New year kicks off with powerful duals which shakes up NWCA Div. I Coaches Poll Top 10

Manheim, Pennsylvania –Some major matchups kicked off the 2024 calendar year and some shifts occurred in the nation's Top 10 as the NWCA Division I Men's Wrestling Coaches Poll was released on Tuesday.

Penn State (3-0) remained atop the poll after the Nittany Lions ventured west and beat No. 17 Oregon State 36-3 before a record-crowd of over 8,500 at Oregon State's Gill Coliseum. The Nittany Lions have won 47 duals in a row dating back to February 2, 2020. The 8,540 fans broke the Oregon State wrestling attendance record of 6,764 set last year when the Beavers hosted Oklahoma State.

Missouri remained second after victories over Illinois and then-No. 11 Virginia Tech. A key fall at 133 pounds by Kade Moore over Virginia Tech All-American Sam Latona played a significant role in the Tigers remaining unbeaten on the season.

Oklahoma State's 22-12 win over then-No. 4 NC State in front of 5,500 fans in Raleigh was enough to vault the Cowboys (5-0) up four spots and into the top five for the first time since January 25 of last season. NC State slipped four spots to No. 8 this week. The Wolfpack (10-2) also beat Hofstra 43-5 over the weekend.

South Dakota State was riding high this weekend as its football team won the Division I FCS national championship and its wrestling team beat then-No. 6 Michigan at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The win, the highest over a ranked opponent in SDSU's Division I history, helped move the Jackrabbits (4-2) up four spots to No. 11, which is also the highest in the school's Division I history. Michigan fell six spots to No. 12.

Iowa State moved up to No. 4 after a pair of wins out West. The Cyclones (8-1) beat then-No. 21 Arizona State 28-10 and then toppled Big 12 foe California Baptist 39-3. Nebraska (5-0) remained unbeaten after a big win at home against Wyoming and a nail-biter of a victory over Northern Iowa in Lincoln.

Ohio State (8-1) picked up a dramatic victory at the Covelli Center over then-No. 10 Cornell 21-20. Nick Feldman's victory at heavyweight gave the Buckeyes the final points to rally past the Big Red. Cornell (4-2) did pick up a big home victory to close out the weekend as the Big Red beat Virginia Tech 24-13 in Ithaca.

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

January 9, 2024

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

1 Penn State (14) (3-0) 350 Big Ten 1

2 Missouri (6-0) 330 Big 12 2

3 Iowa (5-0) 323 Big Ten 3

4 Iowa State (8-1) 297 Big 12 5

5 Oklahoma State (5-0) 287 Big 12 9

6 Nebraska (5-0) 285 Big Ten 7

7 Ohio State (8-1) 267 Big Ten 8

8 NC State (10-2) 250 ACC 4

9 Cornell (4-2) 229 EIWA 10

10 Minnesota (5-0) 219 Big Ten 12

11 South Dakota State (4-2) 201 Big 12 15

12 Michigan (2-1) 198 Big Ten 6

13 Virginia Tech (3-3) 187 ACC 11

14 Rutgers (7-1) 170 Big Ten 14

15 Pittsburgh (7-3) 164 ACC 13

16 Navy (6-0) 136 EIWA 16

17 Oregon State (4-2) 123 Pac-12 17

18 Stanford (5-1) 101 Pac-12 18

19 Oklahoma (4-2) 91 Big 12 19

20 West Virginia (8-1) 81 Big 12 20

21 Indiana (3-0) 58 Big Ten 22

22 Arizona State (2-3) 50 Pac-12 21

23 Lehigh (0-3) 30 EIWA 23

24 Northern Iowa (2-4) 28 Big 12 NR

25 Appalachian State (2-1) 22 SoCon 24

Others Receiving Votes: Maryland 20, North Carolina 18, Cal Poly 12, Campbell 4, Northern Colorado 4, Penn 4, Wisconsin 4, Illinois 3, Michigan State 2, Utah Valley 2.

Dropped out: No. 25 Maryland (2-1).