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Big Ten Power Rankings: Where does Penn State Wrestling stand heading into conference play

By Chris Snyder

A general view of the Bryce Jordan Center prior to a match between Penn State Wrestling and Ohio State Buckeyes (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)
A general view of the Bryce Jordan Center prior to a match between Penn State Wrestling and Ohio State Buckeyes (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin celebrates after scoring a decision at 157 pounds in the finals during the sixth session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Saturday, March 19, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.220319 Ncaa Session 6 Wr 047 Jpg
Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin celebrates after scoring a decision at 157 pounds in the finals during the sixth session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Saturday, March 19, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.220319 Ncaa Session 6 Wr 047 Jpg /

. . Previous: 5th. Wildcats . 6. team. 882

Dual Rank: 6
Record: 1-0
Ranked Wrestlers: 7
125 No. 3 Michael DeAugustino
133 No. 18 Chris Cannon
141 No. 6 Frankie Tal-Shahar
149 No. 7 Yahya Thomas
157 No. 14 Trevor Chumbley
174 No. 20 Troy Fisher
285 No. 5 Lucas Davison

InterMat currently has the Wildcats as the sixth best team in their most recent dual rankings. And for the life of me, I have no idea why.

Does Northwestern have star power on their roster? Heck yeah they do. Between Michael DeAugustino, Chris Cannon, Yahya Thomas, and Lucas Davison, they have four returning All-Americans.

But, the Wildcats have had very limited exposure on the mat so far this year. Northwestern took part in the Michigan State Open, they’ve had a single dual against Virginia, in which they won 20-13, and they finished a very disappointing 10th in the CKLV.

Something happened to Cannon in the CKLV because he dropped matches to No. 12 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) and No. 6 Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa). And neither match was particularly close. Cannon then medically defaulted the seventh place match to finish in a disappointing eighth.

Highly ranked Frankie Tal-Shahar has yet to suit up, Troy Fisher has yet to take that next step forward in his progression, and the Wildcats have a fairly weak back-end of their lineup.

Northwestern is a very solid wrestling team. That much is for sure. But I just don’t see them as the No. 6 team in the country. Hence why I have them at No. 6 in the Big Ten Power Rankings.

The Wildcats, like a lot of the other Big Ten teams, are set to compete in the Midlands Championships on December 29th and 30th.

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