Top five teams in NWCA Div. I Poll are undefeated as dual season heats up

Manheim, Pennsylvania – The dual meet season kicked into high gear this past week with the NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals highlighting the calendar as well as a top-five dual meet in Stillwater. Five teams remain undefeated among Division I men's wrestling programs and all five are ranked atop the most recent NWCA Division I Men's Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.

Penn State (7-0) remained the unanimous No. 1 in the poll after a 55-0 win over Michigan State, extending the school's win streak to 63 straight dual victories. Second-ranked Iowa also improved to 7-0 with a conferences shutout. The Hawkeyes blanked Wisconsin 45-0 in Madison over the weekend. Oklahoma State improved to 8-0 after topping then-No. 5 NC State its first loss of the season 34-3. The dual was slated for Sunday, but travel issues related to the winter storm on the East Coast delayed the Wolfpack's departure, pushing the dual back to Monday night. The Wolfpack shut out Duke 47-0 to open the weekend.

Ohio State (10-0) remained fourth after a pair of ranked wins. The Buckeyes first beat No. 11 Illinois 24-9 before needing All-American heavyweight Nick Feldman's win to pull out a 17-15 win at home against No. 16 Rutgers.

Northern Iowa improved to 8-0, sweeping the field at the NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals at the UNI-Dome. The Panthers dropped just five individual matches on the weekend, earning wins over Sacred Heart, Ohio, Northern Colorado and South Dakota State. The Panthers moved up to No. 5 this week, the highest ranking since February of 2014, when they finished the season ranked fifth.

Nebraska rebounded from last week's loss to Northern Iowa to upended Minnesota 21-13. The Huskers (6-1) moved up two spots to No. 7, while Minnesota (4-1) slid three spots to No. 8.

Virginia Tech dropped out of the top 10 as the Hokies fell over the weekend to then-No. 25 North Carolina 20-17 in Chapel Hill. North Carolina jumped six spots to No. 19, while the Hokies slid out of the Top 10, falling to No. 11. The upset bug also bit then-No. 9 Michigan, as unranked Maryland beat the Wolverines 19-18 on the second criteria in Ann Arbor. It's the first time Maryland has beaten a top 10 team since the 2007-08 season That win was also against Michigan.

Despite losing to Ohio State, Illinois moved into the Top 10, partially due to the losses by Michigan and Virginia Tech. The Fighting Illini (7-1) did beat Northwestern 33-7 following the loss to Ohio State and are in the Top 10 for the first time since February 9, 2021.

Cornell also moved into the Top 10 following a 23-19 win over then-No. 19 Lehigh.

The rest of the poll saw considerable shuffling. Ranked head-to-head matchups that impacted this week's poll included: No. 13 Iowa State beating No. 22 West Virginia 24-18, then-No. 14 South Dakota State defeating then-No. 17 Little Rock 23-13, then-No. 18 Pittsburgh beating then-No. 15 Stanford and West Virginia and Stanford beating then-No. 21 Missouri.

Methodology: The NWCA Division I 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 points 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.

NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll

January 14, 2025

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

1 Penn State (16) (7-0) 400 Big Ten 1

2 Iowa (7-0) 379 Big Ten 2

3 Oklahoma State (8-0) 373 Big 12 3

4 Ohio State (10-0) 345 Big Ten 4

5 Northern Iowa (8-0) 330 Big 12 7

6 NC State (7-1) 323 ACC 5

7 Nebraska (6-1) 306 Big Ten 9

8 Minnesota (4-1) 291 Big Ten 6

9 Illinois (7-1) 254 Big Ten 11

10 Cornell (3-1) 246 Ivy League 12

11 Virginia Tech (3-2) 225 ACC 8

12 South Dakota State (8-3) 218 Big 12 14

13 Iowa State (7-3) 211 Big 12 13

14 Rutgers (9-3) 182 Big Ten 16

15 Michigan (3-1) 170 Big Ten 10

16 Pittsburgh (7-2) 161 ACC 18

17 Stanford (5-2) 160 ACC 15

18 Little Rock (10-2) 145 Pac-12 17

19 North Carolina (5-4) 101 ACC 25

20 Oklahoma (6-1) 87 Big 12 20

21 Lehigh (2-3) 86 EIWA 19

22t Army West Point (5-1) 57 EIWA 23

22t West Virginia (7-3) 57 Big 12 22

24 Missouri (2-7) 37 Big 12 21

25 Indiana (4-2) 21 Big Ten 24

Others Receiving Votes: Northern Colorado 17, Arizona State 5, Maryland 5, Penn 3, Utah Valley 2, California Baptist 1, Purdue 1, Virginia 1.

Dropped Out: None