2021 NCAA All-American Cohlton Schultz (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)
Next is…
Cohlton Schultz
Weight: 285 lbs
Year: Freshman
Career Record: 17-2
Hometown: Parker, Colorado
College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 4th Place, 2021 Pac-12 Champion
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #4 at 285 lbs
One of the most highly accomplished US Greco-Roman wrestlers at the age-group level, Cohlton Schultz still chose to wrestle in college and signed with Arizona State. Before enrolling at ASU, Schultz won a Cadet World title and took silver at the Junior World Championships.
Schultz was tabbed the number two overall recruit in the Class of 2019 and earned a spot in Final X, opposite Adam Coon, before ever arriving in Tempe. With his sights set on qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Trials, Schultz redshirted the 2019-20 campaign.
On the international front, Schultz won Senior Nationals in late-2019. That, coupled with his past world-level accolades, earned him a spot at the Olympic Trials. Collegiately, Schultz competed sparingly, wrestling in only two events. He started his redshirt year off with a win at the Northern Colorado Open. Two weeks later, Schultz took second at the Roadrunner Open, losing only to two-time national qualifier AJ Nevills (Fresno State), 5-2.
In January 2021, Schultz made his official debut for the Sun Devils. That proved successful as Cohlton won a pair of bouts against Little Rock, including his first collegiate pin.
Since international results, particularly in Greco, can be challenging to interpret when it comes to college rankings, it was difficult to figure where Schultz belonged in the crowded 285 lb weight class. A sense of clarity came to this situation in late January as Schultz knocked off the returning Big 12 champion Brian Andrews (Wyoming), 4-2. Schultz grabbed two more wins in tiebreakers to bring his season record up to 6-0.
In the last event of the regular season, Schultz notched two excellent wins as he defeated Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State) and Carter Isley (Northern Iowa). Both were top-15 seeds at the 2020 NCAA Tournament.
The wins over the two Iowa studs marked the end of an undefeated regular season for Schultz, as he was 10-0 heading into the Pac-12. At the conference meet, Schultz won three bouts, the last coming over three-time national qualifier Nathan Traxler (Stanford) for his Pac-12 title.
Now unbeaten and a conference champion, Schultz was awarded the fourth seed at his first NCAA Tournament. In the opening round, Schultz tallied bonus points with a 9-0 major decision over Austin Harris (Oklahoma State). That was one of five bonus-point wins on the year for Schultz. Next up was Andrews, who ended up getting disqualified due to stalling calls.
In the NCAA quarterfinals, Schultz suffered his first loss of the year to Tony Cassioppi (Iowa), 4-1. That put Schultz into the Round of 12 against Traxler. He left nothing to chance and pinned Traxler in :44 seconds to confirm his status as an All-American. In the consolation quarterfinals, Schultz took on fellow age-group world champion Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State). Schultz was able to match the high-scoring output of Kerkvliet and tallied 14 points, his highest total of the year. That led to a 14-8 win.
Schultz claimed a spot in the third-place bout after getting by Gremmel again, this time 3-1 in sudden victory. Once again, Schultz would face Cassioppi with third-place hanging in the balance. Schultz wasn't able to generate any offense on the Hawkeye and fell 5-0.
About a week and a half ago. Schultz defeated Jacob Mitchell of the Army WCAP in three bouts to earn his first berth on the Senior World Team.
Strengths: With Schultz's strong Greco-Roman pedigree, you know that he has plenty of upperbody throws in his repertoire. That being said, he doesn't resort to those types of maneuvers too frequently against top competition. What he does take from his Greco background is the ability to control ties and handfight with the best of them. In high school, Schultz was a prolific pinner decking 152 opponents in 188 wins. As he continues to develop, those numbers should increase on the collegiate level, too.
2021-22 Outlook: With Olympic champion Gable Steveson returning and atop the 285 lb weight class, it's difficult to picture anyone beating him in the upcoming season. Schultz fits comfortably into that next tier of title contenders with Mason Parris and Cassioppi. It's hard to imagine Schultz too far outside of the top half of the All-Americans next year and going forward.
2021 NCAA All-American Cohlton Schultz (Photo/Tony Rotundo/WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
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