Unbeaten Penn State finishes regular season No. 1 in USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll

Manheim, Pennsylvania -- With Penn State’s 55-0 win over Buffalo on Sunday, the Nittany Lions capped off a perfect 14-0 dual meet record and finished the regular season where they began, atop the USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll.

Penn State received all 16 first-place votes as the final poll of the season was released on Tuesday. Ohio State ended the season ranked second, finishing with a 14-1 mark, while Missouri, the nation’s only other unbeaten squad, was third after picking up a pair of weekend wins to finish 19-0. Nine of the top 10 teams saw action in the season’s final week of dual meet competition.

Ohio State stopped sixth-ranked NC State 29-6 in Raleigh, North Carolina in front of a Wolfpack-record 3,905 fans. Just two days prior, NC State captured the ACC regular season title by beating No. 8 Virginia Tech 19-15.

Fourth-ranked Michigan ended its season 11-3 with a 30-9 win over No. 20 Central Michigan, while No. 5 Oklahoma State (13-2) capped its regular season with a road trip to Fresno State. The Cowboys topped the Bulldogs 41-0 in front of Fresno State’s second-largest crowd this season as the reinstated program drew 4,328 for the dual.

No. 7 Iowa closed out a 12-3 season by beating Iowa State 35-6. No. 8 Lehigh finished 12-3 by beating Pittsburgh and Oklahoma.

The only movement in the poll came from the Big Ten, which closed the season with 11 of its 14 teams ranked in the Top 25. Rutgers (8-7) and Purdue (9-7) both beat Wisconsin, which caused the Badgers to slide four spots to No. 22.

The USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll is voted on by two coaches from each Division I wrestling conference. Points are 25 for each first-place vote, 24 for second, 23 for third all the way to a 25th-place vote is one point.

NOTE: The coaches poll was initially scheduled to release one final poll on February 27, but since there are no scheduled Division I dual meets during what would have been the next ranking cycle, this poll will serve as the final poll of the 2017-18 regular season.

Rank	Team (First)	Record	Points	Conference	Previous
1	Penn State (16)	14-0	400	Big Ten	1
2	Ohio State	14-1	382	Big Ten	2
3	Missouri	19-0	370	MAC	3
4	Michigan	11-3	348	Big Ten	4
5	Oklahoma State	13-2	335	Big 12	5
6	NC State	15-2	315	ACC	6
7	Iowa	12-3	313	Big Ten	7
8	Lehigh	12-3	280	EIWA	8
9	Arizona State	11-3	275	Pac-12	9
10	Virginia Tech	14-3	254	ACC	10
11	Cornell	13-2	243	EIWA	11
12	South Dakota State	13-2	227	Big 12	12
13	Nebraska	10-4	198	Big Ten	14
14	Wyoming	13-3	194	Big 12	15
15	Northern Iowa	6-5	178	Big 12	13
16	Illinois	7-4	151	Big Ten	15
17	Northwestern	11-4	144	Big Ten	17
18	Minnesota	10-8	131	Big Ten	19
19	Rutgers	8-7	112	Big Ten	21
20	Central Michigan	8-6	88	MAC	20
21	Purdue	9-7	76	Big Ten	22
22	Wisconsin	7-5	74	Big Ten	18
23	Lock Haven	12-4	48	EWL	23
24	North Carolina	9-11	27	ACC	24
25	Drexel	12-4	21	EIWA	25

Others Receiving Votes: Edinboro 6, Binghamton 3, Duke 3, Appalachian State 2, American 1, Rider 1.
Dropped out: None.