NCAA Wrestling: Ranking 2021-2022 weight classes
By Chris Snyder
Parity R Us – No. 3
165
2021 Top 4
1. Shane Griffith (So.) Stanford
2. Jake Wentzel (Sr.) Pittsburgh
3. Keegan O’Toole (Fr.) Missouri
4. Travis Wittlake (So.) Oklahoma State
See if you can guess what these numbers are: 8, 5, 3, 7
These are the seedings of the wrestlers who made the semi finals in the 165 group at the 2021 NCAA’s.
Wow.
Upsets happen in wrestling but it’s rare to only have one of the top seeded grapplers make the final four. But it happened.
Top seeded Alex Marinelli pulled an “Alex Marinelli in the NCAA’s” and lost to the No. 8 seed Shane Griffith in the quarters. No. 5 seed Zach Hartman then got a forfeit win over No. 4 seed Mekhi Lewis after Lewis reinjured his shoulder during an amazing one-armed victory in the previous round. I still have no idea how Lewis was able to continue in his match against Navy’s Tanner Skidgel. Let alone actually win.
The big surprise in the semi finals was Ethan Smith’s (OSU) major decision victory over No. 2 seed Anthony Valencia (ASU). No one saw this one coming.
And onto the finals we went as Pitt’s No. 3 seed Jake Wentzel took on the underdog and crowd favorite Shane Griffith. Not only was Griffith the No. 8 seed but he was technically not even representing a college. Obviously everyone knew he went to Stanford, however the school was looking to put several varsity athletic programs on the chopping block. Wrestling being one of them, which meant Griffith couldn’t even have the words “Stanford” on his singlet.
So with the future of where his wrestling career would continue hanging on his mind, Shane Griffith willed his way to a 6-2 decision over Wentzel and hoisted his first ever NCAA title.
To put in perspective how deep this group is, the best regular season wrestler at 165 over the past three seasons didn’t even earn All-American status. The No. 2 seed? He squeaked in an 8th place finish after losing to the No. 11 seed.
The 165 group is also as deep as they come going into this season. But, there’s a bigger mix in terms of experience as the top four finishers were a sophomore, senior, freshman, and sophomore respectively.
Can super-duper senior Alex Marinelli finally shake the monkey off of his back? Same goes for Arizona State’s Anthony Valencia?
Well, the answer is the same to those questions as it is to “Does that thing have a Hemi in it?”
You ’bout to find out!