2021 NCAA Runner-Up Jake Wentzel (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)
Next is…
#26 Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)
Weight: 165 lbs
Year: Senior
Career Record: 62-33
Hometown: South Park, Pennsylvania
College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 2nd, 2020 NWCA 2nd Team All-American, 2x ACC Champion
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #4 at 165 lbs
Not every top contender at the NCAA Championships jumps out and immediately establishes themselves as a national title contender. Some have a longer, less direct route to success at the collegiate level. One of those is Pittsburgh's Jake Wentzel. Wentzel had the credentials coming out of high school as a two-time Pennsylvania state champion and a top-50 recruit.
Year one with the Panthers saw Wentzel get thrown into the mix right away and he was victorious in his first three duals. The fourth outing was against multi-time All-American for Lehigh, Jordan Kutler, and Wentzel acquitted himself well, but fell 4-1.
Those were the only dual meets in which Wentzel competed during the 2016-17 season. He was sixth at the Keystone Classic, then went 2-2 at the Midlands. A week later, went won his first match at the Franklin & Marshall Open, but injured defaulted out of the rest of the event. He did not compete again that season and was able to use it as a redshirt year.
In 2017-18, Wentzel moved up to 165 lbs. For the year, he went 13-13. In dual competition, Wentzel was below .500 at 6-7. During the regular season, his best dual wins came over returning qualifier Lorenzo de la Riva (CSU Bakersfield) and 2018 national qualifiers Andrew Atkinson (Virginia) and Zach Finesilver (Duke). Wentzel was the Panther's entry at the 2018 ACC Championships, but did not receive a bid to nationals after a 1-2 showing.
Wentzel started coming into his own in 2018-19, but ultimately could not compete after late January due to a knee injury. Along the way, he went 3-2 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and logged wins over national qualifiers Tanner Skidgel (Navy), Nick Kiussis (West Virginia), and Andrew Shomers (Oklahoma State). For the second time in his career, Wentzel posted a record greater than .500 (9-6).
It wasn't until the 2019-20 season where Wentzel established himself as a consistent threat and found a way to stay in the lineup for the duration of the season. Wentzel carried a perfect 9-0 record into the Southern Scuffle on January 1st. During that time, he notched wins over Danny Braunagel (Illinois) and Ethan Smith (Ohio State).
At the Scuffle, Wentzel extended his winning streak to 11, but fell to Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) in the quarterfinals. To clinch a place in the top-eight, Wentzel defeated national qualifier Connor Flynn (Missouri), then fell to Thomas Bullard (NC State) and Joe Lee (Penn State), to settle for sixth.
Post-Scuffle wasn't kind to Wentzel as he went 2-3 during the Panthers remaining regular-season duals. But, just like that, things turned on a dime at the ACC Championships and Wentzel came away with the title. To do so, he reversed two decisions from the dual season and downed Kennedy Monday (North Carolina) and three-time All-American David McFadden (Virginia Tech). The excellent showing at the conference meet allowed Wentzel to take the 11th seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships.
Unfortunately, due to the spread of Covid, the 2020 national tournament was canceled and Wentzel wasn't able to make an official NCAA Tournament debut. Had the tournament been conduction, Wentzel would have met #22 Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) in the opening round. Other notables on his half of the bracket included #2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State), #3 Shane Griffith (Stanford), #6 Josh Shields (Arizona State), #7 McFadden, and #10 Bullard. Based on his NCAA seeding, Wentzel was named a second-team NWCA All-American.
Right off the bat, Wentzel started the 2021 NCAA season with a substantial test in returning EIWA champion, Skidgel. He passed to the tune of 5-2 and earned wins in his first four matches. The only setback of the 2021 regular season came in the form of a 4-3 loss to Bullard. Wentzel rebounded in grand fashion and downed national qualifiers in his last three matches of the regular season.
The most important win for Wentzel came in the final dual of the year when Pittsburgh met Virginia Tech. Wentzel and 2019 NCAA Champion, Mekhi Lewis were slated to square off. Using his elite leg-riding skills and a nasty power half, Wentzel injured the former national champion to the point where he could no longer compete and had to default.
With Lewis out of the picture at the ACC Championships, Wentzel fought to his second consecutive conference crown without surrendering a single point. That performance, combined with a solid regular-season record, gave Wentzel the third seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
Wentzel's NCAA debut started off slowly as he edged #30 Evan Barczak (Drexel) by the narrowest of margins, 1-0, in the opening round. He was able to have a little bit more breathing room in the Round of 16, cruising by Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 8-1. To lock up All-American honors for the first time, Wentzel won a 9-6 shootout with stud freshman Keegan O'Toole (Missouri). The former Junior World Champion's loss to Wentzel proved to be his only blemish for the entire year.
After a close 4-2 win over Ethan Smith (Ohio State) in the NCAA semis, Wentzel became the first Panther to make the finals since Tyler Wilps did so in 2015.
It's hard being on the “other side of history.†Wentzel was indeed in that role during the NCAA finals. He squared off with Stanford's Griffith, who was the favorite in the hearts of wrestling fans everywhere, with the exception of Pittsburgh. Since Stanford had announced it was cutting their program, Griffith's NCAA title run galvanized the wrestling community and made for a Disney-like ending. Of course, Griffith won 6-2 and helped lead the tiny number of fans allowed in the St. Louis arena in chant's of “Keep Stanford Wrestling.†The win by Griffith and the eventual resurrection of the Cardinal program overshadowed the great 2021 season that Wentzel put together and his emergence into a national title threat.
Strengths: Wentzel has developed a reputation for being one of the best wrestlers from the top position in the nation. He can amass boatloads of riding time, along with some back points from his leg riding. His abilities on the mat sometimes outshine other attributes. Wentzel has excellent scrambling skills. Look no further than his NCAA quarterfinal bout with O'Toole, who is renowned for his scrambling abilities. Wentzel was able to hang with O'Toole and even came out on top in a few exchanges. Similarly, he is dangerous from the bottom and his hips help him get reversals. To really threaten to win a national title, Wentzel will have to continue to evolve on his feet and be able to consistently get a takedown and avoid any possible gameplans that nullify his strength on top.
2021-22 Outlook: The 165 lb weight class is going to be one of the most interesting to follow, just as it was in 2021. Most key components return, as does Evan Wick (Cal Poly). 174 lb All-American Demetrius Thomas (Utah Valley) is expected to drop down, too. Wentzel is certainly on the short-list of title contenders. With so many elite wrestlers at this weight, Wentzel could conceivably place anywhere from first to eighth in 2021-22.
2021 NCAA Runner-Up Jake Wentzel (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)
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