2018-2019 Prospect Rankings

Prospect Rankings By Weight

Prospect rankings are back! Here we handicap the talent and rank them based on what we believe will be their future college weights.

Over the next couple weeks, we'll roll out Prospect Rankings at each of the ten college weights.

A little about these rankings:

The Prospect Rankings are markedly different from the weight class rankings (which are all grades with wrestlers at their current weights and based entirely on results) and the Big Board rankings (which are grade specific and opinion-based).

Prospect Rankings take wrestlers from all grades and project them to their college weights. We then rank them based on what we think (opinion/assessment) their potential is.

A good measure to understand what I'm assessing, is to find a valuation to a senior, and then to take all the other wrestlers and project what level they will be at when they are a senior.

It's certainly an inexact science - one that is ever evolving and full of factors (none more obvious than the difficult in projecting physical growth). But Prospect Rankings just might be the most important one to recruiters, who have to not only target each weight, but have to deliberate on signing that weight this year, or waiting a year or two on someone who might turn out to be better.

The Turnover at 174:

- Eleven of the previous Top 20 graduated

- Five of the Top 20 remained ranked at the same weight

- Three of the current Top 20 were ranked at other weights

- Twelve of the current Top 20 are new to the Prospect Rankings

At The Top:

This weight has been a revolving door up top. Last update it was SR Trent Hidlay as the #1, followed by FR Facundo, who is moved to 184 (forthcoming).

By virtue of his breakout performance, Kharchla goes from #4 to #1, but there are even questions there. Namely - was it a one-off performance? - and - is he as good in folk? Ramirez, who had a fantastic Akron, owns the last head-to-head (at Ironman) with Kharchla. The two will meet in freestyle at Who's #1 and then potentially in folk at this year's Ironman.

Starocci stays put at #3 after solid performances at Akron (3rd) and Fargo (4th). Youngsters from Ohio - Voinovich and Geog round out our Top 5. 

They start a trend that ends in five of the Top 9 coming from the FR/SO group.