Josh Heil has consistently notched wins over nationally ranked competitors in both the 141 lbs and 149 lbs weight classes. This article breaks down and dissects Josh Heil's impressive "hit list" wins over nationally ranked opponents by weight class.
 
141 lbs.
Heil wrestled at 141 pounds in both his true freshman and redshirt junior seasons. Despite not earning any ranked wins in his true freshman campaign, he was able to secure a SoCon title and qualify for the NCAA Championships.
 
After a redshirt season up a weight at 149, Josh dropped back down to 141 as a redshirt junior where he picked up five wins over nationally ranked opponents. He also became a Midlands finalist, won the Southeast Open, Navy Classic, and his third SoCon title, and qualified for the NCAA Championships where the NWCA awarded him with All-American accolades (NCAA's canceled due to pandemic).
 

 
Josh's first ranked wins at 141 came at the Southeast Open during his redshirt junior season. En route to a tournament title, Josh earned wins over No. 22 Zach Sherman (North Carolina) and Alex Madrigal (George Mason). Sherman was ranked No. 22 by FloWrestling in the preseason poll, but Madrigal did not jump into the rankings until the postseason when he was ranked as high as No. 17 in major polls. Just two weeks later, Josh won his second straight Navy Classic title with ranked victories over No. 18 Mitch Moore (Virginia Tech) and No. 6 Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven).
 
His final ranked win at 141 came in the semifinals of the Ken Kraft Midlands Championship when he ousted No. 8 Tristan Moran (Wisconsin) by a score of 4-2 to advance to the finals.
 
Ranked Wins at 141 lbs.
5-4 DEC over #22 Zach Sherman (UNC) [SEO | Nov 2019]
3-2 DEC over *#25 Alex Madrigal (GMU) [SEO | Nov 2019] *ranked 5/16/20
5-3 DEC over #18 Mitch Moore (OU) [Navy | Nov 2019]
2-1 DEC over #6 Kyle Shoop (LH) [Navy | Nov 2019]
4-2 DEC over #8 Tristan Moran (WISC) [Midlands | Dec 2019]
 


149 lbs.
Josh has spent three years at 149 pounds while competing for Campbell (sophomore, redshirt sophomore, and senior seasons). In his redshirt sophomore season at the 2018 Southern Scuffle, Josh entered as an unranked seed. He defeated No. 7 seed Tristan Moran (8-2), who was still wrestling for Oklahoma State at the time. Then in perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament, Josh upset the No. 2 seed and No. 6 ranked wrestler in the country, Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa). Carrying on his ranked win streak at the tournament, he beat third-seeded Jared Prince of Navy (4-3) and made the Southern Scuffle finals.
 
In the 2018-19 season, Josh won his first tournament of the year at the Navy Classic with a win over American's Kizhan Clarke. While Clarke did not enter the rankings until the following season, this win still shows the caliber of athlete that Josh competes with regularly. A few short weeks later at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, No. 10 seed Heil placed sixth with wins over Stanford's Requir van der Merwe 7-2 and an upset over UNI's Max Thomsen 4-2.
 

 
His next year wrestling at 149 lbs did not come until the abbreviated 2021 season. Because of the lack of matches in an abbreviated season, he had only one ranked win, coming over Oklahoma's Mitch Moore. Josh actually wrestled him a year earlier at the Navy Classic when he beat Moore 5-3 in OT. At the 2021 NCAA Championships, Josh didn't need the OT and defeated Moore, ranked No. 15, by a score of 2-1.
 
Ranked Wins at 149 lbs.
8-2 DEC over *#11 Tristan Moran (WISC) [Scuffle | Jan 2018] *Ranked at 141 lbs
3-2 DEC over #6 Max Thomsen (UNI) [Scuffle | Jan 2018]
4-3 DEC over #20 Jared Prince (NAVY) [Scuffle | Jan 2018]
14-4 MD over *#18 Kizhan Clarke (AMER) [Navy | Nov 2018] *Ranked 11/4/19
4-2 DEC over #6 Max Thomsen (UNI) [CKLV | Nov 2018]
7-2 DEC over *#15 Requir van der Merwe (STAN) [CKLV | Nov 2018] *Ranked 1/7/19
2-1 DEC over #15 Mitch Moore (OU) [NCAA| March 2021]
 
Note: Rankings may vary depending on outlet.