Nebraska moves to No. 7, Army West Point cracks top 25 in NWCA Div. I Coaches Poll

Manheim, Pennsylvania - With top-ranked Penn State’s 28-9 thumping of sixth-ranked Ohio State this past weekend, the Nittany Lions extended the program’s dual win streak to 56 in a row and improved to 11-0 on the season. With that, Penn State remained No. 1 in the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll released Tuesday.

It was the last true test scheduled for the Nittany Lions as they finish the schedule with unranked Buffalo, Michigan State and No. 24 Illinois the next two weeks of competition. While it was expected to be close, upsets by Roman Bravo-Young at 133 pounds and Nick Lee at 141 pounds set the pace for the Penn State victory in front of over 13,000 fans at St. John Arena in Columbus.

Second-ranked Oklahoma State improved to 11-0 with a conference win at home against Air Force, setting the stage for two of the last four unbeatens in Division I wrestling to do battle this coming week. The Cowboys will go on the road to Columbia, Missouri to face fifth-ranked and unbeaten Missouri on Sunday. Missouri improved to 15-0 and extended its win streak to 35 in a row with a road victory at Arizona State. In the Tigers win, three-time All-American Daniel Lewis pinned returning national champion Zahid Valencia at 174 pounds.

Third-ranked Iowa (12-0) had no trouble with visiting Maryland, shutting out the Terrapins 48-0 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday. With unranked Campbell falling to Chattanooga over the weekend, that leaves Penn State, Iowa, Oklahoma State and Missouri as the nation’s last four unbeaten Division I schools.

Fourth-ranked Michigan bested Northwestern 30-7, but the highlight there came at 133 pounds where Northwestern’s top-ranked 125-pounder Sebastian Rivera bumped up to wrestle returning NCAA finalist and top-ranked 133-pounder Stevan Micic. The match was all Micic, but the bump created a fervor around the wrestling community.

Seventh-ranked Minnesota (13-3) split a pair of conference matches, falling to ninth-ranked Nebraska 21-18 in Lincoln before shutting out Maryland 45-0 on Sunday. The win vaulted Nebraska up two spots to No. 7, while Minnesota slipped one spot to No. 8.

No. 8 NC State was upended in the ACC by then-No. 16 Pittsburgh 18-16 in Raleigh. Coupled with No. 11 Virginia Tech falling to then-No. 15 North Carolina 18-14 in Chapel Hill, the ACC dual meet standings find the Tar Heels sitting atop of the conference. NC State slid two spots to No. 10, while North Carolina moved up to No. 13, followed by Virginia Tech at No. 14 and Pittsburgh at No. 15.
Cornell (11-2) moved up one spot to No. 9 after a pair of Ivy League wins. The Big Red clinched the Ivy League title with a 34-7 win over No. 19 Princeton (7-6). Keying the Cornell win was Ben Honis’ win at 197 pounds over previously unbeaten Patrick Brucki. The Big Red also beat Penn 40-3.

Wyoming moved back up to No. 12 after conference wins over South Dakota State and Utah Valley. Pittsburgh also picked up two non-conference wins in North Carolina. The Panthers beat Gardner-Webb 38-9 and Davidson 31-6. No. 18 Rutgers earned two weekend dual wins, beating No. 20 Purdue 22-15 and Indiana 24-11. Indiana bounced No. 25 Stanford out of the top 25 as the Hoosiers beat the Cardinal 31-7.

Other ranked victories on the weekend came from: Northern Iowa (over Utah Valley 29-12), Virginia (26-17 over Duke), Wisconsin (17-16 over Illinois on criteria), Iowa State (23-14 over Oregon State) and Lock Haven with a pair of wins (35-6 over Clarion and 23-9 over Rider).
Army West Point (7-2) moved into the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll Top 25 for the first time since December 6, 2005.

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.

NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll – February 12, 2019

Rank	Team (First)	Record	Points	Conf.	Previous
1	Penn State (16)	11-0	400	Big Ten	1
2	Oklahoma State	13-0	383	Big 12	2
3	Iowa	12-0	366	Big Ten	3
4	Michigan	10-1	346	Big Ten	4
5	Missouri	15-0	324	MAC	5
6	Ohio State	9-2	320	Big Ten	6
7	Nebraska	11-4	297	Big Ten	9
8	Minnesota	13-3	278	Big Ten	7
9	Cornell	11-2	276	EIWA	10
10	NC State	14-3	239	ACC	8
11	Iowa State	9-2	235	Big 12	12
12	Wyoming	15-4	210	Big 12	13
13	North Carolina	11-5	199	ACC	15
14	Virginia Tech	8-3	198	ACC	11
15	Pittsburgh	11-3	197	ACC	16
16	Wisconsin	8-5	187	Big Ten	14
17	Northern Iowa	6-5	146	Big 12	17
18	Rutgers	11-5	138	Big Ten	18
19	Princeton	7-6	101	EIWA	19
20	Purdue	6-8	86	Big Ten	20
21	Lehigh	7-9	76	EIWA	21
22	Virginia	12-8	61	ACC	23
23	Lock Haven	8-3	51	EWL	24
24	Illinois	2-7	37	Big Ten	22
25	Army West Point	7-2	15	EIWA	NR

Others Receiving Votes: Fresno State 9, Stanford 6, Appalachian State 4, Navy 4, North Dakota State 3, Buffalo 2, Campbell 2, Indiana 2, Arizona State 1, Old Dominion 1
Dropped Out: No. 25 Stanford