Big Ten Wrestling power rankings: Can anyone derail Penn State train?
By Chris Snyder
Dual Rank: 16
Record: 13-5 (2-5 B1G)
Ranked Wrestlers: 5
133 No. 16 Joey Olivieri
141 No. 3 Sebastian Rivera
149 No. 15 Mike Van Brill
184 No. 8 John Poznanski
197 No. 12 Greg Bulsak
Remember when I said this in the last power rankings article, “Rutgers has assembled one of their best wrestling squads in school history this year and they’ve really flexed their muscles in some early action.”.
That did not age well.
The Scarlet Knights started the season by winning each of their first 11 dual meets to set the mark as the best start in school history. So there is that, I guess.
However, from this point going forward, it was nothing but tough sledding for Rutgers as they fell to Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan, and Ohio State and have compiled a 2-5 record since the win streak was snapped.
The reason for the slip in performance from Rutgers is an all too familiar combination of injuries and underperformance from several weight classes.
Dylan Shawver looked like a stud to start the season. The freshman grappler put together a 12-2 record prior to the Big Ten regular season. However, the Big Ten is what I would best classify as a meat grinder of a conference. And this proved to be the case for Shawver in only going 4-4 in his last eight matches.
To make matters worse, All-American Jackson Turley suffered an injury and announced in January he would be out for the remainder of the season.
What could have been Rutgers? What could have been?
Next up for the Scarlet Knights is a home dual against Maryland on Saturday (2/12) at 2:00 p.m.