LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 11, 2021) – The NCAA  announced the pre-allocations and first coaches ranking for the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Thursday. The Cowboys had eight wrestlers ranked in the coaches rankings. The Big 12 Conference was allotted 45 spots in the NCAA Championships.

Hayden Hastings is the top ranked Cowboy coming in No. 10 at 174 pounds. Stephen Buchanan is ranked No. 12 at 197 pounds with heavyweight Brian Andrews ranking No. 14. Job Greenwood is ranked No. 17 at 133 pounds with Jacob Wright (157 pounds) and Tate Samuelson (184 pounds) ranking No. 19. Cole Moody is ranked No. 27 at 165 pounds and Chase Zollmann rounds out the ranked Pokes at No. 30 at 141 pounds.

The Big 12 Conference will have four spots at six weight classes which include; 125,133,149,165,197 and heavyweight. The conference will have three slots at 141, 174 and 184 pounds and two spots at 157 pounds.

The weight class conference champion in each qualifying tournament will earn an automatic qualifier to the national championships. Each conference was awarded additional pre-allocations based on the five-year average (2016-20) of pre-allocations earned by the conference in each weight class.
 
In recent years, pre-allocations have been determined by a formula measuring Division I winning percentage, ratings percentage index and coaches' ranking. A decrease in overall matches, and in particular non-conference matches, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, led the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee to transition to using the five-year historical average to determine pre-allocations for 2021. For any adjustments in conference alignment over the last five years, historical pre-allocations stayed with the conference where they were earned. The competition status of schools for 2021 also did not impact the calculation of pre-allocations.