Thursday, September 7, 2017

2017-2018 Currently Ranked Wrestlers From State With No Division I Wrestling Opportunities



Where to start with an article like this?  This certainly doesn't prove that any of these wrestlers would have chosen to wrestle in their home state. They still might have ended up at the schools they ended up at. What it does prove is that if they had the opportunity to wrestle Division I in their home state they could have. 

Some states obviously deserve more scrutiny than others.  Out of the nine states without Division I college wrestling that are represented on this list, one thing is unarguable, one thing is indisputable, these states produce top tier Division I caliber wrestlers.  AND these states should all have opportunities for there wrestlers to compete in their state. 

Georgia - 5 currently ranked wrestlers 
Florida - 3 Currently ranked wrestlers 
Texas - 2 Currently ranked wrestlers 
Kentucky - 2 Currently ranked Wrestlers 
Kansas - 2 Currently ranked wrestlers 
Alabama - 1 Currently ranked wrestler
Hawaii - 1 Currently ranked wrestler 
Idaho - 1 Currently ranked wrestler 
Nevada - 1 Currently ranked wrestler 
Washington - 1 Currently ranked wrestler 

***NOTE: WIN Rankings Were Used***
The State of Georgia has 7  Division I Schools, none of which have wrestling.  3 of these schools used to have wrestling programs at one time. There are five schools in Georgia among the smaller Divisions that currently have varsity wrestling.

Florida has 13 Division I schools, none of which have wrestling. 8 of these Schools used to have wrestling programs at one time. There is currently only one school in Florida that has a varsity wrestling program.

Texas has 23 Division I Schools, none of which have wrestling. To my knowledge, 3 of these schools used to have wrestling programs at one time. There is currently 1 varsity wrestling program in the state. (Although I've heard rumor that Huston Tillotson is considering adding a varsity program.)

Kentucky has 7 Division I Schools, none of which have wrestling. To my knowledge, 1 of these schools used to have a wrestling program. There are currently five schools in Kentucky in the smaller divisions with varsity wrestling.

Kansas has 3 Division I Schools, none of which have wrestling. 2 of these schools had wrestling programs at one time. Currently in other Divisions, Kansas has 11 varsity programs.

Alabama has has 9 Division I Schools, none of which have wrestling. 3 of these schools had wrestling programs at one time.  Currently Alabama has 1 varsity wrestling program in the state.

Hawaii has 1 Division I program, it doesn't have wrestling. It did at one time. No colleges in Hawaii currently have varsity wrestling.

Idaho (it pains me so much to have to add this state to the list this year) has 3 Division I programs, none of which have wrestling. All had wrestling at one time. There is currently one 1 varsity wrestling program in the state.

Nevada has 2 Division I programs, none of which have wrestling. To my knowledge one had a wrestling program at one time. There is currently no varsity wrestling at the collegiate level in Nevada.

Washington has 5 Division I programs, none of which have wrestling. 3 of these schools had wrestling programs at one time. The state of Washington currently has two varsity wrestling programs in the state at smaller divisions.

Quick shout out to Mike Moyer and the NWCA who have worked endlessly, tirelessly and thanklessly to grow collegiate wrestling around the country. If not for their dedication and passion, we wouldn't have the 10 programs we do have in Georgia and Arkansas respectively.


Now you're probably wondering, who are the wrestlers currently ranked in Division I that are from states without Division I wrestling opportunities!

Here they are......

















Jack  Mueller
Jack Mueller - Virginia
#5 @ 125 lbs
Texas
Sean Russell
Sean Russell - Edinboro
#6 @ 125 lbs
Georgia


Sean Fausz
Sean Fausz - North Carolina State
#8 @ 125 lbs
Kentucky

Image result for josh terao wrestling
Josh Terao - American
#9 @ 125 lbs
Hawaii



Nathan Boston
Nathan Boston - Campbell (Sorry can only find ISU pics of him)
#14 @ 133 lbs
Kentucky
Ryan Millhof 1964042
Ryan Millhof - Arizona State (Again Sorry can only find Oklahoma pics of him)
#15 @ 133 lbs
Georgia


Jared  Prince
Jared Prince - Navy
#11 @ 141 lbs
Florida
Jamal Morris
Jamal Morris
#19 @ 149 lbs
Florida



Joey Lavallee
Joey Lavallee
#2 @ 157 lbs
Nevada
Brandon Womack
Brandon Womack - Cornell
#7 @ 165
Alabama
Yoanse Mejias 2908868
Yoanse Mejias - Oklahoma
#17 @ 165 lbs
Florida
Taylor Lujan
Taylor Lujan - Northern Iowa
#8 @ 174 lbs
Georgia
Ryan Christensen
Ryan Christensen - Wisconsin
#12 @ 174 lbs
Washington 
Forrest Przybysz
Forrest Przbysz - Appalachian State
#17 @ 174 lbs
Georgia


Bo  Nickal
Bo Nickal - Penn State
#1 @ 184 lbs
Texas


Bryce Carr
Bryce Carr - Chattanooga
#11 @ 184 lbs
Georgia


Preston Weigel - Oklahoma State
#3 @ 197 lbs
Kansas
Tanner Hall
Tanner Hall - Arizona State
#4 @ HWT
Idaho
Nathan Butler
Nathan Butler - Stanford
#10 @ HWT
Kansas


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