Way Too Early Pound 4 Pound Rankings

[gostanford]

Just an extremely early preview of the top wrestlers next season. I plan to update this list either once every two weeks or so when the season starts. 
I'll be keeping the list relatively short: only 12 wrestlers will be listed (8 ranked, 4 honorable mentions--inspired by 8 NCAA AA finishes and 4 Rd. of 12 mentions).

Just a few disclaimers:
*The weights are projected
**As far as I know, none of these guys will be taking an Olympic redshirt for the upcoming season
***Honorable Mentions are ordered by last name
***Record, dominance, and past performances played key roles in my decisions.

Rank	Name	Weight	Year	Explanation	Previous NCAA Championships Results
1	Alex Dieringer  OK State  (34-0)	165	R-Senior	Clear-cut #1 wrestler in the country. Absolutely man-handled the competition the past two years. His name will be mentioned with the likes of Stieber, Dake, Ruth and Taylor when looking back at the greatest wrestlers in recent years.	’15: 1st (165)  ’14: 1st (157)  ’13: 3rd (157)  ’12: RS
2	Isaiah Martinez  Illinois  (35-0)	157	R-Sophomore	Martinez has the potential to be the next undefeated 4x NCAA Champ and has been compared to Cael Sanderson. He's currently the second-most dominant wrestler, only behind Dieringer.	’15: 1st (157)  ’14: RS
3	Nick Gwiazdowzski  NC State  (35-0)	285	R-Senior	Nick was extremely underrated last season. He'll be one of the greatest heavyweights of his generation when his career is over.	’15: 1st (285)  ’14: 1st (285)  ’13: RS  ’12: 8th (285)
4	Cody Brewer  Oklahoma  (22-1)	133	R-Senior	Walked through the loaded 133 field last year in dominant fashion. Robust resume of All-America finishes in his career. With the way he capped his junior season, it is unlikely anyone will unseat Brewer from being the guy at 133.	’15: 1st (133)  ’14: 8th (133)  ’13: 7th (133)  ’12: RS
5	Gabe Dean  Cornell  (44-2)	184	R-Junior	Dean took two surprising losses last year that will keep him out of the top 4 on my list. After shocking the world by beating Ruth at the Scuffle in 2014, many expected Dean to have a much more impressive Junior campaign--me included.	’15: 1st (184)  ’14: 3rd (184)  ’13: RS
6	Nathan Tomasello  Ohio State  (33-4)	125	R-Sophomore	Tomasello fired on all cylinders in the post-season. He had two impressive performances that captured the Big 10 and NCAA titles. Although I picked him to win last year's NCAA's, he is also the least likely champ to repeat this year in my books.	’15: 1st (125)  ’14: RS
7	Nico Megaludis  Penn State  Redshirt	125	R-Senior	Have you forgotten about this hammer? Garrett and Delgado are both gone, but both didn’t even place in the top 3 last year. Although Delgado was hurt, it must be extremely alarming to Megaludis that the only two guys who prevented him from winning it all in his two most recent non-redshirt seasons couldn't win it all last year. Nonetheless, the two-time NCAA finalist has one of the most robust resumes this upcoming season.	’15: RS  ’14: 3rd (125)  ’13: 2nd (125)  ’12: 2nd (125)
8	Bo Jordan  Ohio State  (22-2)	165	R-Sophomore	Bo Jordan had a dominant performance at the NCAA’s that was only ruined by Dieringer. If Snyder was not redshirting, Jordan would not be ranked in the top 8.	’15: 3rd (165)  ’14: RS
HM	J’Den Cox  Missouri  (37-2)	197	Junior	It'll be interesting to see how the former champ bounces back after losing two matches at the NCAA’s. An elite few can match his size and strength for a full 3 periods.	’15: 5th (197)  ’14: 1st (197)
HM	Morgan McIntosh  Penn State  (32-3)	197	R-Senior	The former #1 recruit out of California had a solid season last year. Although he couldn't secure the NCAA title after winning the Big 10's, McIntosh should be entering the 2015-2016 season as the slight favorite to win the 197 title.	’15: 3rd (197)  ’14: 7th (197)  ’13: RS  ’12: DNP (197)
HM	Zain Retherford  Penn State  Redshirt	141	R-Sophomore	Retherford's only two career losses are to Logan Stieber and Mitchell Port. Recently, Pico has had his number, but Zain has been narrowing that gap. Zain's my early season pick to win 141, and I think he's good enough to win 149 if he makes the jump. You read that right!	’15: RS  ’14: 5th (141)
HM	Jason Tsirtsis  Northwestern  (38-2)	149	R-Junior	Tsirtsis is critiqued harshly for his low-scoring style, but the former champ almost always finds a way to win. Although boring to watch, he's a safe bet to win the 149 title next season as he did in 2014.	’15: 3rd (149)  ’14: 1st (149)  ’13: RS

A quick analysis:
- Penn State has the most wrestlers on this list with 3
- 125 has the most ranked wrestlers in the top 8
- The 6 returning NCAA Champs round out the top 6
- 8 of the 12 wrestlers listed have won an NCAA Title
- The Big 10 has the most wrestlers on this list with 7
- 2 of the wrestlers on this list did not wrestle last season
- 174 has no wrestlers represented on this list
- The high school Class of 2013 matched the Class of 2011 with the most represented wrestlers on this list with 5
- Although they came in second place at the NCAA's, Iowa has no wrestlers on my list. If I expand this list to 16 or 20, quite a few Hawkeyes would be on it.
- 4 wrestlers on this list won an NCAA title when they were a freshman.
- 3 #1 recruits will find themselves on this list (2011, 2012, 2013); however, none of them will find themselves in the top 5.


Don't agree with this list or have something to say? Sound off with any questions, comments, or suggestions!