Iowa maintains top spot in NWCA Div. I Coaches Poll after beating second-ranked Penn State

Manheim, Pennsylvania – The nation’s top two teams collided last Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and top-ranked Iowa came away with a 19-17 victory in front of 14,905 fans, the 18th largest crowd to see a dual in NCAA wrestling history. As a result, Iowa remains the top-ranked team in the country as the most recent NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll was released on Tuesday.

Iowa remains the unanimous No. 1, while Penn State remained No. 2 despite suffering its second loss of the season. NC State moved up to No. 3 after beating No. 10 Pittsburgh 21-12 on the road. The win leaves Iowa and NC State as the lone unbeatens left in Division I. The Wolfpack are 12-0 heading into this weekend where they host No. 8 North Carolina. Including last week, It’s only the fourth time in history both schools have been ranked in the Top 10 at the same time, and according to their respective athletics communications professionals, will be the first Top 10 meeting ever between the schools.

The Top 10 was shaken up a bit as No. 6 Nebraska used a fall from Isaiah White at 165 pounds to knock off No. 3 Ohio State 19-14 in Lincoln on Sunday. The win bumped Nebraska up to No. 4 and dropped the Buckeyes to No. 6. Arizona State split the difference and remained at No. 5. The Sun Devils (10-1) beat Pac-12 Conference rival and then-No. 22 Stanford 28-12 in Tempe over the weekend. Virginia Tech (10-1) remained at No. 7 after in-state wins against Virginia and Old Dominion. North Carolina (11-1) beat Duke and Bucknell to set the stage for its Friday dual with visiting NC State. No. 9 Wisconsin improved to 10-3 with road wins over then-No. 13 Purdue and Indiana.

Other notable ranked head-to-head duals saw No. 11 Oklahoma State beat No. 24 Missouri 26-6, No. 12 Lehigh topped No. 19 Army West Point 24-9, then-No. 14 Minnesota beat then-No. 13 Purdue 27-12. Those two schools swapped spots in this week’s poll. Then-No. 25 Michigan beat then-No. 22 Rutgers 21-16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, while the lone unranked upset came as Illinois beat then-No. 21 Northwestern 19-18.

Ranked Duals This Week: On Friday, No. 8 North Carolina is at No. 3 NC State, No. 4 Nebraska is at No. 14 Purdue and No. 9 Wisconsin hosts No. 2 Penn State. On Saturday, No. 1 Iowa travels to No. 22 Michigan, while on Sunday, No. 2 Penn State is at No. 13 Minnesota, No. 5 Arizona State travels to No. 24 Missouri and No. 6 Ohio State hosts No. 23 Northwestern.

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 Wrestling Coaches Poll
February 4, 2020

Rank	Team (First)	Record	Points	Conf.	Previous
1	Iowa (14)	(10-0)	350	Big Ten	1
2	Penn State	(8-2)	333	Big Ten	2
3	NC State	(12-0)	315	ACC	4
4	Nebraska	(7-3)	303	Big Ten	6
5	Arizona State	(10-1)	293	Pac-12	5
6	Ohio State	(9-3)	290	Big Ten	3
7	Virginia Tech	(10-1)	261	ACC	7
8	North Carolina	(11-1)	253	ACC	8
9	Wisconsin	(10-3)	241	Big Ten	9
10	Pittsburgh	(7-3)	218	ACC	10
11	Oklahoma State	(10-2)	214	Big 12	11
12	Lehigh	(9-3)	195	EIWA	12
13	Minnesota	(9-5)	175	Big Ten	14
14	Purdue	(11-4)	164	Big Ten	13
15	Northern Iowa	(6-3)	156	Big 12	15
16	Princeton	(4-4)	134	EIWA	16
17	Cornell	(8-5)	126	EIWA	17
18	Iowa State	(6-4)	99	Big 12	18
19	Army West Point	(8-2)	98	EIWA	19 (tie)
20	Campbell	(7-2)	95	SoCon	19 (tie)
21	Stanford	(8-2)	69	Pac-12	22
22	Michigan	(6-3)	36	Big Ten	25
23	Northwestern	(3-5)	34	Big Ten	21
24	Missouri	(10-6)	26	MAC	24
25	Rutgers	(8-5)	26	Big Ten	23

Others Receiving Votes: Illinois 23, Rider 17, Appalachian State 6
Dropped Out: None