COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Youssif Hemida, Alfred Bannister and Ryan Diehl all appeared in both the InterMat NCAA Division I Preseason Rankings, and the Amateur Wrestling News Division I Pre-Season Individual Rankings, the sites announced Wednesday.
This is the second time all three wrestlers have been ranked. They all also appeared in the TrackWrestling Preseason Rankings on Monday
Along with the three, senior Tyler Goodwin made his ranking debut in the Amateur Wrestling News list.
A Big Ten placer (7th) and NCAA Qualifier in 2017, Hemida was ranked the No. 13 heavyweight in the InterMat Rankings and No. 15 in the Amateur Wrestling News ranking after finishing his sophomore campaign with an impressive 21-11 record. His season included a dominant stretch where he went 15-6 from January to March. He defeated three opponents at the NCAA Championships to advance to Friday's Blood Round session.
Diehl was rated the 14th-best wrestler in the 141-pound weight class by InterMat and the No. 20 wrestler by the Amateur Wrestling News. The redshirt junior came on strong at the end of the 2016-17 season, and after upsetting three ranked opponents and placing 5th at the Big Ten Tournament, Diehl earned his first-ever spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Bannister earned the No. 12 ranking in the InterMat list, and the No. 13 ranking in the Amateur Wrestling News. After an impressive regular season, Bannister qualified for his first-ever NCAA Championships as the tournament's No. 13 seed. He placed sixth at the Big Ten Tournament after defeating the No. 14 ranked wrestler, Ken Theobold. The La Plata, Md., native burst on to the national scene after beginning the regular season with 14 consecutive wins.
Goodwin came in at No. 16 in the 133-pound weight class. The Gambrills, Md., native won seven matches last season, including the Southeast Open title. He also won seven matches in his sophomore campaign after qualifying for the NCAA Championships his freshman year. He has an impressive 38-13 record in his career.
The Terps will make their season debut on Thursday, Oct. 26 in the Red-Black Wrestle-Offs at the XFINITY Center. The intersquad match will begin at 7 p.m.
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