Illinois makes giant jump into Top 10 of NWCA Div. I Poll after a pair of weekend wins

Manheim, Pennsylvania – After entering the Top 25 last week, Illinois made waves immediately after earning a pair of ranked wins over the weekend, including an 18-15 win over then-No. 7 Ohio State, to vault the Illini into the Top 10 in the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.

Illinois also beat then-No. 21 Wisconsin 21-9. It’s the first time since February of 2017 the Illini have been ranked in the top 10.

Top-ranked Iowa opened up its season with a 31-3 win at home against then-No. 6 Nebraska.

Michigan picked up a 32-6 win over Indiana and improved to 3-0. The Wolverines moved into a second-place tie with Penn State (0-0). It’s also of note historically - the last time Michigan was ranked second was February 21, 2006.

Missouri’s fast start continued as they hit the road to Iowa and took home two convincing wins, beating then-No. 10 Iowa State 31-7 and then-No. 20 Northern Iowa 34-9. The Tigers improved to 7-0 and moved up to No. 6 this week.

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.

Rank	Team (First)	Record	Points	Conf.	Previous
1	Iowa (14)	(1-0)	350	Big Ten	1
2 (tie)	Michigan	(3-0)	326	Big Ten	3
2 (tie)	Penn State	(0-0)	326	Big Ten	2
4	NC State	(3-0)	298	ACC	4
5	Oklahoma State	(4-0)	289	Big 12	5
6	Missouri	(7-0)	279	MAC	9
7	Nebraska	(1-1)	265	Big Ten	6
8	Virginia Tech	(4-0)	251	ACC	8
9	Arizona State	(2-0)	211	Pac-12	11
10	Illinois	(3-0)	209	Big Ten	24
11	Ohio State	(1-1)	200	Big Ten	7
12	Pittsburgh	(3-0)	193	ACC	12
13	Iowa State	(3-1)	179	Big 12	10
14	North Carolina	(1-0)	173	ACC	13
15	Minnesota	(2-1)	168	Big Ten	14
16	Purdue	(1-0)	143	Big Ten	16
17	Rutgers	(0-1)	109	Big Ten	15
18	Oklahoma	(2-1)	98	Big 12	19
19	Northern Iowa	(2-1)	93	Big 12	20
20	Northern Colorado	(3-0)	91	Big 12	23
21	Stanford	(0-0)	73	Pac-12	17
22 (tie)	Army West Point	(1-0)	37	EIWA	NR
22 (tie)	Wisconsin	(0-2)	37	Big Ten	21
24	Michigan State	(1-1)	35	Big Ten	25
25	Northwestern	(0-1)	27	Big Ten	22

Others Receiving Votes: Navy 20, Central Michigan 19, Lehigh 14, Appalachian State 10, Virginia 9, Binghamton 4, Campbell 4, Wyoming 4, Rider 2, West Virginia 2, Hofstra 1, North Dakota State 1
Dropped Out: No. 18 Lehigh (0-2)

Future 2020-21 Poll Dates: January 26, February 2, February 9, February 16, February 23.