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Historically, the first individual rankings are posted between January 1 and January 7.

During the month of December, most of the competition is out of state and plenty of wrestlers have not settled down into their final weight class.

The following are NOT necessarily my picks for who will when the state title. In addition, the following are NOT necessarily who I will be rotting for.

The following IS my guess for the FIRST individual rankings in AA/A:

106: 1. ????????? 2. ??????????
113: 1. Smith/Point, 2. Lusher/Indy
120: 1. Laya/East Fairmont, 2. Spencer/Roane
126: 1. Whorton/East Fairmont, 2. Harris/Indy
132: 1. Seacrist/Petersburg, 2. Taylor/Indy
138: 1. Bozek/Oak Glen, 2. Hart/Indy
145: 1. Gibson/Indy, 2. Good/Madonna
152: 1. Kuhn/North Marion, 2. Harvey/Indy
160: 1. Booth/Fairmont Senior, 2. Warden/Indy
170: 1. This weight class could be highly competitive and up for grabs. I predict multiple #1 changes throughout the season.
182: 1. LOADED!!!!!!! Could get tougher as the season progresses.
195: 1. Hart/Indy, 2. Safford/Point
220: 1. Adams/Indy, 2. Nice/Magnolia
285: 1. Cales/Greenbrier West, 2. Carey/Hoover

From 170 to 195, there will be many weight class changes. These three weight classes will be filled with many athletes.

The following are NOT necessarily my picks for who will WIN the state title. In addition, the following are NOT necessarily who I will be ROOTING for.

Rough day.

Lusher wrestled 120 at Super32. Not sure if he will stay there or drop down. There may be a sleeper freshman at 160 in the mix too. Should be an interesting year.

I overlooked Elliot/North Marion. He will probably be ranked in the top two around 160.

Hugger, you say 182 is loaded? Who is there? I know you know the higher to bees lol but we need some insight!

mattman wrote:Hugger, you say 182 is loaded? Who is there? I know you know the higher to bees lol but we need some insight!

182 could (key word is could) have the following wrestlers (Name/School/2016 State Tournament Place):

Lucas/Buffalo/3rd
Cool/Oak Glen/4th
Daniels/Indy/4th
Mason/Ritchie/5th
Moore/Calhoun/6th
Jarvis/Braxton/2nd
Cook/Sissonville/2nd

Then again, once a few wrestlers see that 195 is a terrible place to be, a few could cut down and add to 182. Of course some of the gentlemen listed above might get down to 170.

Right now, I am forecasting AA/A 160 and 170 are good weight classes to jump into. 182 and up, you better either be ready to fight every round or be ready to pull off a "David and Goliath" or "Douglas and Tyson" type upset to win the gold.

I predict many weight class changes in AA/A from 182 all the way up to 285. There are going to be some wrestlers who want to win the gold, but they know they cannot do it in a certain weight class. "Their" grass will be greener by either going UP or going Down.

From what I hear, Jarvis from Braxton is planning on staying at 170.

coach_williams wrote:From what I hear, Jarvis from Braxton is planning on staying at 170.

If that is the case, then 170 just got a notch tougher and 182 got a notch easier.

Of course we will see several middle schoolers move up and be a real threat for 106. Noah Hodges, runner up last year to Laya is planning on staying at 106. Not sure about Cambron, Powell from Wirt, McLean from Philip Barbour or Shaw from Berkeley Springs. I do know that East Fairmont will have several kids that will be in contention, as they are every year (Casuccio, Blake Whorton, Flint) ??? Add in several AAA teams dropping down and it could be wide open.

It's we can t forget about some new comers
Tristen fox. A very good kid and tuff, don t know the weight.
Peyton Hall, just a tuff and good as anyone on the seen right now, again I don't know the weight.
Andrew Sheik, sorry for misspelling name. And he might be better then the above.

Frank wrote:It's we can t forget about some new comers
Tristen fox. A very good kid and tuff, don t know the weight.
Peyton Hall, just a tuff and good as anyone on the seen right now, again I don't know the weight.
Andrew Sheik, sorry for misspelling name. And he might be better then the above.

Usually the new comers (freshmen) do not impact the top two rankings for the first poll. I am sure there will be plenty of freshmen be in the top two as the season evolves.

My analysis was for the first poll and it is primarily based on last season's state tournament performance.

Bearhugger wrote:Usually the new comers (freshmen) do not impact the top two rankings for the first poll.

Which is a prime reason why I am not a big fan of polls. Too much lack of logic involved. If a freshman has been out there since Nov 30th getting decisive wins then his grade level should have no bearing on ranking. The poll should be based on what the wrestler is doing now, not what was done a year or two ago. I know it isn't, but it should be.

coach_williams wrote:

Bearhugger wrote:Usually the new comers (freshmen) do not impact the top two rankings for the first poll.

Which is a prime reason why I am not a big fan of polls. Too much lack of logic involved. If a freshman has been out there since Nov 30th getting decisive wins then his grade level should have no bearing on ranking. The poll should be based on what the wrestler is doing now, not what was done a year or two ago. I know it isn't, but it should be.

"Not a big fan" but nevertheless making suggestions? You should make one

ZZChooseTop wrote:"Not a big fan" but nevertheless making suggestions? You should make one

Because I am not a big fan of the poll (more specifically an aspect of how the poll is derived rather than the actual poll) does not make me ineligible to discuss the poll or who may be on it. And I have no interest in ranking wrestlers myself, besides anything I produced would look pretty much like what bearhugger has provided for us.

I'm gonna make a logical post in saying that the smaller 220s will try their best to get to 195 to stay away from Adams at 220. That's what I would recommend if I were the coach of a smaller 200

Rumor is that Sammy wants Adams to start his freshmen year, so Adams is working on coming down

coach_williams wrote:

Bearhugger wrote:Usually the new comers (freshmen) do not impact the top two rankings for the first poll.

Which is a prime reason why I am not a big fan of polls. Too much lack of logic involved. If a freshman has been out there since Nov 30th getting decisive wins then his grade level should have no bearing on ranking. The poll should be based on what the wrestler is doing now, not what was done a year or two ago. I know it isn't, but it should be.

My poll provided was created with nothing but logic. My source was the returning state place winners and qualifiers list that was produced. The poll was based on what these returning high school wrestlers did last season in high school, not middle school. This same logic is also used in many tournaments for seeding purposes. I guessed on the weight classes each wrestler would be in. As for all of the freshmen, if they get wins over returning state place winners, then they will be ranked accordingly when the first, real poll comes out in January.

Frank wrote:Rumor is that Sammy wants Adams to start his freshmen year, so Adams is working on coming down

If there is any truth to this, then he will be 195 this season. This would shift everybody down and make Indy even tougher. Wow!

Bearhugger wrote:My poll provided was created with nothing but logic. My source was the returning state place winners and qualifiers list that was produced. The poll was based on what these returning high school wrestlers did last season in high school, not middle school. This same logic is also used in many tournaments for seeding purposes. I guessed on the weight classes each wrestler would be in. As for all of the freshmen, if they get wins over returning state place winners, then they will be ranked accordingly when the first, real poll comes out in January.

I fully understand how you came to your list and have no issue with it.

Frank wrote:Rumor is that Sammy wants Adams to start his freshmen year, so Adams is working on coming down

Heard the same thing Frank but I see it the other way. With Myers leaving is coach Henson looking for a 285? It's much easier to find a good 197 than it is to find good athletic heavyweights because most of them go the football route. Snyder proved that a successful heavyweight doesn't have to be a 300 pound guy who cuts to make 285. Noah could be what the Bull needs at 285 and if he is promise scholarship eligible then WVU gets him for next to nothing.

mattman wrote:I'm gonna make a logical post in saying that the smaller 220s will try their best to get to 195 to stay away from Adams at 220. That's what I would recommend if I were the coach of a smaller 200

I agree however, cutting down to 195 will bring on extra misery. You got Hart and probably Safford at 195, along with having to watch your weight.

If I was a 220, I would order a few pizzas and try my luck at 285.

If you want Gold, then 285 would be the easier path. However, 285 is loaded too.

AA/A region 3 has the returning 285 champ, runner up and 4th place winner due back.

That's a good point guys, and Noah has been know to attack challenges. At the trials in Akron Noah wrestle up to get the chance to wrestle a world champion in Gable Stevens . He could have easy made the weight class below. The boy likes a good challenge. Watch out HWTs. So no telling where we ll see Noah. I'd say somewhere between 182 and HWT.

Frank wrote:That's a good point guys, and Noah has been know to attack challenges. At the trials in Akron Noah wrestle up to get the chance to wrestle a world champion in Gable Stevens . He could have easy made the weight class below. The boy likes a good challenge. Watch out HWTs. So no telling where we ll see Noah. I'd say somewhere between 182 and HWT.

Noah has been lifting too much to make 182. 195 to 285 is where I suspect we will see him this season, depending on the tournament.

Frank, gotta bust your bubble buddy. Noah is locked and loaded at 220. Kevin is gonna put 6-7 more pounds of muscle before the end of February. We gotta keep it real fellas, who at hwt scores a point on Noah much less challenges him? The returning state champ at hwt is a sophomore no way he challenges a full grown man in Noah Adams. I'm sure cliff will analyze each match and weight class and throw together a roster to maximize points at the state tournament so a few moves at regionals wouldn't surprise me a bit.

mattman wrote:Frank, gotta bust your bubble buddy. Noah is locked and loaded at 220. Kevin is gonna put 6-7 more pounds of muscle before the end of February. We gotta keep it real fellas, who at hwt scores a point on Noah much less challenges him? The returning state champ at hwt is a sophomore no way he challenges a full grown man in Noah Adams. I'm sure cliff will analyze each match and weight class and throw together a roster to maximize points at the state tournament so a few moves at regionals wouldn't surprise me a bit.

Something is in the works. I hear there are a few kids working now to get down to 220.

I saw a video of Noah lifting weights. Very impressive! I'm sure whatever weight class he ends up wrestling, he'll win it.

I would think he will be gearing for college wrestling and he'll have to wrestle either 197 or 285.

Bearhugger wrote:

mattman wrote:Hugger, you say 182 is loaded? Who is there? I know you know the higher to bees lol but we need some insight!

182 could (key word is could) have the following wrestlers (Name/School/2016 State Tournament Place):

Lucas/Buffalo/3rd
Cool/Oak Glen/4th
Daniels/Indy/4th
Mason/Ritchie/5th
Moore/Calhoun/6th
Jarvis/Braxton/2nd
Cook/Sissonville/2nd

Then again, once a few wrestlers see that 195 is a terrible place to be, a few could cut down and add to 182. Of course some of the gentlemen listed above might get down to 170.

Right now, I am forecasting AA/A 160 and 170 are good weight classes to jump into. 182 and up, you better either be ready to fight every round or be ready to pull off a "David and Goliath" or "Douglas and Tyson" type upset to win the gold.

I predict many weight class changes in AA/A from 182 all the way up to 285. There are going to be some wrestlers who want to win the gold, but they know they cannot do it in a certain weight class. "Their" grass will be greener by either going UP or going Down.

We got a surprise to make 182 interesting. The "Hale Raiser" from Winfield.

Frank wrote:It's we can t forget about some new comers
Tristen fox. A very good kid and tuff, don t know the weight.
Peyton Hall, just a tuff and good as anyone on the seen right now, again I don't know the weight.
Andrew Sheik, sorry for misspelling name. And he might be better then the above.

Frank, Andrew Shelek is wrestling in AAA for Wheeling Park.

Moore Calhoun is at 152 this season and I'd say it's between him and Kuhn of N Marion

Jarvis Braxton is my pick at 170 but Moomaw Pet and Elliot N Marion aren't push overs all 3 are tough

The original thread is A/AA rankings for 2017.
Wow. Come on ! Bearhugger Frank Gator .. let's get a A/AA list going. I work away and need info ...