Arizona State moves to No. 10, North Dakota State joins Top 25 in new NWCA Div. I Coaches Poll

Manheim, Pennsylvania -- A number of ranked teams collided over the holiday break at the South Beach Duals in Deerfield Beach, Florida, and the results caused a bit of a shakeup in the USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Wednesday.

The top seven teams remained the same, but fourth-ranked Missouri improved to 12-0 with four wins, including three over ranked teams. The Tigers beat No. 12 Cornell 27-11, No. 22 Rider 31-8 and No. 24 North Carolina 24-9. The biggest Tiger win of the weekend came at 141 pounds where Jaydin Eierman defeated Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell with some third-period heroics. Diakomihalis was ranked anywhere from first to third in the various media rankings.

Other results from the South Beach Duals saw then-No. 24 North Carolina upend then-No. 8 Minnesota 25-16. The Tar Heels would also beat Michigan State and SIU Edwardsville. The win over the Gophers propelled Coleman Scott's team to No. 19 in the rankings. Cornell also picked up a win over Minnesota, but the Big Red also fell to unranked North Dakota State. To even further complicate things, No. 22 Rider also had a win over North Dakota State. Minnesota took the biggest tumble this week, falling six spots to No. 14, while North Carolina jumped five to No. 19. North Dakota State re-entered the poll this week at No. 25.

Top-ranked Penn State (5-0) picked up an individual tournament title at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ohio State was idle during the break, while Oklahoma State sent a few entries to Chattanooga. The Cowboys did travel to Naples, Italy to prepare for its upcoming top-five showdown with NC State at the Tussle for the Troops on January 5. Lehigh, Iowa, Virginia Tech and Arizona State saw tournament action.

Of note, Arizona State (2-2) moved up one spot to No. 10, the first time the Sun Devils have been in the Top 10 since October 27, 2005.

The USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll is comprised of two voting 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.

Future Poll Dates (Tuesdays unless otherwise noted): January 9, January 16, January 23, January 30, February 6, February 13, February 20, February, 27.

Rank	Team (First)	Record	Points	Conference	Previous
1	Penn State (11)	5-0	395	Big Ten	1
2	Ohio State (5)	6-0	389	Big Ten	2
3	Oklahoma State	5-0	364	Big 12	3
4	Missouri	12-0	353	MAC	4
5	NC State	10-0	336	ACC	5
6	Lehigh	6-1	315	EIWA	6
7	Iowa	7-0	309	Big Ten	7
8	Michigan	2-1	283	Big Ten	9
9	Virginia Tech	5-1	266	ACC	10
10	Arizona State	2-2	248	Pac-12	11
11	Northern Iowa	2-1	210	Big 12	14
12	Illinois	1-2	210	Big Ten	13
13	Cornell	4-2	207	EIWA	12
14	Minnesota	5-3	199	Big Ten	8
15	South Dakota State	4-2	188	Big 12	15
16	Wisconsin	4-0	174	Big Ten	16
17	Rutgers	3-2	136	Big Ten	17
18	Oklahoma	2-2	99	Big 12	19
19	North Carolina	5-4	95	ACC	24
20	Nebraska	2-2	94	Big Ten	18
21	Central Michigan	3-3	93	MAC	21
22	Lock Haven	4-0	93	EWL	20
23	Rider	5-2	47	EWL	22
24	Purdue	4-1	33	Big Ten	23
25	North Dakota State	4-5	22	Big 12	NR

 
Others Receiving Votes: Northwestern 17, Edinboro 15, Utah Valley 4, Drexel 3, Navy 2, Campbell 1