Portal-able Points

[wrestleknownothing]

With ramped up transfer activity, and pending activity, it got me thinking about the returning points graphic I did last year with color coded sources. I started building the data and it struck me how few returning points are actually up for grabs in the portal this year.

For returning points I am being strict in the definition. This is based on points scored in the 2025 tournament. I know if it is your team you want to put on those rose colored glasses and talk about the most points the wrestler has ever scored (sorry Richie Figueroa), or what you think they are capable of scoring (everyone is a potential finalist in someone's opinion). But I am unmoved.



Only 25.5 returning points have transferred so far (1.8% of all points scored). And only 26 remaining points are looking for a new home. There are 51.5 total points (3.6%) looking to, or already, transferred (vs. last year 120.5 or 8.4%).

That's it.

Everything else is about potential, that most elusive of mistresses.

 

[wrestleknownothing]

What about those 120.5 transferred points from 2024?

They only scored 111.5 points in 2025.

But it was a tale of two cities.

• In Stillwater the four transfers each exceeded their 2024 total in 2025. In aggregate they beat their prior year points by 33.
• In Iowa City one transfer exceeded his 2024 total and two missed, for an aggregate 20 fewer points in 2025.

 

[wrestleknownothing]

In general there are fewer returning points this year. A lot fewer.

Last year 196 wrestlers who scored 1,066.5 points (out of 1,437.5, 74.2%) returned in 2025.

This year 206 wrestlers who scored 863.5 points (out of 1438, 60%) return for 2026.

 

[psumacw]

With ramped up transfer activity, and pending activity, it got me thinking about the returning points graphic I did last year with color coded sources. I started building the data and it struck me how few returning points are actually up for grabs in the portal this year.

For returning points I am being strict in the definition. This is based on points scored in the 2025 tournament. I know if it is your team you want to put on those rose colored glasses and talk about the most points the wrestler has ever scored (sorry Richie Figueroa), or what you think they are capable of scoring (everyone is a potential finalist in someone's opinion). But I am unmoved.



Only 25.5 returning points have transferred so far (1.8% of all points scored). And only 26 remaining points are looking for a new home. There are 51.5 total points (3.6%) looking to, or already, transferred (vs. last year 120.5 or 8.4%).

That's it.

Everything else is about potential, that most elusive of mistresses.

what would it look like if you removed seniors from the 2025 NQ line? intuition tells me that should be maybe 1/3 of the points so the percents would go up by ~50%? still doesn't move the needle thaaaat much. you're right, the issue is definitely more on the expectation of 2026+ performance rather than actual 2025 results.

 

[wrestleknownothing]

what would it look like if you removed seniors from the 2025 NQ line? intuition tells me that should be maybe 1/3 of the points so the percents would go up by ~50%? still doesn't move the needle thaaaat much. you're right, the issue is definitely more on the expectation of 2026+ performance rather than actual 2025 results.

Due to the COVID pile up 40% of the points were seniors, 60% return. The prior year it was 26%/74%.

 

[jtothemfp]

With ramped up transfer activity, and pending activity, it got me thinking about the returning points graphic I did last year with color coded sources. I started building the data and it struck me how few returning points are actually up for grabs in the portal this year.

For returning points I am being strict in the definition. This is based on points scored in the 2025 tournament. I know if it is your team you want to put on those rose colored glasses and talk about the most points the wrestler has ever scored (sorry Richie Figueroa), or what you think they are capable of scoring (everyone is a potential finalist in someone's opinion). But I am unmoved.



Only 25.5 returning points have transferred so far (1.8% of all points scored). And only 26 remaining points are looking for a new home. There are 51.5 total points (3.6%) looking to, or already, transferred (vs. last year 120.5 or 8.4%).

That's it.

Everything else is about potential, that most elusive of mistresses.

More great stuff, thanks so much!

I'm usually a Do My Own Work kinda guy (versus asking for help that requires homework from the askee), but you've done so much here, I'm guessing you can provide quickly what would take hours for me to maff up meself...

If 1438 team points were scored this year, and 1,437.5 last year, the variables are of course Bonus Points. Which, wow, that's amazingly close between two years!

My questions are...
- Do Total Team Advancement Points vary from one tourney, year to year?
- Or are they as standard & fixed as Total Team Placement Points? I *think one tourney's standard Placement Points is 670, right? (16+12+10+9+7+6+4+3) = 67 x 10 weights)
- So what is one Tourney's standard Advancement Points available? I'm so curious how much Bonus Points vary, on a whole tourney aggregate, from year to year.

Thanks again, I freakin love your work!

 

[Ruby Tues]

That’s a lot of math…..

 

[wrestleknownothing]

More great stuff, thanks so much!

I'm usually a Do My Own Work kinda guy (versus asking for help that requires homework from the askee), but you've done so much here, I'm guessing you can provide quickly what would take hours for me to maff up meself...

If 1438 team points were scored this year, and 1,437.5 last year, the variables are of course Bonus Points. Which, wow, that's amazingly close between two years!

My questions are...
- Do Total Team Advancement Points vary from one tourney, year to year?
- Or are they as standard & fixed as Total Team Placement Points? I *think one tourney's standard Placement Points is 670, right? (16+12+10+9+7+6+4+3) = 67 x 10 weights)
- So what is one Tourney's standard Advancement Points available? I'm so curious how much Bonus Points vary, on a whole tourney aggregate, from year to year.

Thanks again, I freakin love your work!

There are always the same number of placement and advancement points every tournament since they switched to score it as a 32 man bracket with pigtails (2013).

So any difference in total points comes down to bonus.

Note: In 2024 the 141 pound bracket had only 32 entrants. That meant the #32 seed, Todd Carter of Gardner-Webb, received a bye in the pigtail resulting in 1 advancement and 2 bonus points. He proceeded to lose in the first round championship match and the first round consolation match. He went 0-2 and scored 3 points. Nice.

 

[jtothemfp]

There are always the same number of placement and advancement points every tournament since they switched to score it as a 32 man bracket with pigtails (2013).

So any difference in total points comes down to bonus.

Note: In 2024 the 141 pound bracket had only 32 entrants. That meant the #32 seed, Todd Carter of Gardner-Webb, received a bye in the pigtail resulting in 1 advancement and 2 bonus points. He proceeded to lose in the first round championship match and the first round consolation match. He went 0-2 and scored 3 points. Nice.

So what's the Total Advancement Points available in one Tourney each year then? (excepting exceptions like the Carter one)

 

[wrestleknownothing]

So what's the Total Advancement Points available in one Tourney each year then? (excepting exceptions like the Carter one)

455 Advancement points + 670 Placement points = 1125 minimum points

Anything above that is the bonus points.

 

[CentexLion]

455 Advancement points + 670 Placement points = 1125 minimum points

Anything above that is the bonus points.

And are penalty deductions counted against the team or against the wrestler? When Bo through his headgear after he pinned Myles, did he only get 2 bonus points or 3 and a team point lost? I remember one year that MSU was -0.5 total points for the tournament (it may have been the BIG10). Didn't Iowa lose a point this past tournament? That would be the last component to make certain all points add up correctly I believe

 

[wrestleknownothing]

And are penalty deductions counted against the team or against the wrestler? When Bo through his headgear after he pinned Myles, did he only get 2 bonus points or 3 and a team point lost? I remember one year that MSU was -0.5 total points for the tournament (it may have been the BIG10). Didn't Iowa lose a point this past tournament? That would be the last component to make certain all points add up correctly I believe

Great point. It is assessed against the team, not the individual wrestler.

I think there have been 3 instances of negative total team points. Northern Colorado holds the record at -1 in 2016, followed by Michigan State at -0.5 in 2015, and Chattanooga also at -0.5 in 2017.

2015 - 2017 were some unruly times.

 

[Diego Badman]

This should be a Jeopardy category: “Portal-able Points” as a replacement for “Potent Potables.”

 

[Cali_Nittany]

There are always the same number of placement and advancement points every tournament since they switched to score it as a 32 man bracket with pigtails (2013).

So any difference in total points comes down to bonus.

Note: In 2024 the 141 pound bracket had only 32 entrants. That meant the #32 seed, Todd Carter of Gardner-Webb, received a bye in the pigtail resulting in 1 advancement and 2 bonus points. He proceeded to lose in the first round championship match and the first round consolation match. He went 0-2 and scored 3 points. Nice.

Incorrect about Todd Carter. Advancemnet points off a bye are given only if the wrestler wins the next match. He got 0 points for the tourney. Also, bonus points are not given from advancing off a bye.

Edit: 2024 had 453.5 advancement points vs 455 points in a normal tournament (since 2013)

 

[wrestleknownothing]

Incorrect about Todd Carter. Advancemnet points off a bye are given only if the wrestler wins the next match. He got 0 points for the tourney. Also, bonus points are not given from advancing off a bye.

Edit: 2024 had 453.5 advancement points vs 455 points in a normal tournament (since 2013)

Oops. I was going off the scoring on Penn State Wrestling Club's site. They have him down for 3. But you are correct about the byes.

I assume it was a bye rather than a forfeit. But perhaps it was recorded as a forfeit. Or maybe they just have it wrong on PSWC.

Edit: And would it be 454 since #30 Kai Owen, who would have been in the consolation pigtail, went on to win his first round consolation bracket match?

 

[Cali_Nittany]

Oops. I was going off the scoring on Penn State Wrestling Club's site. They have him down for 3. But you are correct about the byes.

I assume it was a bye rather than a forfeit. But perhaps it was recorded as a forfeit. Or maybe they just have it wrong on PSWC.

Edit: And would it be 454 since #30 Kai Owen, who would have been in the consolation pigtail, went on to win his first round consolation bracket match?

It's wrong on PSWC. NCAA has it recorded as a bye in the champ round. There was no bye in the consis. I don't know why they did it that way.