INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA has announced the second coaches ranking and first Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) for the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Four Golden Eagle wrestlers are listed in the most recent release, with two of them–Alejandro Herrera-Rondon and Cam Pine–recognized both in the coaches’ rank and the RPI, while two others–John Worthing and Joey Fischer–appear only on the RPI list.
The coaches ranking and RPI are two 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, conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.
Herrera-Rondon (Coaches: 29 / RPI: 25) enters the final weekend of the regular season with a 17-6 record against Division I opposition, and has won six straight matches dating back to the Southern Scuffle in early January. Of those six wins, five of them have come with bonus points attached. He was listed as the fifth-ranked 157-pounder in the most recent Mid-American Conference (MAC) rankings.
Pine (Coaches: 32 / RPI: 27) heads into the final weekend of the regular season with a 19-5 Division I record. He’s also been on a tear of late, winning 10 of his 11 matches since the start of 2024 and reaching the finals of the Southern Scuffle. Pine was listed as the second-ranked 184-pounder in the MAC by Wrestlestat.
Fischer (RPI: 32) owns a 14-8 Division I record on the season, a mark that has been bolstered by seven straight victories in dual match competition. He recorded his biggest win of the season in that stretch, when he beat Lock Haven’s Anthony Noto (18th at 125 pounds), and the junior is now approaching a .700 win percentage this year.
Worthing (RPI: 30) also enters this weekend with a 14-8 Division I record and had been well on his way to establishing himself for a return trip to the NCAA Championships in March, having also cracked the initial coaches rankings in January. He won five straight dual matches before being forced to take an injury forfeit in a match against Lock Haven on February 1.
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.
The RPI is a calculation that consists of three factors: winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule) and opponent’s opponent winning percentage (opponent’s strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at the designated weight class count towards the RPI and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked.
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