This season has been no different with dozens of lower-ranked wrestlers besting their higher-ranked counterparts. Some will prove to be flukes, others are the pace-setting for a season in which the upset special becomes the star of the weight class.
Because of the fluidity early in the season I don't think a concrete rationale for why one upset is bigger than the other, but combining numeric rank, prior performances, and year in school can help create some metric for the upsets we've seen so far this season.
149: Bryce Busler (Bloomsburg) dec. No. 1 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma), 5-3 SV
The season's first and most notable upset might also have been the most telling. Busler, a senior for Bloomsburg, used a takedown in overtime to beat the heavily favored Maple, 5-3.
While Busler has gone on to a modest post-upset streak, his defeat of Maple signaled a fracture in the facade of the 2013 141-pound NCAA champion. The Oklahoma wrestler's move up to 149 pounds has since become a minefield of setbacks, including a loss to Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State).
Credit to Busler whose win has kept him in contention to receive a seed at the NCAA tournament.
133: No. 8 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) dec. No. 1 Tony Ramos (Iowa), 3-2
Schopp's thrilling win over the top-ranked Hawkeye toppled the growing belief that Ramos was going to crush opponents en route to his first NCAA title. The energy behind the Ramos mythology gained steam after the Hawkeye's come-from-behind win over 141-pound wrestler Devin Carter at the NWCA All-Star Classic in November.
Schopp, who is technically undefeated despite a 5-1 loss to No. 5 Mason Beckman of Lehigh at the NWCA All-Star Classic, is currently ranked No. 2 in the country behind undefeated Ryan Mango of Stanford.
Last season Ramos defeated Schopp by major decision, 8-0.
285: No. 19 Adam Coon (Michigan) over No. 3 Nick Gwiazdowski (N.C. State), 3-1 SV
Though it registers as a massive numerical upset, anyone who watched Adam Coon finish out the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational knows that the true freshman is a legitimate contender in 2014. Coon followed his victory over Gwiazdowski with another sudden victory win, this time against No. 5 JT Felix of Boise State.
Coon, the No. 2 overall recruit in the nation last year, will now face a tough Big Ten schedule featuring the No. 1 and 2 wrestlers in the country, while Gwiz will face All-American Spencer Myers of Maryland in the ACC.
149: Tywan Claxton (Ohio) dec. No. 1 Drake Houdashelt (Missouri), 5-3
With the rankings at 149 pounds in total disarray over the last few weeks, Missouri's Drake Houdashelt had one week as the top wrestler. Nobody told Tywan Claxton, who beat the Missouri wrestler 5-3 and secured himself as a contender in the weight.
Claxton, an All-American at King University two seasons ago, is coming off a redshirt.
197: No. 12 Daniel Mitchell (American) dec. No. 2 Taylor Meeks (Oregon State), 4-2
The former top-ranked wrestler in the country suffered one of his biggest setbacks of the season, losing to American's Mitchell at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last weekend. Mitchell, a Colorado native, finished second at the tournament, losing 5-3 to Oklahoma's Travis Rutt in the finals.
157: Blaise Butler (Virginia) dec. No. 6 R.J. Pena (Oregon State), 10-4
The replacement for 2013 All-American Jedd Moore, Butler posted the biggest win of his career last weekend at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational when he cruised past quarterfinals opponent and two-time All-American R.J. Pena of Oregon State. Butler, who is part of head coach Steve Garland's arsenal of top-12 ranked wrestlers, suffered a minor injury in his semifinal loss to Brian Realbuto of Cornell and placed sixth.
141: Victor Lopez (Bucknell) pinned No. 12 Nick Lester (Oklahoma), 5:56
Lopez is a freshman and Lester is a past All-American, making the Bucknell wrestler's pin of the Sooner one of the highlights of the Bison season. Lopez also pinned NCAA qualifier Julian Feikert of Oklahoma State in the same weekend, and though the wins showed promise for the uber-talented Lopez, he has struggled since the win, posting an overall record of 10-8. Despite the head-scratching losses since, his performance was not only an upset, but a peek into the young wrestler's potential.
197: No. 20 J'den Cox (Missouri) over No. 7 Blake Rosholt (OSU), 7-3
A true freshman with enormous potential, J'den Cox burst onto the college wrestling scene with a victory over returning All-American Blake Rosholt. The two will meet at least once more this season, and in a wide open weight class their battles will have an impact on the seeding and outcomes of the NCAA tournament in March.
149: Gabe Morse (Northern Illinois) over No. 7 Eric Grajales (Michigan), 5-4
Though nothing is surprising when it comes to Eric Grajales, Gabe Morse's win showed though he's young (and currently sitting at 5-4 this season), he has potential to be an All-American down the road.
For his part Grajales still needs to wrestle to his level and not the level of his opponents, something that has plagued him throughout his college wrestling career at Michigan. If he wrestles like he's capable then he has every chance to place in the top five in Oklahoma City.
149: Chris Castillo (Boise State) dec. No. 3 Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State), 3-2
The Pac-12 matchup will happen again, but for Castillo, who started the season 6-0, it was the type of the win the sophomore needed to earn in order to secure an RPI worthy of a possible at-large bid. For Sakaguchi, it was a setback, but something he's sure to improve upon come NCAAs.
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