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NCAA Announces Pre-Allocation Spots, Final Coaches' and RPI Rankings
2/26/2026 11:52:00 AM | Wrestling
MINNEAPOLISÂ -- The final NCAA coaches' and RPI rankings, plus pre-allocation spots for the 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, were released Thursday.
According to the criteria, the coaches' rankings are determined by a vote of 16 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the eight 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.
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According to the criteria, the coaches' rankings are determined by a vote of 16 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the eight 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.
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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.
The two rankings are among several criteria that the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will utilize 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.
The two rankings are among several criteria that the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will utilize 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.
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For the pre-allocation spots (see link at top of page), each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through Feb. 23. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards, win percentage, coaches' rank, and RPI ranking; while never going below the base of .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches' ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class.
For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his conference tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each conference is awarded a minimum of one automatic qualification per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA championship spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at conference tournaments based solely on place-finish.
After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 42 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 10, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. on March 11. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.Â
| Weight | Wrestler | Coaches' Rank | RPI |
| 125 | Jore Volk | 13 | 9 |
| 141 | Vance VomBaur | 8 | 8 |
| 149 | Drew Roberts | 23 | 29 |
| 157 | Charlie Millard | 14 | 12 |
| 165 | Andrew Sparks | 10 | 10 |
| 174 | Ethan Riddle | 25 | 26 |
| 184 | Max McEnelly | 3 | 2 |
| 197 | Gavin Nelson | 28 | 21 |
| 285 | Koy Hopke | 12 | 19 |
For the pre-allocation spots (see link at top of page), each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through Feb. 23. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards, win percentage, coaches' rank, and RPI ranking; while never going below the base of .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches' ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class.
For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his conference tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each conference is awarded a minimum of one automatic qualification per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA championship spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at conference tournaments based solely on place-finish.
After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 42 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 10, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. on March 11. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.Â
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