Top-ranked Nittany Lions open up with ranked win as first semester nears completion
by Jason Bryant, NWC
Manheim, Pennsylvania – With a large portion of the Division I membership competing at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this past weekend, the number of ranked teams in action in duals was pretty minimal.
Penn State (1-0) opened up its dual season with a 30-10 win over No. 20 Lehigh and remained the unanimous No. 1 in the most recent NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.
Twenty four of the 25 teams remained in the Top 25 with Indiana (2-0) the lone new entry, coming in at No. 25 this week after beating Princeton 18-15 over the weekend.
Among teams who competed in the past week, No. 3 Missouri (2-0) topped No. 18 Oklahoma 30-12, while No. 4 Iowa (4-0) headed east to beat Penn 22-13 at the Palestra in Philadelphia.
No. 13 Rutgers improved to 3-1 after a 49-0 shutout win over Edinboro, while Oklahoma rebounded to edge No. 21 West Virginia 21-19 in Morgantown.
No. 19 Pittsburgh topped Illinois 22-9.
Methodology: The NWCA Division I Men’s 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 Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll
December 5, 2023
Rank Team (First) Record Points Conf. Previous
1 Penn State (14) (1-0) 350 Big Ten 1
2 NC State (7-0) 324 ACC 2
3 Missouri (2-0) 317 Big 12 3
4 Iowa (4-0) 300 Big Ten 4
5 Ohio State (4-0) 292 Big Ten 5
6 Cornell (1-0) 275 EIWA 6
7 Iowa State (3-1) 266 Big 12 8
8 Michigan (2-0) 257 Big Ten 7
9 Nebraska (2-0) 254 Big Ten 9
10 Virginia Tech (2-1) 233 ACC 10
11 Oklahoma State (1-0) 208 Big 12 11
12 Minnesota (4-0) 190 Big Ten 12
13 Rutgers (3-1) 175 Big Ten 13
14 South Dakota State (3-1) 167 Big 12 14
15 Oregon State (3-1) 151 Pac-12 15
16 Northern Iowa (0-0) 127 Big 12 16
17 Navy (4-0) 113 EIWA 17
18 Oklahoma (4-1) 103 Big 12 18
19 Pittsburgh (5-1) 88 ACC 19
20 Lehigh (0-2) 66 EIWA 20
21 West Virginia (4-1) 61 Big 12 21
22 Arizona State (1-2) 46 Pac-12 22
23 North Carolina (5-2) 42 ACC 23
24 Stanford (2-0) 40 Pac-12 24
25 Indiana (2-0) 17 Big Ten NR
Others Receiving Votes: Campbell 16, Maryland 13, Penn 13, Purdue 11, Northwestern 8, Northern Colorado 6, Cal Poly 4, Wisconsin 4.
Dropped out: No. 25 Maryland (1-1)