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

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by Jason Bryant, NWCA

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


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