PHILADELPHIA – After a grueling regular season, the University of Pennsylvania wrestling team now knows what is at stake in the postseason as the final NCAA Division I Coaches Panel and RPI Rankings have been released alongside qualifying allocations for the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at The Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. March 16-18.

Qualifying Allocations are assigned to each weight in each conference, allowing wrestlers to know what minimum placement they need to achieve at their conference tournament – the EIWA Championships for the Quakers. Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data.  Each wrestler was measured on the following: Division I winning percentage at the weight class; ratings percentage index (RPI); and coaches’ ranking. 

Once again, the EIWA has the second-most automatic qualifying (AQ) berths on the line, with 43 AQs on the line March 3-4 at Bucknell University.

Five Penn Wrestlers put together seasons which helped the EIWA earn AQs at their weight – May Bethea (1570. Brooks Martino (165), Casey Kent (174), Joe Heyob (197) and Frank Mattiace (197). As a reminder, these wrestlers have not earned their bid to NCAAs yet, they must earn it next weekend in Lewisburg.

With the regular season concluded, here is where Penn’s wrestlers ranked in the final Coaches Panel…

• 18-5 Overall Record

• 6-5 Record Against Coaches Panel Top-33

• Wins Over #13 Lujan (UNI), #18 Galli (Stanford), #19 Pagano (Rutgers), #26 Bass (Duke), #27 Johnson (Harvard), #29 Fagg-Daves (Rider, 184)

• Losses to #2 Realbuto (Cornell), #5 Hall (Penn State), #6 Preisch (Lehigh), #7 Ramos (North Carolina), #22 Schleifer (Princeton)

• #11 RPI Ranking

• 24-9 Overall Record

• 3-7 Record Against Coaches Panel Top-33

• Wins Over #25 Marchock (Stanford), #30 Kasunic (American), #32 Haas (Lehigh)

• Losses to #1 Cox (Missouri), #7 McCutcheon (Penn State), #10 Wolfe (Rider), #12 Sleigh (Bucknell), #13 Beazley (Old Dominion), #14 Harner (Princeton), #24 McDonald (N.C. State)

• #14 RPI Ranking

• 22-7 Overall Record

• 5-5 Record Against Coaches Panel Top-33

• Wins Over #14 Lopez (Bucknell), #25 Fox (Stanford), #27 Walker (The Citadel), #31 Rahmani (Pittsburgh), #33 Kraisser (Campbell)

• Losses to #1 Nolf (Penn State), #4 Kutler (Lehigh), #12 Parsons (Army West Point, #17 Van Brill (Rutgers), #25 Fox (Stanford)

•19-7 Overall Record (10-4 at 184 Pounds)

• 3-6 Overall Record Against Coaches Panel Top-33 (2-3 at 184 Pounds)

• Wins Over #30 Gentile (Lehigh), #33 Baker (Princeton), #29 Chaid (North Carolina, 197)

• Losses to #22 DeCiantis (Drexel), #25 Imonode (Army West Point), #28 LaFragola (Brown), #16 Mattiace (Penn, 197), #20 Berkowitz (2x; Northwestern, 197)

• Brooks Martino enters the conference tournament with a 12-5 overall record, and a 1-1 mark against opponents ranked in the Coaches Panel Top-33 at 165 pounds. He helped earn an AQ for the EIWA based off his RPI of #30 and his winning percentage.

• Joe Oliva is 14-10 overall at 149 pounds. He is 1-6 against Top-33 opponents this season. He will also have to finish at least third next weekend to secure a trip to NCAAs.

• A.J. Vindici has battled arguable the toughest schedule of any Quaker this season. He is 5-16 at 141 pounds, with eight of those losses coming to Top-33 opponents, including six of the top 14 and four of the top six.