Pre-Season NAIA Rankings

October 17, 2024

At the bottom of this post is a google sheet with 3 tabs (Individual Rank, Individual Rank by School, and Team Rank). Some of that sheet mirror what is posted below … other parts do not.

Links:

• The Reigning National Champions Tabbed as Preseason No. 1

• Tiger Wrestling ranked 8th in NAIA Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll

• Patriots Open Season Ranked 4th in NAIA Coaches’ Poll

• Men’s Wrestling Tabbed 10th, Kervin Ranked No. 1 in NAIA Coaches Preseason Poll

• Wrestling Starts the 2024-25 Season at No. 15 in the Preseason Top 25 Poll

• Men’s Wrestling Receiving Votes in NAIA Coaches’ Preseason Poll

SE Wrestlers #1 in the Pre-Season

• Life University has Thaddeus Long and Jesse Perez that come in #1 in the Pre-Season Poll and Grand View has returning NAIA Champ and former Veterans (GA) hammer Alex Reynolds at #1 at 174.

Former SE High School wrestlers making the pre-season rankings

Full Rankings Below

So much fun. Everyone is an expert … that’s why we decided to open the vote to everyone. Interested to see what everyone thinks of the following info. This is the Fan’s vote (done by 78 people).

#25 - Seth Larson (Flowery Branch) - Not in either Lucas or I’s Top 25.

• 12 of the 78 voters put him on their list. Highest ranked was 5th (that person had Henson #1, Brooks Climmons #2, Antonio Stewart of Camden #3, and Justan Rivera of Kennesaw Mountain #4).

• Larson was a 4x State Champ and will wrestle at Campbell this fall as a freshman.

#24 - Quen Campbell (Tift County) - #25 on Lucas’s list; not on my list.

• Also received 12 votes … one person had Quen at #3 (one ahead of Caleb Henson and just behind Joey Lazor of Union Grove).

• Campbell never won a Georgia State Title … was 2nd and 3rd, but was a NJCAA Runner-up, a NJCAA All American (5th), and was 6th in NAIA.

#23 - Chase Horne (West Laurens) - Not in either Lucas or I’s Top 25.

• So as I said in the video … I “cheated” a little by not ranking anyone that is still wrestling in college (and hasn’t been a D1 Qualifier).

• Horne won Super 32 and was a 4x State Champ. He has yet to break into the NC State lineup collegiately.

• Chase also received 12 votes, but his average vote was above both Larson and Campbell.

#22 - Denver Stonecheck (West Forsyth) - Not in either Lucas or I’s Top 25.

• 1x Georgia State Champ

• NAIA Champ and 3x All American

• Received 13 votes and was ranked as high as #2 by one person (that same person put Henson #1 and Tyler Askey #3).

#21 - Thomas Bullard (Archer) - Ranked much higher by both Lucas and I … Thomas will be talked about in the next show.

• Bullard was a 4x State Champ and is the only 5x D1 Qualifier from Georgia.

• He received 13 votes and was ranked in the top 10 by 10 of the voters (as high as #3 and #4) … interestingly 55 voters didn’t have him on their list.

#20 - Gavin Kane (Cambridge) - Ranked #16 by Lucas and is much higher by me.

• Kane is a 3x D1 Qualifier and a D1 All American and will wrestle another season at North Carolina this coming year.

• He received just 13 (of 78) votes), but every person that voted for him put him in their top 10.

#19 - Carrington Banks (Sequoyah/Union Grove) - Ranked by Lucas at #19 and by me at #20.

• He also received 13 votes, but had two that voted him #1 and four that had him #2.

• Banks was a 4x State Champ and a NJCAA National Champ (was also 4th).

#18 - Isaiah Royal (Effingham County) - Ranked higher than 16 by Lucas and #25 by me.

• Royal was a 3x State Champ; 1x D2 Champ and 2x D2 All American

• He received 14 votes with his highest vote coming in at #5 … two people had him #5 - one had Stonecheck #2, the other had Lucas Nelson of Camden #2.

#17 - Codi Russell (Collins Hill) - #17 by Lucas and #16 by me

• Just a 1x Georgia State Champ, but was a 3x SoCon Champ and 4x D1 Qualifier (just one of 7 4x qualifiers from Georgia).

• He also received 14 votes and was #2 by one person (behind Sean Russell).

#16 - Jackson DiSario (Ola) - #23 by me and not ranked by Lucas.

• 3x State Champ, 2x D1 Qualifier for Stanford

• DiSario had 16 votes with almost half of them coming in the top 5 (one person had him #3behind Matthew Singleton and Caden McCrary).

Others on one of our lists include:

• Dominic Bambinelli

• Drew Gorman

• Trevor Burdick

• Jaxon Smith

• Tyler Askey

• Justan Rivera

• Jonatan Rivera

• Todd Small

• Chris Rodrigues

We will talk more about Jaxon Smith, Tyler Askey, and Chris Rodrigues in future posts.

This could really just say preview because Day 2 is the unknown at this point. That said, we have put Lucas’s top 4 from each pool at the bottom to give you a potential preview of what the Day2 Championship Bracket “could” look like. We emphasize could because it is really hard to say who will emerge from each of these pools. That said … let’s take a look at possible Day 1 matchups (both teams and individuals).

Photo Credit: Amber Cloy

Round 1 (10:00 AM)

MAT 1

6 Ranked Matchups including:

• 106 - #22 Cason Craft vs. #13 Teequavious Mills

• 138 - #22 Tyler Traves vs. #12 Blue Stiffler

• 144 - #24 Carlos Stanton vs. #19 Derek Barrows

• 150 - #9 Junior Kross Cassidy vs. #14 Danny Heiser

• 165 - #9 Jordan Champman vs. #13 Dominic Bambinelli

• 175 - #15 Salah Tsarni vs. #25 Chris Mance

138-175 is going to be huge for one of these teams. #4 Veazy vs. McCloskey and Jobber-Spence vs. #21 Howle are underrated matchups that could decide who gets the win.

MAT 2

9 Ranked Matchups including:

• 106 - #16 Caleb Noble vs. #23 Charlie Esposito

• 126 - #5 Slater Hicks vs. #22 Patrick O’Keefe

• 138 - #7 Nate Askew vs. #3 Drew Gorman

• 144 - #4 Dorian Olivarez vs. #20 Tyler Hood

• 157 - #2 Vince Bouzakis vs. #20 Gavin Hawk

• 165 - #24 Riley Johnson vs. #11 Bode Marlow

• 175 - #3 Ty Eise vs. #1 Ryan Burton

• 190 - #3 Carson Thomas vs. #1 Harvey Ludington

• 215 - #2 Cade Ziola vs. #5 Anthony Harris

Best matchup of Round 1 - perhaps the best matchup of the first day. These two could see each other in the finals on Day 2.

MAT 3

8 Ranked Matchups including:

• 100 - #3 Turner Ross vs. #6 Justin Farnsworth

• 132 - #3 Jake Hockaday vs. #9 Grayson Music

• 138 - #10 Camden Baum vs. #14 Eren Sement

• 150 - #9 Blake Cosby vs. #4 Collin Gaj

• 157 - #7 Joe Jeter/#15 Luke Sipes vs. #3 Kollin Rath

• 165 - #15 Gage Wentzel vs. #20 Ben Smith

• 175 - #13 Mason Ontiveros vs. #16 Connor Wetzel

• 285 - #11 Charles Weidman/HM Brady Griffin vs. #6 Dean Bechtold

Top 10 matchups in Ross vs. Farnsworth, Hockaday vs. Music, and Jeter vs. Rath, but don’t be surprised if matchups like Luttrell (a 3x New Mexico State champ) vs. Tancini (PA State Placer) or Baum vs. Sement end up being the deciding factor.

MAT 4

6 Ranked Matchups including:

• 100 - #18 Chase Karenbauer vs. #2 (MS) Ace Chittum

• 106 - #5 Brayden Wenrich vs. #6 Gabe Swann

• 132 - #10 Anthony Mutarelli vs, #20 John Stewart

• 144 - #6 Noah Nininger vs. #6 Logan Paradice

• 157 - #8 Max Stein vs. #16 Anthony Evanasky

• 190 - #12 Jaxon Penovich vs. #19 Ryder Wilder

Minions have added Colson Hoffman in addition to Will Anderson at 138. The first 5 weights will tell you how this dual will play out.

MAT 5

No Ranked Matchups

A few changes to the Stronghold lineup as both Powe’s are no longer listed … Braylan Johnson takes over at 106 and Brayden Leach is in at 157. Kiowa Vines is also out and replaced by Bradley Williams who moves up and Yanik Simon comes in at 138.

Jameson Thomas was a Junior Fargo AA this past summer and gets a tough middle schooler in Laz McCewen in the opening round. There aren’t many holes in the POWA lineup as Stronghold draws one of the top teams in Pool A in the opening round.

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Round 2: NOON

MAT 1

5 Ranked Matchups:

• 113 - #18 Killian Coluccio/Kole Davidheiser vs. #23 Cooper Merli/#25 Oumar Tounkara

• 126 - #13 Karson Brown/#25 Caio Aron vs. #24 Jackson Heslin

• 150 - #14 Zach Ballante vs. #19 Hunter Sturgill

• 165 - #2 Alessio Perentin vs. #12 Elliott Humphries

• 190 - #10 John Murphy vs. #21 Preston Marchassault

It looks as if Metro West may have shifted down weights and have inserted George McAteer in at 215. That could give us some interesting matchups with Ballante vs. Sturgill and Perentin vs. Humphries.

MAT 2

8 Ranked Matchups:

• 106 - #22 Cason Craft vs. #16 Caleb Noble

• 113 - #9 Dom Morrison vs. #6 Abdi Unle

• 138 - #22 Tyler Traves vs. #7 Nate Askew

• 144 - #24 Carlos Stanton vs. #4 Dorain Olivarez

• 157 - #8 Chase Van Hoven vs. #2 Vince Bouzakis

• 165 - #9 Jordan Chapman vs. #24 Riley Johnson

• 175 - #15 Salah Tsarni vs. #3 Ty Eise

• 190 - #4 De’Alcapon Veazy vs. #3 Carson Thomas

Ranked matchups everywhere and don’t sleep on Landon Jobber Spence, Lorenzo Alston, and Griffin Rial coming in unranked. Van Hoven vs. Bouzakis and Morrison vs. Unle are the matches to watch in the dual. Looks as if Mambas might have a replacement at 285 with 2x Ohio Placer James Betchur stepping in for Brandon Hill.

MAT 3:

9 Ranked Matchups:

• 106 - #12 Case Bell vs. #23 Charlie Esposito

• 126 - #15 Sebastian Degennaro vs. #22 Patrick O’Keefe

• 138 - #17 Gunner Andrick vs. #3 Drew Gorman

• 144 - #2 Daniel Zepeda vs. #20 Tyler Hood

• 157 - #11 Brogan Tucker vs. #20 Gavin Hawk

• 165 - #5 Asher Cunningham vs. #11 Bode Marlow

• 175 - #6 Emmitt Sherlock vs. #1 Ryan Burton

• 190 - #7 Laine Foard vs. #1 Harvey Ludington

• 215 - #18 Noah Weaver vs. #5 Anthony Harris

Perhaps the best dual in the 2nd session. This one is going to be close. It looks as if NJ Commission might be replacing #18 Kage Jones with Brandon Dean.

MAT 4:

7 Ranked Matchups:

• 100 - #3 Turner Ross vs. #2 (MS) Ace Chittum

• 106 - #9 Carter Shin vs. #6 Gabe Swann

• 120 - #19 Isaiah Jones vs. #19 Jojo Uhorchuk

• 132 - #3 Jake Hockaday vs. #20 John Stewart

• 144 - #16 Joseph Joyce/#16 David Perez vs. #6 Logan Paradice

• 157 - #7 Joe Jeter/#15 Luke Sipes vs. #16 Anthony Evanasky

• 190 - #7 Brokton Borelli vs. #19 Ryder Wilder

Tough matchup for Minions as Carnage, at least on paper, looks like the favorite (and perhaps the favorites in all of Pool B).

MAT 5:

No Ranked Matchups

• Ariah Mills beat Thomas a few weeks ago so we already have a good idea of how this matchup could start.

• Brayden Leach steps in for Damarcus Powe at 157 and we are interested in how he handles someone like Chase Hontz - a PA placer who has some outstanding wins on his resume.

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Round 3: 2 PM

MAT 1:

5 Ranked Matchups:

• 113 - #14 Alex Rozas vs. #25 Oumar Tounkara/#23 Cooper Merli

• 144 - #6 Noah Nininger vs. #20 Dom Wilson

• 150 - #15 Ryan Lawler vs. #19 Hunter Sturgill

• 165 - #5 Adrien Reyes vs. #12 Elliott Humphries

• 190 - #12 Jaxon Penovich vs. #21 Preston Marchssault

Thunder holds the advantage in terms of ranked wrestlers, but Metro West has several looking to take a number away from their competition. Keep an eye on Karenbauer vs. Belinsky and Wenrich vs. Lemovitz.

MAT 2:

No Ranked Matchups

• Probably the toughest matchup for Stronghold as they pull the 2x defending Champs.

• A few matches to watch include:

  • Sam Comes vs. Ben Ziola

  • Bradley Williams vs. Lorenzo Alston

MAT 3:

9 Ranked Matchups:

• 100 - #3 (MS) Traevon Ducking vs. #6 Justin Farnsworth

• 120 - #7 Landon Sidun vs. #8 Brock Rothermel

• 126 - #13 Karson Brown/#25 Caio Aron vs. #2 Aaron Seidel

• 138 - #3 Caedyn Ricciardi vs. #14 Eren Sement

• 150 - #14 Zach Ballante vs. #4 Collin Gaj

• 157 - #9 Leo Contino vs. #3 Kollin Rath

• 165 - #2 Alessio Perentin vs. #20 Ben Smith

• 175 - #18 Bryce Burkett vs. #16 Connor Wetzel

• 285 - #4 Rocco Dellagatta vs. #6 Dean Bechtold

4 Top 10 matchups in what could be the best dual of Session 3.

MAT 4:

7 Ranked Matchups:

• 106 - #22 Cason Craft vs. #23 Charlie Esposito

• 138 - #22 Tyler Traves vs. #3 Drew Gorman

• 144 - #24 Carlos Stanton vs. #20 Tyler Hood

• 157 - #8 Chase Van Hoven vs. #20 Gavin Hawk

• 165 - #9 Jordan Chapman vs. #11 Bode Marlow

• 175 - #15 Salah Tsarni vs. #1 Ryan Burton

• 190 - #4 De’Alcapon Veazy vs. #1 Harvey Ludington

Veazy vs. Ludington highlights the dual, but this one is going to be a banger. Landon Jobber Spence takes on #5 Anthony Harris at 215 in what should be a great matchup. Morrison vs. McGinty, Fretwell vs. Paino … look out.

MAT 5:

9 Ranked Matchups:

• 100 - #8 (MS) Laz McCewen vs. #1 (MS) Ariah Mills

• 106 - #12 Case Bell vs. #13 Teequavious Mills

• 132 - #7 Moses Mendoza vs. #9 Trey Wagner

• 138 - #17 Gunner Andrick vs. #12 Blue Stiffler

• 144 - #2 Daniel Zepeda vs. #19 Derek Barrows

• 150 - #10 Will Denny vs. #14 Danny Heiser

• 165 - #5 Asher Cunningham vs. #13 Dom Bambinelli

• 175 - #6 Emmitt Sherlock vs. #25 Chris Mance

• 215 - #18 Noah Weaver vs. #21 Cason Howle

Mendoza vs. Wagner is one of many individual matchups that makes this dual outstanding. I expect this one to be close throughout.

There are 2 more Rounds on Saturday before we get to the bracket on Sunday. Be sure to tune into YouTube to watch all of the action FREE!