On the international scene, he has a Junior World silver medal and has wrestled off for a spot on the Senior team twice.
Strengths: Deakin has a massive frame and is extremely strong for the weight class. Many observers (myself included) expected him to move up this year. His long reach helps keep opponents at bay and most can't get through the head/hands defense. If so, he can sit the corner with the best of them. Offensively, Deakin can beat you many different ways, but his sweep single is perhaps his best weapon. On the mat, he's a smothering rider. Deakin can rack up boatloads of riding time with his heavy pressure from a spiral/half combo. He will look for bars to possibly pin his opponents.
2021-22 Outlook: Deakin enters the year ranked third in the nation, behind a pair of returning national champions. One of which is David Carr, who Deakin handed his only official collegiate loss. When he's at his best, Deakin is capable of defeating anyone at this weight and standing on the top step in Detroit. He'll be in the mix for a national title this season.
2x NCAA All-American Ryan Deakin (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
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