Northern Colorado ranked in NWCA Division I Coaches Poll for first time in 51 years

Manheim, Pennsylvania – It’s been 18,934 days since the Bears of the University of Northern Colorado were ranked in the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll.

After opening up their season with a victory on the road against Wyoming, coach Troy Nickerson’s squad entered at No. 25 in the latest Top 25, released Tuesday.

The school was known as Colorado State College the last time it appeared in the rankings and for decades, the Greeley, Colorado school was the flag-bearer for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference wrestling scene. The 1968-69 team finished the regular season ranked No. 6, which was the last time the school spent time in the rankings.

With a moderate portion of Division I wrestling squads taking the mats for the first time last weekend, there was minimal movement in the poll as just 14 duals were contested. Missouri (3-0) moved into the top 10 after sweeping South Dakota State, Oregon State and North Dakota State in Fargo.

No. 4 NC State (1-0) blanked Gardner-Webb 42-0 in a matchup of North Carolina schools, while No. 8 Virginia Tech (1-0) stopped Campbell 28-6 in Blacksburg. No. 9 Iowa State (1-0) opened up its regular season by topping Division III power Wartburg 35-6 in Ames.

Arizona State (1-0), Pittsburgh (1-0) and Central Michigan (1-0) were the only other ranked teams in action. The host Sun Devils topped Little Rock 39-3, while Pittsburgh rallied past Navy 22-14 in Annapolis. Central Michigan shut out Division III Olivet 44-0.

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. Teams who are not competing this season are not included in the voting process.

NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll
January 5, 2021

Rank	Team (First)	Record	Points	Conf.	Previous
1	Iowa	(0-0)	350	Big Ten	1
2	Penn State	(0-0)	329	Big Ten	2
3	Michigan	(0-0)	322	Big Ten	3
4	NC State	(1-0)	308	ACC	4
5	Nebraska	(0-0)	287	Big Ten	5
6	Oklahoma State	(0-0)	285	Big 12	6
7	Ohio State	(0-0)	262	Big Ten	7
8	Virginia Tech	(1-0)	246	ACC	8
9	Iowa State	(1-0)	223	Big 12	9
10	Missouri	(3-0)	217	MAC	12
11	Arizona State	(1-0)	209	Pac-12	11
12	Minnesota	(0-0)	176	Big Ten	13
13	Pittsburgh	(1-0)	163	ACC	14
14	North Carolina	(0-0)	160	ACC	10
15	Rutgers	(0-0)	145	Big Ten	15
16	Purdue	(0-0)	137	Big Ten	16
17	Lehigh	(0-0)	130	EIWA	17
18	Stanford	(0-0)	111	Pac-12	18
19	Oklahoma	(0-0)	85	Big 12	20
20	Wisconsin	(0-0)	76	Big Ten	19
21	Central Michigan	(1-0)	69	MAC	21 (tie)
22	Northwestern	(0-0)	54	Big Ten	23
23	Northern Iowa	(0-0)	46	Big 12	24
24	Army West Point	(0-0)	45	EIWA	25
25	Northern Colorado	(1-0)	39	Big 12	NR

Others Receiving Votes: Michigan State 34, Appalachian State 9, Illinois 7, Virginia 7, Campbell 5, Hofstra 5, Rider 5, Wyoming 4
Dropped Out: Michigan State (0-0)