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

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