After taking a breif break from the wild ride that was the 2015 NCAA tournament, we can now look ahead to next season as we at IA Wrestle try to project what the preseason top 8 rankings will look like. For a majority of the rankings we took the top returning All-Americans at each weight in order and then filled in with R12 and R16 guys. Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) has already made his decision to go to 133 public so he is the only weight change thus far. All-Americans Zain Retherford (PSU) and Bryce Hammond (Cal-Bakersfield) both come off redshirts at 141 and 174 and have been slotted in about where they would have fallen with this crop of returning All-Americans.
Think of this as just an early snap shot for next season. We all know that freshman and wrestlers coming off redshirt are going to emerge and spring up the rankings. As will guys who will have a break out season, and then wrestlers will change weight. You get the picture. This isn’t a perfect ranking. Just a view at the top returning wrestlers at each weight right now.
| 125 | ||
| 1 | Nathan Tomasello | Ohio State |
| 2 | Zeke Moisey | West Virginia |
| 3 | Thomas Gilman | Iowa |
| 4 | Conor Youtsey | Michigan |
| 5 | Eddie Klimara | Oklahoma State |
| 6 | Jordan Conaway | PSU |
| 7 | Joey Dance | Virginia Tech |
| 8 | David Terao | American |
| 133 | ||
| 1 | Cody Brewer | Oklahoma |
| 2 | Cory Clark | Iowa |
| 3 | Jimmy Gulibon | PSU |
| 4 | Ryan Taylor | Wisconsin |
| 5 | Mason Beckman | Lehigh |
| 6 | Rossi Bruno | Michigan |
| 7 | Nahshon Garrett | Cornell |
| 8 | Earl Hall | ISU |
| 141 | ||
| 1 | Dean Heil | Oklahoma State |
| 2 | Evan Hendersen | North Carolina |
| 3 | Kevin Jack | NC State |
| 4 | Zain Retherford | PSU |
| 5 | Rick Durso | Franklin and Marshall |
| 6 | Chirs Mecate | Old Dominion |
| 7 | Lavion Mayes | Missouri |
| 8 | Anthony Ashnault | Rutgers |
| 149 | ||
| 1 | Jason Tsirtsis | Northwestern |
| 2 | Brandon Sorensen | Iowa |
| 3 | BJ Clagon | Rider |
| 4 | Alex Richardson | Old Dominion |
| 5 | Dan Neff | Lock Haven |
| 6 | Sal Mastrani | Virginia Tech |
| 7 | Alec Pantelo | Michigan |
| 8 | Colin Heffernan | Central Michigan |
| 157 | ||
| 1 | Isaiah Martinez | Illinois |
| 2 | Brian Realbutto | Cornell |
| 3 | Nick Brascetta | Virginia Tech |
| 4 | Ian Miller | Kent State |
| 5 | Brian Murphy | Michigan |
| 6 | Mitch Minotti | Lehigh |
| 7 | Anothy Collica | Oklahoma State |
| 8 | Spartak Chino | Ohio |
| 165 | ||
| 1 | Alex Dieringer | Oklahoma State |
| 2 | Bo Jordan | Ohio State |
| 3 | Ethan Ramos | North Carolina |
| 4 | Isaac Jordan | Wisconsin |
| 5 | Jim Wilson | Stanford |
| 6 | Cooper Moore | UNI |
| 7 | Dylan Palacio | Cornell |
| 8 | Clark Glass | Oklahoma |
| 174 | ||
| 1 | Kyle Crutchmer | Oklahoma State |
| 2 | Zach Epperly | Virginia Tech |
| 3 | Kurtis Julson | NDSU |
| 4 | Cody Waters | Ohio |
| 5 | Bryce Hammond | Cal-Bakersfield |
| 6 | Alex Meyer | Iowa |
| 7 | Blaise Butler | Virginia |
| 8 | Zac Brunson | Illinois |
| 184 | ||
| 1 | Gabe Dean | Cornell |
| 2 | Nate Brown | Lehigh |
| 3 | Vic Avery | Edinboro |
| 4 | Blake Stauffer | Arizona State |
| 5 | Kenny Courts | Ohio State |
| 6 | Hayden Zilmer | NDSU |
| 7 | Willie Miklus | Missouri |
| 8 | TJ Dudley | Nebraska |
| 197 | ||
| 1 | Kyle Snyder | Ohio State |
| 2 | Morgan McIntosh | PSU |
| 3 | J’den Cox | Missouri |
| 4 | Conner Hartmann | Duke |
| 5 | Nathan Burak | Iowa |
| 6 | Aaron Studebaker | Nebraska |
| 7 | Jace Bennett | Cornell |
| 8 | Anthony Abro | Eastern Michigan |
| 285 | ||
| 1 | Nick Gwiazdowski | NC State |
| 2 | Adam Coon | Michigan |
| 3 | Connor Medbery | Wisconsin |
| 4 | Ty Walz | Virginia Tech |
| 5 | Michael Kroells | Minnesota |
| 6 | Austin Mardsen | Oklahoma State |
| 7 | Blaize Cabell | UNI |
| 8 | Collin Jensen | Nebraska |