Rework the Rankings

The following is how Iowa wrestling beat reporter Ryan Young would rank the team - both physically and mentally. When I saw this comment, I contemplated commenting also - but instead decided it was worthy of a post itself since I disagree - slightly.

Ryan's Ranking:

1. Keddy
2. Metcalf
3. Dennis
4. Falck
5. Beatty
6. Tsirtsis
7. Borschel
8. Morningstar
9. Erekson
10. Ballweg

My Ranking:

1. Metcalf (No. 1)
2. Keddy (No. 3)
3. Dennis (No. 2)
4. Tsirtsis (No. 2)
5. Falck (No. 4)
6. Borschel (No. 4)
7. Morningstar (No. 3)
8. Beatty (No. 19)
9. Erekson (No. 7)
10. Ballweg

So what's the reasoning behind the disagreements? First of all, I agree that Keddy is incredible to watch and you can tell the mentality is there. BUT he did just lose to top ranked Jake Herbert. Despite the improvement in the matches from Midlands, losing to Herbert by one point is something that Brent Metcalf would never allow...which makes him no. 1 on my list.

I flipped Tsirtsis and Falck around and sent Beatty down towards the bottom. I don't disagree with you that Charlie Falck isn't a stud because he's a doer. He's struggled a couple times this season, though, getting himself in the wrong position at the wrong time. His bounce back from losing against Minnesota was to beat defending NCAA Champion Angel Escobedo - that shows mentality. However, two days later he allowed himself to be pinned against now no. 3 ranked Brandon Precin of Northwestern. What's up with that?

Although Tsirtsis posted a loss against a former teammate at Indiana (his second dual loss this season), he would never allow himself to be pinned. This gives him the upper hand when compared to Falck.

Ranked at 19 and sitting out for several matches, Chad Beatty is moved just below Borschel and Morningstar who have both shown vast improvements from last season and impressive rankings. Although they might not always give a physical show like Metcalf and Keddy, they seem to find themselves neck-in-neck on the scoreboard and usually end up winning the bout - giving the crowd unpredictable entertainment.

What do you think?

UPDATE TODAY: For a list of updated team and individual rankings visit InterMat.

For recaps of the season go to Hawkeyesports.com.

Photo by Julie Koehn/The Daily Iowan.