Bear Tracks AAA - Preseason 1st Edition

[WVU]

(Posting here so all of Bearhugger's rankings are easily found in one place - thanks to Bearhugger for compiling)

106 AAA
1 Drennen, Parkersburg, Fourth Place, Sophomore, QOP 21
2 Rea, Brooke, Blood Round, Senior, QOP 10

113 AAA
1 Martin, University, State Champion, Senior
2 Nichols, Fairmont Senior, Runner Up, Senior
3 Woods, Woodrow Wilson, Third Place, Junior, QOP 16
4 Lioi, Spring Mills, Blood Round, Junior, QOP 12
5 Maynard, Spring Valley, Q1, Sophomore, QOP 14

120 AAA
1 Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, State Champion, Senior
2 Cornett, Buckhannon-Upshur, Runner Up, Senior
3 Spitznogle, Fairmont Senior, Fifth Place, Sophomore, QOP 25
4 Dearth, Parkersburg South, Fifth Place, Junior, QOP 16
5 Long, St. Albans, Sixth Place, Sophomore, QOP 21

126 AAA
1 Myers, Parkersburg, State Champion, Sophomore
2 Plinski, Washington, Runner Up, Junior
3 Cooper, Parkersburg, Fifth Place, Sophomore, QOP 23
4 Burdine, Brooke, Sixth Place, Sophomore, QOP 21
5 Anderson, George Washington, Blood Round, Junior, QOP 12
6 Woodrum, Huntington, Q1, Sophomore, QOP 10

132 AAA
1 McComas, George Washington, Runner Up, Senior
2 Owens, Spring Mills, Runner Up, Junior
3 McDonald, Parkersburg, Third place, Sophomore, QOP 12
4 Wiseman, Issac, Cabell Midland, Fifth Place, Junior, QOP 23
5 Ward, John Marshall, Q1, Senior, QOP 14
6 Way, Parkersburg, Fast Climber, Sophomore,

138 AAA
1 Roark, Woodrow Wilson, State Champion, Senior
2 Walker, Fairmont Senior, Runner Up, Junior
3 Pauley, University, Fourth Place, Senior, QOP 18
4 Anderson, Cabell Midland, 5th Place, Sophomore, QOP 25

144 AAA
1 Bailes, Woodrow Wilson, State Champion, Senior
2 Stone, Greenbrier East, Third Place, Junior, QOP 12
3 Naternicola, Bridgeport, Fifth Place, Senior, QOP 16
4 Messick, Spring Mills, Blood Round, Senior, QOP 6
5 Derr, St. Albans, Q1, Junior, QOP 7

150 AAA
1 Fortier, Fairmont Senior, State Champion, Sophomore
2 Murphy, Parkersburg South, Runner Up, Junior
3 Herndon, Spring Mills, Runner Up, Senior
4 Schaffner, Martinsburg, Blood Round, Junior, QOP 21
5 Lemon, Hurricane, Blood Round, Junior, QOP 19
6 Osborne, Woodrow Wilson, Blood Round, Sophomore, QOP 19
7 Hood, Huntington, Q1, Senior, QOP 18

157 AAA
1 Neal, Woodrow Wilson, State Champion, Senior
2 Lowe, Wheeling Park, Third Place, Senior, QOP 12
3 Showalter, Parkersburg, Third Place, Senior, QOP 12
4 Ludrosky, University, Fourth Place, Senior, QOP 25
5 McFarland, Washington, Sixth Place, Senior, QOP 19

165 AAA
1 Meisenzahl, Washington, Runner Up, Senior
2 Deeds, Martinsburg, Fifth Place, Senior, QOP 25
3 White, Wheeling Park, Sixth Place, Senior, QOP 19
4 Johnson, Cabell Midland, Q1, Sophomore, QOP 18
5 Taft, Riverside, Q, Sophomore, QOP 6

175 AAA
1 Turner, Preston County, Fourth Place, Senior, QOP 21
2 J Knight, Bridgeport, Fifth Place, Junior, QOP 16
3 Murphy, University, Fifth Place, Junior, QOP 11
4 Reeves, Woodrow Wilson, Blood Round, Senior, QOP 8
5 Dunham, Huntington, Q1, Junior, QOP 12
6 Sands, Wheeling Park, Fast Climber, Junior

190 AAA
1 Maynard, Wheeling Park, Runner Up, Senior
2 E. Knight, Bridgeport, Third Place, Sophomore, QOP 16
3 Middleton, Parkersburg South, Third Place, Senior, QOP 12
4 Hastings, University, Fourth Place, Junior, QOP 21
5 Lemasters, John Marshall, Blood Round, Senior, QOP 23
6 Lopez, Washington, Blood Round, Junior, QOP 19
7 Dvorak, Woodrow Wilson, Q1, Senior, QOP 14
8 Bland, Greenbrier East, Q, Sophomore, QOP 3

Comments: How about AAA Region 1??? Knight has a higher QOP than Middleton. Cofield was a regional champion. Hastings was a regional runner up. LeMasters has a higher QOP than Lopez.

215 AAA
1 Arthur, Parkersburg South, Third Place, Senior, QOP 16
2 Terrell Cofield, Martinsburg, Fourth Place, Junior, QOP 21
3 Washington, Wheeling Park, Fifth Place, Junior, QOP 19
4 Pate, University, Sixth Place, Senior, QOP 21
5 Jones, Woodrow Wilson, Sixth Place, Senior, QOP 16
6 Beverly, George Washington, Sixth Place, Senior, QOP 16
7 Barrett, Hedgesville, Q1, Senior, QOP 19
8 Cottrell, Capital, Q1, Senior, QOP 7
9 Lusher, Hurricane, Q1, Junior, QOP 5
10 Ellis, St. Albans, Q, Senior, QOP 13
11 Smith, Greenbrier East, Q, Sophomore, QOP 13
12 Damico, Musselman, Q, Senior, QOP 8
13 Apanowicz, Fairmont Senior, Q, Sophomore, QOP 5

285 AAA
1 Kehler, University, State Champion, Senior
2 Arbogast, Fairmont Senior, Runner Up, Senior
3 Pollard, Martinsburg, Third Place, Senior, QOP 1
4 Middleton, Parkersburg South, Fourth Place, Senior, QOP 25
5 Cochran, Riverside, Sixth Place, Senior, QOP 8
6 Osafa-Mensah, Washington, Blood Round, Senior, QOP 25
7 Means, Wheeling Park, Q1, Senior, QOP 14
8 Cantrell, Nitro, Q1, Senior, QOP 14
9 Cote, Winfield, Q1, Senior, QOP 14
10 Payne, George Washington, Q, Sophomore, QOP 0


BEAR TRACKS 2024 – 2025

Edition – Preseason 1 listing returning state place winners, blood rounders, select state qualifiers and Super 32 entries. PLEASE comment or message me with any wrestler and his intended weight class. Edition 2 will be out next week.

Date of Issue: October 13, 2024

Bear Tracks 2024 – 2025 Overview: Here is how it works.

Wrestlers are assigned weight classes based on where they are currently wrestling in open tournaments and/or the word on the street. 285s from last season are assigned to 285 this season unless specifics are known. Occasionally, a scientific guess might be used to assign a wrestler to their preseason ranking weight class.
Wrestlers are ranked based how they finished in last season’s state tournament. A Champion ranks higher than a runner up and so on.
Non-placing wrestlers are rewarded based on the number of matches they win. A “Q2” is a wrestler that made it to the blood round and finished the state tournament 2-2. A “Q1” went 1-2. A “Q” went 0-2.

Additional preseason ranking positions are:
Climbers: this is a wrestler that was ranked last season but had their season cut short for various reasons or competed in a brutally tough region and did not qualify. These wrestlers are ranked and expected to climb the rankings. There will be one “Fast Climber” per weight class. The “Fast Climber” is projected to climb faster than the other climbers in the weight class. Rare exceptions could be made to add a second Fast Climber in each weight class.
Freshman Extraordinaire: These wrestlers are freshmen that were finalists last season in the Middle School WSAZ, WVYWA and WV Jr. State tournaments.

Ranking order is: 1,2,3,4,5,6, Q2, Q1, Q, Fast Climber, Climber, Freshman Extraordinaires.
There are no ties for ranking position. The tie breaking system is being used is as follows:
If we have two returning “Q1s” in the same weight class, then the criteria to avoid a tie is as follows:

1. Known head-to-head in the state tournament or the regional tournament. We do not go back further than the regional tournament.
2. Higher Quality Opponent Points or “QOP”. See explanation below.
3. Higher placement in the region.
4. Who was heavier last season.
5. If we have two returning state champions in the same weight class, we give the nod to higher career WV State Tournament Placement. For example, a returning 3x state champion gets ranked higher than a 1x returning state champion. If a returning state champion placed 6th two seasons ago, he will rank higher than a state champion that has no other prior state tournament placement. The same logic will be used to break ties for all state place winner and qualifier positions.
6. No opinions are used to begin the rankings.
7. Executive Decision can be used in rare cases. However, Executive Decision does not override a returning state champion for ranking purposes.

Explanation of Quality Opponent Points or “QOP”
Points are assigned as follows:
Champion = 16 points
Runner up = 12
3rd = 9
4th = 7
5th = 5
6th = 3
Q2 = 2
Q1 = 1
If a Q1 loses to the eventual state champion (16 points) and the eventual 4th place winner (7 points), then his QOP = 16 + 7 = 23.
If the other Q1 loses to the eventual third place winner (9 points) and an eventual Q2 (2 points), then his QOP = 9 + 2 = 11.
23 is higher than 11. The Q1 with 23 QOP gets ranked higher than Q1 with 11 QOP.

Additional Points:
1 Once the actual season begins, the MUD LINE will be implemented once wrestlers take turns beating each other. For example, as the season progresses, Wrestler A beats Wrestler B. Wrestler B beats Wrestler C. Wrestler C then beats Wrestler A. The ranking waters then become muddy.

The rankings are not clear cut among the three wrestlers. As the top ten wrestlers are listed, a Mud Line will be drawn to illustrate where increased parity has developed. Wrestlers listed above the Mud Line are cleanly ranked. The higher the Mud Line is within a weight class, the crazier the weight class is.

2 Some schools currently have multiple returning state place winners in the same weight class. During the preseason rankings, these given wrestlers will be ranked accordingly. Adjustments will be made once the season begins.

3 These rankings can also be used to evaluate how tough or how weak a given wrestler’s school’s schedule is. For example: a Hot Shot Freshman Extraordinaire will begin the season raked at the bottom. His climb will happen only when he starts beating wrestlers ranked above him. If he never gets around to wrestling any of these ranked wrestlers until January 15th, then the problem is his schedule is too weak! His climb will just take more than half the season. He will get there.

4 Strength of schedule and significant matches will start being taken into consideration in January. For example: Wrestler Jim Ramos finished in 6th place last season while wrestling for Bugtussle High School. His 6th place finish ranks him accordingly in preseason, which carries into the actual season. Bugtussle High wrestles out of state most of the season and elects to not compete in any competitive WV events. Other ranked wrestlers, with significant wins, could be moved above Jim.

5 Look at Bear Tracks Preseason as a pole position in a Nascar Race. Starting position and once the matches begin, head-to head rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please communicate all needed changes.

A big thank you to all the coaches, parents, wrestlers and graduated wrestlers that have been answering my questions as to who is in what weight class.

Wrestler information is listed as follows: Name, School, State Tournament Place/Designation, Grade, QOP