NCAA DI Rankings Updated (1/30/2024)

Welcome back for another week of rankings-talk!

We usually start off this column by talking 125 lbs, but we'll go with a weight class that's equally difficult to predict, just because of the sheer top-end talent, 157 lbs. Freshman Meyer Shapiro is the big mover after his impressive major decision win over Brock Mauller. Five through 12 at this weight had to be re-organized because of this win. Normally, I like some flow from week-to-week in the rankings; however, occasionally there has to be an overhaul. There was one for that portion of the weight class.

I'd also keep an eye on #19 at the weight, Brayton Lee. He's proven to be a top contender, when healthy. Last season, he wasn't at all, and he suffered a bunch of uncharacteristic losses. Lee has competedly sparingly thus far, but checked in with his biggest win of the year (Joey Blaze). Lee has some tough matches during the remainder of the season, but nothing against current top-ten's. His highest ranked regular season competition would come from #12 Will Lewan (February 16th). That could lead to him being an x-factor at the Big Ten Championships. 

At 141 lbs, we had a unique situation where both the fourth and fifth ranked wrestlers lost to opponents outside of the top-ten. Since, Ryan Jack and Lachlan McNeil have beaten the wrestlers ranked in their general vicinity, we stood pat with them and gave a slight boost to their opponents, Tom Crook and Cole Matthews. 

165 lbs kind of straightened itself out up top as David Carr beat Izzak Olejnik and Keegan O'Toole majored Julian Ramirez. We're still holding still with Mitchell Mesenbrink. I know it's a hot-button topic for Penn State fans. He'll have his opportunies against those higher ranked opponents soon. Plus, they might lose to non-top-3 opponents. 

At 197 lbs, Rocky Elam suffered his first loss of the season. This was another area that had to be reorganized. With #5 Jaxon Smith losing via major decision (to #1 Aaron Brooks), we decided to bump Michael Beard up into the fourth slot. Beard has an excellent resume this year with some impressive, dominant wins. 

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