Plott Ranks Highest of Cowboys in First Edition of NCAA Tournament Rankings
(This story originated with Oklahoma State University athletic media relations and was written by Jake LeForce. Pokes Report did add to the story.)
STILLWATER – The NCAA announced the first coaches’ ranking for the 2024 NCAA Championships on Monday, which included seven Cowboys throughout the 10 weight classes.
Dustin Plott was Oklahoma State’s highest-ranked wrestler as the No. 2 184-pounder. Just yesterday (Sunday, Jan. 21) Plott defeated No. 4-ranked Trey Munoz of Oregon State 4-2 in the Cowboys 27-9 dual win over the Beavers.
Izzak Olejnik landed at No. 4 at 165 pounds, while Tagen Jamison and Konner Doucet ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, to give OSU four wrestlers in the top-10. The poll included 33 wrestlers at each weight class.
The coaches’ rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the seven conferences. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one within the last 30 days, thus rendering Daton Fix, Teague Travis and Luke Surber ineligible for Monday’s poll.
Fix and Surber missed matches because of injuries and Travis is still working to get the eight matches at his current wrestling weight of 157 pounds.
The coaches’ ranking is one of several criteria that will be evaluated by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to- head competition, quality wins, Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.
The 2024 NCAA Division I Championships are set to take place March 21-23 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. The complete set of rankings can be found here.
As a team, the Cowboys are currently ranked fifth in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll. Oklahoma State returns to action with a busy upcoming weekend in Gallagher-Iba Arena, hosting No. 23 Northern Iowa on Friday, January 26, and No. 4 Iowa State the very next night.
Cowboys in the First NCAA Coaches’ Rankings
125: No. 15 Troy Spratley
141: No. 6 Tagen Jamison
149: No. 18 Jordan Williams
165: No. 4 Izzak Olejnik
174: No. 24 Brayden Thompson
184: No. 2 Dustin Plott
HWT: No. 7 Konner Doucet