South Beach Duals shake up NWCA Division I Coaches Poll to kick off 2019

Manheim, Pennsylvania – Missouri went 4-0 at the South Beach Duals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida over the holiday break to push its win streak to 30 and move up one spot to No. 5 into the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll released Tuesday. The Tigers improved to 10-0 on the season.

Missouri’s move was one of a number related to the second-year event. The Tigers beat three ranked teams – then-No. 13 Purdue 41-3, then-No. 8 Cornell 22-9 and then-No. 21 Lehigh 21-12. The top four teams – Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Iowa stayed put to open up the new calendar year.

This week’s poll splits two very well-attended individual tournaments as the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships concluded on December 30, while the Southern Scuffle, hosted at Chattanooga, kicked off today.

Prior to the South Beach Duals, Missouri topped Virginia in a packed gym at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, with All-American Daniel Lewis securing the dual with a fall in the dual’s final bout.

The shift in the top 10 primarily came to Wyoming’s 22-21 criteria victory over then-No. 7 NC State. It dropped the Wolfpack (9-1) two spots to No. 9, while the Cowboys (6-3) moved up five spots from No. 18 to sit at No. 13 this week. Wyoming also topped Michigan State and SIU Edwardsville, but fell to Cornell (5-1). NC State did top ranked teams Purdue and Utah Valley in Florida.

Minnesota slid up a spot to No. 9 after beating three ranked teams. The Golden Gophers topped Kent State, North Carolina, Lehigh and Utah Valley to improve to 7-1. North Carolina, which entered the event at No. 12, dropped three spots after losing duals to Minnesota and unranked Indiana. The Tar Heels (5-3) defeated North Dakota State on criteria and Lehigh.

Midwestern winter travel woes kept North Dakota State from the first day of the South Beach Duals, but the Bison did make it for the second day. They fell to North Carolina on criteria and were also upset by West Virginia. The Bison slid three spots to No. 23 this week. Utah Valley went 1-3 on the weekend, but did pick off then-No. 13 Purdue. Lehigh won its first dual of the year, beating Virginia, but the 1-7 Mountain Hawks fell out of the Top 25 this week.

In other non-South Beach Duals action, Virginia Tech beat West Virginia 24-9, North Dakota State beat Oregon State 31-13, and Pittsburgh beat Clarion 39-3.

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 – January 1, 2019

Rank	Team (First)	Record	Points	Conference	Previous
1	Penn State (16)	4-0	400	Big Ten	1
2	Ohio State	4-0	379	Big Ten	2
3	Oklahoma State	5-0	371	Big 12	3
4	Iowa	6-0	349	Big Ten	4
5	Missouri	10-0	332	MAC	6
6	Michigan	3-0	327	Big Ten	5
7	Cornell	5-1	298	EIWA	8
8	Minnesota	7-1	289	Big Ten	9
9	NC State	9-1	269	ACC	7
10	Wisconsin	6-1	257	Big Ten	10
11	Nebraska	5-2	239	Big Ten	11
12	Virginia Tech	2-2	192	ACC	14
13	Wyoming	6-3	187	Big 12	18
14	Northern Iowa	1-2	171	Big 12	16
15	North Carolina	5-3	169	ACC	12
16	Arizona State	1-3	163	Pac-12	15
17	Purdue	3-4	144	Big Ten	13
18	Illinois	1-1	120	Big Ten	17
19	Lock Haven	2-0	118	EWL	19
20	Pittsburgh	5-0	81	ACC	24
21	Iowa State	2-1	71	Big 12	23
22	Utah Valley	6-5	69	Big 12	22
23	North Dakota State	6-3	62	Big 12	20
24	Rutgers	6-1	51	Big Ten	24
25	Princeton	3-3	43	EIWA	NR

Others Receiving Votes: Lehigh 15, Old Dominion 11, Stanford 8, Northwestern 7, Virginia 2, Appalachian State 2
Dropped Out: No. 21 Lehigh