Northern Iowa heads into National Duals atop first NWCA Mid-Major poll of the season

Manheim, Pennsylvania – Coming off a resounding home win on Sunday against Nebraska, Northern Iowa comes in ranked No. 1 as the first NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Mid-Major Poll of the season was released on Tuesday.

The Panthers (4-0) received all five first-place votes and head into this weekend’s NWCA/USMC Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championships at the familiar UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls looking to continue the positive momentum. The Multi-Divisional National Duals are presented by A Better Way Athletics, Capitol Construction, and Defense Soap.

Cornell (2-1) is fresh off a win over Missouri. The Big Red are ranked second, ahead of South Dakota State (5-2), Little Rock (7-1) and Lehigh (1-2).

Fourteen Mid-Major programs will compete at the National Duals, including ranked Mid-Majors, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Little Rock, Northern Colorado, Wyoming, George Mason, Ohio, Penn and Cal Poly.

Big 12 affiliates dominate the poll, with six of the 20 teams coming from the conference. The Mid-American Conference follows with five teams and the EIWA with four. The Ivy League and Pac-12 have two teams each, while the Southern Conference is represented with one.

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 7, 2025

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

1 Northern Iowa (5) (4-0) 100 Big 12 Missouri Valley

2 Cornell (2-1) 94 Ivy League Ivy League

3 South Dakota State (5-2) 87 Big 12 Summit

4 Little Rock (7-1) 85 Pac-12 OVC

5 Lehigh (1-2) 81 EIWA Patriot

6 Army West Point (4-1) 77 EIWA Patriot

7 Northern Colorado (5-1) 63 Big 12 Big Sky

8 Wyoming (2-3) 48 Big 12 Mountain West

9 Utah Valley (5-4) 43 Big 12 WAC

10 George Mason (8-0) 42 MAC Atlantic 10

11 Binghamton (3-5) 35 EIWA America East

12 California Baptist (5-3) 32 Big 12 WAC

13 Ohio (4-2) 30 MAC MAC

14 Navy (2-3) 29 EIWA Patriot

15 Penn (1-2) 28 Ivy League Ivy League

16 Lock Haven (4-5) 27 MAC PSAC (D2)

17 Cal Poly (0-4) 25 Pac-12 Big West

18 Campbell (1-7) 21 SoCon CAA

19t Northern Illinois (2-1) 14 MAC MAC

19t Rider (2-4) 14 MAC MAAC

Others Receiving Votes: American 13, Central Michigan 13, Appalachian State 11, Drexel 11, Bucknell 9, North Dakota State 5, Princeton 4, Edinboro 3, The Citadel 3, Columbia 2, CSU Bakersfield 1.