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6 Statistics from the NWCA All-Star Classic

Takeaways from the clash of top ranked wrestlers

November 21, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

Welcome to Mat Stats! Wrestling statistics are woefully unavailable and I want to change that. Often the numbers are out there, but are tucked away in obscure corners of the internet and exist merely as raw data. My goal is to try to compile what I can find and output a newsletter that will highlight the most interesting findings. Each newsletter will cover wrestling statistics from a particular event, time frame, athlete, or team. If you like this kind of analysis, please consider subscribing to get each new edition delivered straight to your mailbox.

The scoring rate in the women’s matches greatly exceeded the men’s.

In the five women’s matches the overall score rate in points per minute (PPM) was 1.83, whereas that PPM of the 11 men’s matches was 1.16. There are a number of factors that could play into this, namely the number of quick pins in the women’s matches, the lack of overtime in freestyle, and the generally higher score rate of freestyle overall.

Takedowns were the key to victory in the D1 men’s matches.

No surprise here, takedowns accounted for 46.3% of the overall points scored in the Division I men’s matchups. Escapes were a distant second, followed by near fall.

Riding time was not a factor.

Riding time was scored in 4 of the 10 Division I matches, and in none of those instances did it decide the match. This is in line with typical data in the three-point takedown era, with riding time being scored in 40.5% of matches at last year's NCAAs. Interestingly Van Ness secured a 16-4 major decision without scoring riding time.

Massoma Endene is a force to be reckoned with.

The top ranked Division III wrestler at 197 majored his top-ranked Division II opponent 12-1 at the All-Star Classic. Endene has been dominant in his time in D3, winning two national titles in his two years, amassing a 52-1 record with an 80.5% bonus rate. He also competed for Team USA in the 2024 U23 World Championships, finishing 7th.

Starocci won the positional battle.

The main event was largely a neutral spar between Carter Starocci and Parker Keckeisen. Analyzing the time spent on their feet, Starocci had his back to the center of the mat for a total of 3 minutes 8 seconds, while Keckeisen had his back to the center for only 22 seconds. Obviously this would be more of a factor in freestyle and could have been part of Parker’s gameplan, but it is notable how much Carter was able to control the mat.

Keckeisen took his time getting back to the center of the mat.

The Penn State crowd is famously not a fan of prolonged breaks during match stoppages and they let Parker know it on Saturday. He took an average of 13 seconds getting back into position after a restart, with his longest delay lasting nearly 21 seconds. This was clearly intentional on Keckeisen’s part, whether to create frustration, to compose himself, or for some other strategic tactic.