165 has been one of the deepest weights in the country the last few years, with names like Imar, Joseph, Marinelli, O’Toole, and Carr. This has been one of the toughest weights to reach the podium. This year however it seems to have cleared out a little and may even be one of the thinnest weights of the season.
1 Mitchell Mesenbrink
Messenbrink is far and away the best wrestler in the class, and its not even close. His dominance is so strong, I don’t remember a weight class in recent memory being so one sided. His non stop action, with constant fakes, and freaky footwork really separates him from everyone else. He has a strong case for the Hodge Trophy.
2 Michael Caliendo
Caliendo had a fantastic NCAA tournament last year finishing in 4th place as the #6 seed. In the 3rd place match he even managed a pair of takedowns over 2x NCAA Champion Keegan O’Toole. So far Caliendo has looked outstanding scoring ranked wins over Oregon State and defeating #4 Hunter Garvin in a wild 17-12 match in Carver Hawkeye Arena.
3 Terrell Barraclough
Bear Claw has had an impressive start to his season and is currently undefeated and even picked up a huge win over #4 Hunter Garvin. He is currently ranked 7th on Flowrestling, however I expect him to continue to work his way up the rankings as the season progresses. Looking forward to seeing him compete against Caliendo and Amine. Both matches should be fire. Expect a deep run in March.
4 Hunter Garvin
If wrestling matches were just 2 minutes long, Hunter would be champion of the world. This kid is a quick starter to say the least. Against Mikey Caliendo he was up 9-2 in the first period, before losing 17-12. Even with a 6 minute match he is still pretty damn good. If he can learn to pace himself a bit, the sky is the limit on this kid.
5 Cameron Amine
Its kinda strange have Cam this low in our rankings and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he is able to climb much higher as the season progresses. Already a 3x all-american, it was a shock to not see him reach the podium last March, after finishing 4th the previous two years. NOt sure what his problem was, but he didn’t look himself last year. Hopefully with a new coach and singlet he can turn it around and finish near the top of the podium once again.
6 Julian Ramirez
Julian is as good as anyone in the bracket on any given day as he has shown by taking out NCAA champions David Carr and Shane Griffith, as well as NCAA runner up Quincy Monday. However when the national tournament rolls around he doesn’t look the same as he did earlier in the season. 3 straight times he has reached the round of 12 and has failed to reach the podium. Is this the year he turns it all around? We believe it is!
7 Peyton Hall
The 4x West Virginia state champion and 2024 NCAA all-american is back for his senior season after placing 7th last year. Finished 32-9 last year with wins over Julian Ramirez, and all-american Antell Taylor. I expect a big senior season from Peyton and fully expect to reach the podium once again.
8 Garrett Thompson
Garrett finished last season with an impressive 27-8 record and is currently undefeated on the year. Last season he went 1-2 at the NCAA tournament taking out Caleb Fish in the opening round. With a thinned out division, I expect much more from Ohio’s Garrett Thompson. He is currently ranked 6th on Flowrestling.