2019-20 NCAA DI Rankings

149 Boo Lewallen The Family

Here it is, the weight class of the week. The reveal we've all been waiting for. And can we just say that it brings us no pleasure to disappoint all the Buckeye and Sammy Sasso fans by ranking him second, below Boo Lewallen, despite Sasso knocking off the previous #1 and #4 ranked wrestlers in one weekend?

Credit to Boo, who remains undefeated on the season. Lewallen also beat Brayton Lee, who beat Sasso in the CKLV finals before Sasso avenged the loss in a dual meet. 

Still, our first instinct was to reward Sasso for the recent success and for having wrestled nearly double the meaningful matches that Lewallen has had so far. But in the end, Lewallen had enough wins (he added a victory over All-American Max Thomsen this weekend) and Sasso still had the blemish to Brent Moore in the fall to tip the scales ever so slightly in Lewallen's favor. 

For those that disagree, the upshot is Lewallen is slated to see #9 Hank Pohlmeyer, #6 Brock Mauller, and #3 Pat Lugo before the season is over, so we should hopefully have a clear #1 going into conference weekend. 

The collateral damage to Sasso's weekend rampage is Austin O'Connor dropping to #5 despite winning his match against Bryce Andonian. It is unfortunate that O'Connor missed some time early in the season as he recovered from an injury and then the vagaries of the Tar Heel schedule prevented him from seeing opponents that would have gven him the chance to bolster his resume with more quality wins. But with a loss to Lugo and a best win over Kizhan Clarke, his record this year falls just short when compared to the four wrestler ranked ahead of him, though the margins are razor thin. 

It is also worth keeping in mind that these rankings are not a prediction of how these wrestlers will finish this season, but a reflection of the results thus far.

Elsewhere, Mike D'Angelo's lack of activity and quality wins forces him to drop. Graham Rooks picked up a win on Monday over Griffin Parriott, causing Parriott to drop and Rooks to gain ground, though that move by Rooks was tempered by his loss to unranked Gerard Angelo of Rutgers. Finally, Tyshawn Williams rejoins the rankings after taking out the tough Alec Hagan of Ohio. 

Questions or comments about the rankings? Get in touch with Andrew Spey (Twitter: @speywrestle; email: andrew.spey@flosports.tv).