2020-21 Domestic Rankings - Greco-Roman

97 Kilograms

Although he collected his first Senior “stop sign”, Nick Boykin doesn’t move up, though the man he downed in the final, Chad Porter, does see a bump from #9 to #8. Replacing Porter at #9 is Braxton Amos, the do-it-all (former) high school phenom with three-style skills and a love for Greco. Both Boykin and Porter were super-tough during the tournament -- but they were supposed to be. This was Amos’ first Senior event and he clearly showed that a future in this discipline is there for him if he’s interested.  

There is nothing too headline-grabbing once you delve further down the list. 97 kilos in the US has been in need of enthusiastic, consistent entrants who show some upside. We got some of that in Coralville with Jeremiah Imonode (West Point WC, 4th), Brady Vogel (UA, 5th), and though he’s not exactly a surging youth, John Kent (UA, 6th). Please keep showing up, gentlemen. 

Transparency Report: The ‘20 Nationals -- for everyone -- was obviously an event held under unique circumstances. Wrestlers from military programs were not permitted to compete, and many top athletes chose not to enter due to a variety of reasons, be it travel restrictions, lack of adequate training, dissatisfaction with the event’s place on the calendar -- or in some cases, the absence of prize money and procedural incentives. 

Because of this, an effort was made not to penalize those who decided to sit out of the tournament. This is not to say that all athletes who declined to participate kept their prior ranking. In several weight categories, there are athletes who dropped a spot or two. One in particular was ‘18 US National Team member David Tate Orndorff, who competed in Iowa but bypassed Greco in favor of freestyle. And given their results, some wrestlers have deservedly moved up in their respective weight classes. Such is how rankings operate. 

At the same time, one fortuitous byproduct of the encouraging amount of participation was that it now allows for rankings to go from #1 to #15, which was the original objective for this endeavor upon conception.

For a full overview on how the ranking system works, please view this article.

For questions and feedback, contact Tim Hands of 5 Point Move vis email (info@fivepointmove.com) and Twitter (@5PtMove).