Zahid Valencia was ranked No. 3 in 2015, and finished behind No. 1 recruits Mark Hall and Bo Jordan (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)One of the big keys for team success at the NCAA tournament is having a talented roster that can then perform at peak levels during the event. A tool available to assess the raw talent of the wrestlers is to see where they were ranked as high school prospects.
Here is a look at where the All-Americans were ranked during their senior year in the season-end graduating class rankings (NOTE: WC = weight class but not graduating class, NR = ranked in neither).
It is also of interest to note that of the five NCAA champions that Penn State had over the weekend, all were "can't-miss" recruits out of high school, the lowest being a pair ranked No. 7 in their graduating class (Jason Nolf and Vincenzo Joseph).
125:
1. Darian Cruz (Lehigh) -- No. 50 in Class of 2013
2. Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) -- No. 73 in Class of 2014
3. Thomas Gilman (Iowa) -- No. 10 in Class of 2012
4. Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) -- No. 26 in Class of 2015
5. Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) -- No. 8 in Class of 2013
6. Jack Mueller (Virginia) -- No. 25 in Class of 2016
7. Sean Russell (Edinboro) -- No. 54 in Class of 2014
8. Nathan Kraisser (Campbell) -- No. 42 in Class of 2012
133:
1. Cory Clark (Iowa) -- No. 15 in Class of 2012
2. Seth Gross (South Dakota State) -- No. 58 in Class of 2014
3. Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) -- No. 15 in Class of 2013
4. Stevan Micic (Michigan) -- No. 19 in Class of 2014
5. Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) -- No. 23 in Class of 2015
6. Eric Montoya (Nebraska) -- NR in Class of 2012
7. Zane Richards (Illinois) -- No. 21 in Class of 2012
8. Scott Parker (Lehigh) -- No. 66 in Class of 2014
141:
1. Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) -- No. 17 in Class of 2013
2. George DiCamillo (Virginia) -- No. 20 in Class of 2012
3. Kevin Jack (North Carolina State) -- WC in Class of 2014
4. Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) -- NR in Class of 2014
5. Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) -- No. 52 in Class of 2015
6. Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) -- No. 7 in Class of 2013
7. Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) -- No. 9 in Class of 2015
8. Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) -- No. 21 in Class of 2014
149:
1. Zain Retherford (Penn State) -- No. 3 in Class of 2013
2. Lavion Mayes (Missouri) -- NR in Class of 2012
3. Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) -- No. 62 in Class of 2013
4. Micah Jordan (Ohio State) -- No. 6 in Class of 2014
5. Max Thomsen (Nothern Iowa) -- No. 14 in Class of 2015
6. Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech) -- No. 11 in Class of 2014
7. Ken Theobold (Rutgers) -- NR in Class of 2012
8. Alex Kocer (South Dakota State) -- NR in Class of 2012
157:
1. Jason Nolf (Penn State) -- No. 7 in Class of 2014
2. Joey Lavallee (Missouri) -- No. 72 in Class of 2013
3. Michael Kemerer (Iowa) -- No. 11 in Class of 2015
4. Joseph Smith (Oklahoma State) -- No. 16 in Class of 2014
5. Tyler Berger (Nebraska) -- No. 29 in Class of 2014
6. Dylan Palacio (Cornell) -- No. 64 in Class of 2012
7. Paul Fox (Stanford) -- No. 92 in Class of 2014
8. Sal Mastriani (Virginia Tech) -- WC in Class of 2012
165:
1. Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) -- No. 7 in Class of 2015
2. Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) -- No. 5 in Class of 2013
3. Logan Massa (Michigan) -- No. 2 in Class of 2015
4. Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) -- No. 19 in Class of 2012
5. Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) -- No. 20 in Class of 2014
6. Daniel Lewis (Missouri) -- No. 34 in Class of 2014
7. Chad Walsh (Rider) -- No. 91 in Class of 2014
8. Brandon Womack (Cornell) -- WC in Class of 2014
174:
1. Mark Hall (Penn State) -- No. 1 in Class of 2016
2. Bo Jordan (Ohio State) -- No. 1 in Class of 2013
3. Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) -- No. 3 in Class of 2015
4. Myles Amine (Michigan) -- No. 40 in Class of 2015
5. Brian Realbuto (Cornell) -- No. 18 in Class of 2012
6. Zac Brunson (Illinois) -- No. 47 in Class of 2012
7. Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) -- No. 22 in Class of 2012
8. Jake Residori (SIU Edwardsville) -- NR in Class of 2012
184:
1. Bo Nickal (Penn State) -- No. 5 in Class of 2014
2. Gabe Dean (Cornell) -- WC in Class of 2012
3. T.J. Dudley (Nebraska) -- No. 17 in Class of 2012
4. Sam Brooks (Iowa) -- No. 14 in Class of 2012
5. Myles Martin (Ohio State) -- No. 4 in Class of 2015
6. Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) -- No. 100 in Class of 2012
7. Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) -- NR in Class of 2014
8. Nate Jackson (Indiana) -- NR in Class of 2012
197:
1. J'den Cox (Missouri) -- No. 6 in Class of 2013
2. Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) -- NR in Class of 2012
3. Kollin Moore (Ohio State) -- No. 32 in Class of 2015
4. Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) -- No. 68 in Class of 2013
5. Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska) -- NR in Class of 2012
6. Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) -- WC in Class of 2014
7. Ryan Wolfe (Rider) -- NR in Class of 2012
8. Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion) -- WC in Class of 2012
285:
1. Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) -- No. 1 in Class of 2014
2. Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) -- No. 59 in Class of 2011
3. Tanner Hall (Arizona State) -- No. 10 in Class of 2011
4. Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) -- WC in Class of 2012
5. Nick Nevills (Penn State) -- No. 4 in Class of 2014
6. Jacob Kasper (Duke) -- NR in Class of 2013
7. Michael Kroells (Minnesota) -- No. 41 in Class of 2012
8. Denzel DeJournette (Appalachian State) -- NR in Class of 2012
All-Americans by high school graduating class:
2011 = 2
2012 = 29
2013 = 13
2014 = 22
2015 = 12
2016 = 2
All-Americans by final grade rank:
Top 10 = 19 (of the 80 total)
Top 20 = 33
Top 30 = 40
Top 50 = 47
Top 100 = 60
Not in Top 100 = 20 (7 were ranked in weight class, 13 not ranked at all)