NWCA releases first Mid-Major top-20 poll of 2019

Manheim, Pennsylvania – The National Wrestling Coaches Association released its first Mid-Major Top 20 of the season on Thursday. Formulated in 2017, the Mid-Major Top 20 concentrates on the programs that fall outside of the traditional “Power 5” conferences.

Six coaches representing different non-Power 5 conferences voted, and Cornell, which is the highest-ranked non-Power 5 school in the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll, edged Wyoming for the top spot. Cornell defeated Wyoming 18-9 in their dual meet on December 29. Wyoming has had a strong season with a win over North Carolina State. Princeton on the strength of wins over Lehigh and North Carolina, also received one first-place vote, is third. The Ivy League captured two of the top three top spots.

Rounding out the top 5 is Northern Iowa at fourth and Lehigh at fifth.  The Mountain Hawks have a win over top-ranked Big Red 19-16.

Six mid-major teams are ranked in the NWCA Coaches Poll. The EIWA led all conferences with seven teams ranked in the top 20 including three in the top five.  Army, Navy, Binghamton and American join Cornell, Princeton, and Lehigh in the top three.

The next Mid-Major poll will be released on February 13.

Rank	Team (First)	Record	Points	Conference	All-Sports Conf.
1	Cornell (5)	8-2	119	EIWA	Ivy
2	Wyoming	12-3	111	Big 12	Mountain West
3	Princeton (1)	4-4	106	EIWA	Ivy
4	Northern Iowa	5-4	104	Big 12	Missouri Valley
5	Lehigh	6-8	97	EIWA	Patriot
6	Lock Haven	5-2	92	EWL	PSAC (Division II)
7	Utah Valley	9-8	71	Big 12	WAC
8	Old Dominion	7-5	67	MAC	Conference USA
9	Army West Point	5-2	65	EIWA	Patriot
10	Campbell	3-0	62	SoCon	Big South
11	Navy	4-2	50	EIWA	Patriot
12	North Dakota State	8-5	41	Big 12	Summit
13	Buffalo	9-4	40	MAC	MAC
14	Appalachian State	4-6	35	SoCon	Sun Belt
15	Binghamton	4-3	32	EIWA	America East
16	Ohio	4-4	21	MAC	MAC
17	Rider	5-3	20	EWL	MAAC
18	Air Force	4-4	19	Big 12	Mountain West
19 (tie)	American	2-4	18	EIWA	Patriot
19 (tie)	Central Michigan	3-5	18	MAC	MAC