NWCA Team/Individual Rankings (Feb. 4)
INDIANAPOLIS – Three Great Midwest Athletic Conference programs remain in the Top 25 for Division II as the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) published a new set of team rankings this week.
Associate member and recent conference team champion Ashland headlines the Great Midwest grouping at No. 8. The Eagles moved up one spot from their previous ranking leading into the conference championship tournament at Kentucky Wesleyan.
Findlay also made gains, earning a spot at No. 13 nationally while Tiffin, eighth in the previous NWCA team rankings, moved down to No. 17. The Oilers moved up four places after being spotted 17th going into the season.
A few different faces also appear in the NWCA/Intermat Individual Rankings by weight class as the first few weeks of 2021 have elapsed. A total of 12 Great Midwest grapplers are ranked in the 10 weight classes, including multiple individual conference champions.
Ashland leads all Great Midwest teams with six individually ranked wrestlers while Tiffin, Lake Erie and Findlay each have a pair.
Lake Erie’s Corey Gamet and Zane Johnson both crashed the 125 and 133 pound rankings, respectively, following their performances at the conference tournament. Gamet, just a freshman, is ranked ninth, and Johnson, a senior, is new at 10th.
Gamet and Johnson remained undefeated on the season after defeating both of their opponents vs. Davenport and UIndy last weekend.
There was movement at 141 with Ashland conference champion Luke Wymer officially supplanting Findlay’s Branson Proudlock. Wymer and Proudlock are stacked sixth and seventh.
Ashland’s Carson Speelman also brought home a 149 pound conference title but took a small hit in the rankings after falling via decision vs. UIndy. Speelman is still ranked sixth by NWCA/Intermat after previously being fourth.
Findlay’s senior James Wimer has been about as dominant as one could be so far after redshirting in 2019-20. Wimer is the No. 1 ranked grappler at 157 pounds and was named Great Midwest Wrestler of the Meet and was the league’s first wrestler of the week for his work vs. UIndy/Davenport in a tri-dual.
Still in the 157-pound weight, Ashland’s Drew Wiechers received a promotion from No. 12 now ranked at No. 10. Wiechers, a talented transfer from Mount Olive, was runner-up only to Wimer in the tough draw he faced in the conference tournament bracket.
Tiffin senior Bryan LaVearn is seventh at 165 and Aidan Pasiuk, the league’s reigning wrestler of the week, is still at third representing 184 pounds. Tiffin’s Nick Mason is still ranked second at 197 while Ashland’s Peter Abraham is 11th.
Heavyweight features No. 6 ranked Tristan Weirich, another one of Ashland’s five conference individual champions from Owensboro.
Great Midwest Wrestlers - NWCA/Intermat Preseason Rankings
125 Pounds
No. 9 - Corey Gamet (Lake Erie)
133 Pounds
No. 10 - Zane Johnson (Lake Erie)
141 Pounds
No. 6 - Luke Wymer (Ashland)
No. 7 - Branson Proudlock (Findlay)
149 Pounds
No. 6 - Carson Speelman (Ashland)
157 Pounds
No. 1 - James Wimer (Findlay)
No. 10 - Drew Wiechers (Ashland)
165 Pounds
No. 7 - Bryan LaVearn (Tiffin)
184 Pounds
No. 3 - Aiden Pasiuk (Ashland)
197 Pounds
No. 2 - Nick Mason (Tiffin)
No. 11 - Peter Abraham (Ashland)
HWT
No. 6 - Tristen Weirich (Ashland)