Pittsburgh's upset over Ohio State triggers movement in NWCA Div. I Top 25 Coaches Poll

Manheim, Pennsylvania – After dropping an early season dual to Navy, an upset win over then-No. 5 Ohio State vaulted Pittsburgh to No. 13 in the most recent NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.

The Panthers improved to 6-1. Ohio State (4-1) slid five spots to No. 10. The other shift in the Top 10 saw Oklahoma State (3-0) move up two spots to No. 9 after a pair of ranked wins. The Cowboys beat then-No. 20 Lehigh 25-12 and No. 18 Oklahoma 28-9 in the first of two Bedlam duals this season.

Top-ranked Penn State (2-0) remained a unanimous No. 1 after the Nittany Lions bested Hofstra 43-10 at sold-out Rec Hall over the weekend. Missouri (3-0) beat Wyoming 40-6 to kick off Big 12 competition, while Iowa (5-0) beat visiting Columbia 38-3 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

After losing to Iowa, Columbia didn’t come away empty from its trip to the Midwest as the Lions upset then-No. 16 Northern Iowa 28-21 at the McLeod Center over the weekend. Northern Iowa (0-1) fell nine spots to No. 25 this week.

In other ranked dual action last week: No. 12 Minnesota improved to 5-0 after a 33-7 win over visiting North Dakota State. Then-No. 13 Rutgers won a Garden State battle with Princeton 24-9 before blanking Buffalo 40-0 over the weekend. Navy improved to 5-0 after a 27-12 win over Ohio, West Virginia (6-1) won a pair of Big 12 duals out west, topping Air Force 27-11 and Northern Colorado 31-9. Indiana topped Central Michigan 25-15.

Note: Next week’s poll will be released on THURSDAY, December 21 due to the number of ranked teams competing at the Journeymen Collegiate Wrestling Duals in Nashville, Tennessee on December 18-19.

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 12, 2023

Rank/Team (First)/Record/Points/Conf./Previous

1 Penn State (14) (2-0) 350 Big Ten 1

2 NC State (7-0) 327 ACC 2

3 Missouri (3-0) 319 Big 12 3

4 Iowa (5-0) 308 Big Ten 4

5 Cornell (1-0) 284 EIWA 6

6 Iowa State (3-1) 271 Big 12 7

7 Michigan (2-0) 269 Big Ten 8

8 Nebraska (2-0) 265 Big Ten 9

9 Oklahoma State (3-0) 229 Big 12 11

10 Ohio State (4-1) 216 Big Ten 5

11 Virginia Tech (2-1) 209 ACC 10

12 Minnesota (5-0) 203 Big Ten 12

13 Pittsburgh (6-1) 173 ACC 19

14 South Dakota State (3-1) 166 Big 12 14

15 Rutgers (5-1) 164 Big Ten 13

16 Oregon State (3-1) 134 Pac-12 15

17 Navy (5-0) 127 EIWA 17

18 Oklahoma (4-2) 94 Big 12 18

19 Stanford (2-0) 87 Pac-12 24

20 West Virginia (6-1) 74 Big 12 21

21 North Carolina (5-2) 57 ACC 23

22 Arizona State (1-2) 43 Pac-12 22

23 Lehigh (0-3) 38 EIWA 20

24 Indiana (3-0) 35 Big Ten 25

25 Northern Iowa (0-1) 26 Big 12 16

Others Receiving Votes: Campbell 18, Penn 16, Maryland 13, Cal Poly 11, Purdue 8, Northwestern 7, Illinois 4, Northern Colorado 2, Wisconsin 2, Columbia 1.

Dropped out: None.