No. 1 Cornell, No. 2 South Dakota State headline first NWCA Mid-Major Top 20 of the season

Manheim, Pennsylvania – Traditional Ivy League power Cornell is No. 1 in the first NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Mid-Major Coaches Poll of the season, released on Wednesday.

The Big Red (7-3) are fresh off a home victory over previously unbeaten Missouri. The win vaulted Cornell, which tallied four of the five possible first-place votes, into the nation’s Top 10 and No. 1 in the Mid-Major poll. South Dakota State (9-2), which picked up the other first-place vote, came in ranked second, followed by Lehigh, Little Rock and Northern Iowa.

South Dakota State, Lehigh and Northern Iowa are regulars to the Mid-Major Top 20 since the NWCA introduced the poll in 2017. Little Rock, on the other hand, hasn’t been. The Trojans (11-5), affiliates in the Pac-12 and all-sports members of the Ohio Valley Conference, are off to the best start in the program’s short five-year history.

Another Pac-12 affiliate, Cal Poly, checks in sixth, followed by Campbell, Navy, Appalachian State and Penn. Campbell and App State are wrestling affiliates of the Southern Conference.

Methodology: The NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Mid-Major Coaches Poll is voted on by one coach from Division I wrestling conferences with mid-major representation. Each first-place vote is worth 20 points, 19 points for a second-place vote, 18 for a third-place vote, and so on through to one point for a 20th-place vote. The poll is based on dual meet results and represents schools that are in not full members in all-sports conferences considered the “Power 4/5.”

NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Mid-Major Coaches Poll

January 31, 2024

Rank/Team (First)/Record/Points/Conf./All-Sports

1 Cornell (4) (7-3) 99 EIWA Ivy League

2 South Dakota State (1) (9-2) 95 Big 12 Summit

3 Lehigh (4-3) 89 EIWA Patriot

4 Little Rock (11-5) 76 Pac-12 Ohio Valley

5 Northern Iowa (4-5) 73 Big 12 Missouri Valley

6 Cal Poly (5-2) 70 Pac-12 Big West

7 Campbell (7-3) 67 SoCon CAA

8 Navy (6-5) 62 EIWA Patriot

9 Appalachian State (4-1) 61 SoCon Sun Belt

10 Penn (2-4) 51 EIWA Ivy League

11 Army West Point (5-3) 46 EIWA Patriot

12 Binghamton (6-3) 32 EIWA America East

13 Wyoming (6-5) 31 Big 12 Mountain West

14 Northern Illinois (10-2) 30 MAC MAC

15 Northern Colorado (8-5) 22 Big 12 Big Sky

16 North Dakota State (3-7) 21 Big 12 Summit

17 Bucknell (7-4) 19 EIWA Patriot

18 Air Force (3-5) 15 Big 12 Mountain West

19 (tie) Princeton (3-3) 14 EIWA Ivy League

19 (tie) Rider (5-5) 14 MAC MAAC

Others Receiving Votes: Chattanooga 13, Clarion 13, Lock Haven 10, Ohio 10, Hofstra 8, George Mason 4, Harvard 4, Central Michigan 1.