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Central Michigan tops two ranked conference opponents, moves into Top 25 of NWCA Div. I poll

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by Jason Bryant, NWCA

Manheim, Pennsylvania – A weekend trip out east to face new conference foes was beneficial for coach Tom Borrelli’s Central Michigan squad as the Chippewas downed ranked opponents Rider 28-10 and Lock Haven 24-12 to enter this week’s NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll at No. 24.

The Chippewas (2-1) faced off with both schools for the first time as conference mates as the Mid-American Conference absorbed the Eastern Wrestling League, creating a 15-team conference alignment. Central Michigan reappears in the Top 25 for the first time since February of 2018.

A large portion of Division I competition centered around tournaments, with the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational highlighting the action and shaking up the individual rankings. The team rankings were largely unaffected.

Top-ranked Iowa improved to 4-0 after beating host Princeton 30-9 on Sunday. It capped off a monster travel and competition weekend for the No. 12 Tigers, who went on the road to Stillwater, Oklahoma and split 10 matches with ninth-ranked Oklahoma State, but fell 18-15.

No. 3 Penn State (3-1) picked up a pair of wins over in-state opponents from the EIWA. First, before a Stabler Arena record crowd of 6,047, the visiting Nittany Lions topped then-No. 13 Lehigh 23-10. Penn State followed with a 33-7 win at home against Penn.

The only other ranked team in dual action was No. 10 Pittsburgh, which improved to 4-1 after topping West Virginia 29-6 and shutting out Drexel 33-0.

Ranked duals this week: With the academic calendar closing most places around the country, dual meet competition is slow this coming week. No ranked teams will face off with one another and there’s only eight duals with Division I teams competing. Ranked teams with competition are No. 6 NC State at Appalachian State on Friday, No. 11 Iowa State hosting Chattanooga on Saturday, and No. 19 Missouri faces Buffalo and No. 9 Oklahoma State is at Oklahoma on Sunday.

Methodology: The NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll is voted on by two coaches from each Division I wrestling conference. Each first-place vote is worth 25 points, 24 points for a second-place vote, 23 for a third-place vote and so on through to one point for a 25th-place vote. The poll is based on dual meet results.

NWCA Division I Coaches Poll
December 10, 2019

Rank

Team (First)

Record

Points

Conf.

Previous

1

Iowa (14)

(4-0)

350

Big Ten

1

2

Nebraska

(4-0)

325

Big Ten

2

3

Penn State

(3-1)

321

Big Ten

3

4

Arizona State

(5-0)

310

Pac-12

4

5

Virginia Tech

(3-0)

283

ACC

5

6

NC State

(6-0)

280

ACC

6

7

Ohio State

(3-1)

274

Big Ten

7

8

Wisconsin

(6-1)

254

Big Ten

8

9

Oklahoma State

(3-1)

247

Big 12

9

10

Pittsburgh

(4-1)

208

ACC

10

11

Iowa State

(1-1)

204

Big 12

11

12

Princeton

(1-2)

194

EIWA

12

13

Northwestern

(2-1)

168

Big Ten

14

14

Lehigh

(1-3)

160

EIWA

13

15

Northern Iowa

(0-2)

146

Big 12

16

16

Minnesota

(1-2)

141

Big Ten

15

17

North Carolina

(3-1)

114

ACC

18

18

Cornell

(0-2)

109

EIWA

17

19

Missouri

(2-2)

89

MAC

19

20

Purdue

(6-1)

84

Big Ten

23

21

Army West Point

(4-1)

67

EIWA

21

22

Michigan

(1-1)

45

Big Ten

22

23

Virginia

(3-1)

33

ACC

24

24

Central Michigan

(2-1)

28

MAC

NR

25

Rider

(3-1)

27

MAC

20


Others Receiving Votes: Campbell 23, Rutgers 23, Stanford 20, Wyoming 11, Illinois 6, Old Dominion 4, Lock Haven 2
Dropped Out: No. 25 Lock Haven

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