Iowa, Penn State & Nebraska are top 3 teams in Feb. 23 ranks as postseason begins

Note: There are seven conference tournaments that will eventually qualify 330 wrestlers for the 2021 NCAA Division I Championships that will be held March 18-20 in St. Louis, Mo.

NEWTON, Iowa — The two-month regular season has come to an end and Iowa, Penn State and Nebraska are considered the top three NCAA Division I teams, according to WIN Magazine’s Feb. 23 national rankings … as the 2021 postseason begins this weekend with five of seven NCAA-qualifying tournaments taking place.

The following are the seven scheduled conference tournaments that will be held the next two weekends. 330 wrestlers will qualify for the 2021 NCAA Championships, which will be held March 18-20 in St. Louis, Mo.:

Heading into the postseason, Iowa — which has not wrestled since Feb. 7 because of COVID protocol conflicts — ended the regular season as the top-ranked team with a 5-0 record and a 144 Tournament Power Index points. The Hawkeyes feature a ranked wrestler at all 10 weights, including four No. 1-ranked wrestlers: Spencer Lee (125), Jaydin Eierman (141), Alex Marinelli (165) and Michael Kemerer (174).

WIN’s TPI predicts approximately how many NCAA points a team will score in St. Louis, excluding bonus points, based on numbers associated with individual placements/rankings at this point in the season prior to seeds coming out: 20 for 1^st, 16 for 2^nd, 13.5 for 3^rd, 12.5 for 4^th, 10 for 5^th, 9 for 6^th, 6.5 for 7^th and 5.5 for 8^th. Wrestlers ranked 9-12 earn two points each, followed by 1.5 points for wrestlers ranked 13-16 and 1 point for those ranked 17-20.

Penn State (6-0) has moved into second place in WIN’s TPI with 77.5 points and nine ranked wrestlers. Four Nittany Lions are ranked No. 2 at their weight classes — Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141) and Aaron Brooks (184) — while Carter Starocci is rated No. 3 at  174 pounds. There is a question mark as to what Nittany Lions will compete heavyweight during the post-season, where both Greg Kerkvliet and Seth Nevills have wrestled this winter and have been nationally ranked.

Nebraska (7-1) is rated No. 3 in WIN’s TPI (6.5) and will send seven ranked wrestlers to the postseason, including Eric Schultz, the top-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds.

The next four schools — Arizona State, Oklahoma State, NC State and Virginia Tech — are separated by four TPI points. The Cowboys and Hokies also feature a No. 1-ranked wrestler in Daton Fix (133) and Hunter Bolen (184), respectively.

The other top-ranked individual wrestlers are North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor (149), Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin (157) and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson (Hwt.).

WIN’s Feb. 23, 2021 and final Team Dual Rankings

WIN’s Feb. 23, 2021 Tournament Power Index

WIN’s Feb. 23, 2021 Individual Rankings

125 pounds

133 pounds

141 pounds

149 pounds

157 pounds

165 pounds

174 pounds

184 pounds

197 pounds

Heavyweight