NWCA Division III releases first regular season poll

Manheim, PA – With the status of the NCAA Division III Championships still up in the air, teams have begun their return to competition, and with that comes the first edition of the D3 Coaches Rankings, including the individual top-10 ranking and the team tournament top-15 poll. Wabash College starts the year as the nation’s top-ranked team with 41 points, while there is a logjam for second place with Wartburg, John Carrol, and the Coast Guard Academy all with 39 points. Wisconsin La Crosse rounds out the top-five with 35 points.
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
The top-ranked Little Giants of Wabash College (IN) currently have four athletes ranked in their respective weight classe and are led by senior standouts Kyle Hatch (165) and Max Bishop (285). Hatch and Bishop each enter the season ranked #1 in this week’s polls. They are joined in the top ten by teammates #9 Carlos Champagne (125) and #5 Alex Barr (165).
The three teams tied for second each have multiple ranked individuals as seen below.
#2 Wartburg College: (125 – #10), (133 – #2), (149 – #10), (174 – #2), (197 #10), (285 – #2)
#2 John Carroll University: (125 – #3), (133 – #3), (157 – #3), (165 – #4)
#2 U.S. Coast Guard Academy: (133 – #7), (165 – #5), (184 – #1), (197 – #2)
The NCAA Division III Coaches Rankings are voted on and compiled by two coaches from each of the six Regions.
NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT TEAM RANKINGS

2020 NWCA Committee Representatives: Northeast – Mike Sugermeyer (WNE) & Corey Luce (NYU), Mideast – Justin Signorelli (Alfred State) & Jason Mclean (Muhlenberg), Southeast – Jon Laudenslager (Wilkes) & Anthony Bonaventura (Stevens), Central – Bill Schindel (Adrian) & Josh Malave (Mount Union), Lower Midwest – Jon McGovern (Dubuque) & Brandon Bradley (Nebraska Wesleyan), Upper Midwest – Tony Valek (Augsburg) & Dave Malecek (UW-La Crosse)
Tournament Poll Methodology: Program will receive points based on how many individuals they have ranked and where they are ranked. The point system will follow the same scoring as the NCAA Championships with no bonus points: Eight Places: (1st – 16), (2nd – 12), (3rd – 10), (4th – 9), (5th – 7), (6th – 6), (7th – 4), (8th – 3). If a program has a wrestler ranked 9th they will receive 2 points, if a program has a wrestler ranked 10th they will receive 1 point.