OSU Wrestling: Cowboys Earn Top-Eight Spots In Coaches Poll

The NCAA released bid allocations and individual RPI and Coaches Panel rankings Thursday afternoon. The Big 12 will be allocated 39 automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, while all 10 Cowboy starters received rankings in at least one poll.

Eight Cowboys earned top-eight spots in the Coaches Panel poll, including Kaid Brock (133, No. 3), Dean Heil (141, No. 1), Anthony Collica (149, No. 2), Joe Smith (157, No. 6), Chandler Rogers (165, No. 8), Kyle Crutchmer (174, No. 8), Nolan Boyd (184, No. 5) and Austin Schafer (HWT, No. 6). Redshirt freshman Nick Piccininni is ranked No. 11 at 125 pounds, and redshirt sophomore Preston Weigel comes in at No. 9 at 197.

Three Cowboys earned No. 1 nods in the RPI rankings, with Brock, Heil and Collica taking the top spots at their respective weight classes. The other six OSU grapplers represented include Piccininni (No. 12), Rogers (No. 3), Crutchmer (No. 13), Boyd (No. 6), Weigel (No. 3) and Schafer (No. 4). A minimum of 17 matches is required for a wrestler to appear in the RPI, so Joe Smith was not ranked at 157.

 With 39 total, the Big 12 was awarded the third-most automatic bids into the NCAA Championships. The breakdown of the bids by weight class is as follows: 125 (4), 133 (4), 141 (4), 149 (4), 157 (3), 165 (6), 174 (3), 184 (2), 197 (5), 285 (4).

For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his qualifying tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class.  Each qualifying tournament, with automatic qualifying status, was awarded a minimum of one wrestler per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds.  NCAA tournament spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at the tournament based solely on place-finish.

After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 49 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 7.  All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.  The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; quality wins; coaches' ranking; results against common opponents; RPI; qualifying event placement; and winning percentage.

The Cowboys will compete at the Big 12 Championships next weekend in Tulsa, Okla., to determine the automatic bids. Action at the championships is set to run from March 4-5 at the BOK Center. Tickets can be purchased here.

The 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships then takes place at Scottrade Center in St. Louis March 16-18.