Nebraska-Kearney retakes top spot in DII Men's Coaches Poll

MANHEIM, Pa. - In the last regular season ranking prior to the NCAA postseason, the defending National Champion Lopers of Nebraska-Kearney have retaken the top spot in the NCAA Division II Men's Wrestling Coaches Association Rankings, released Thursday by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA).

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UNK, who came into the season as #1 in the preseason edition of the poll, amassed 90.0 total team points to retake the top spot. Last poll's #1, Central Oklahoma, came in at the #2 spot with 77.0 total team points. Grand Valley State (69.0 points), Pitt.-Johnstown (67.5 points) and Gannon (65.0 points) round out the top five. 

Both the Lopers and the Bronchos, along with Lander, have a poll-high eight ranked individuals. The Lakers of GVSU are the lone team to feature multiple top-ranked wrestlers, with both Chris Donathan (149) and Josh Kenny (174) holding on to their #1 spots. New to the top spot in this ranking are 2025 National Champion Johnny Lopez of San Francisco State at 141, and Tanner Halling of Frostburg State at 133. Trevon Gray of Pitt-Johnstown (125), Gabe Johnson of Central Oklahoma (157), Nolan Gessler of Tiffin (165), Damon Ashworth of Central Missouri (184), Max Ramberg of Augustana (197) and Crew Howard of UNK (285) all maintained their #1 rankings heading into Super Regionals.

Super Regions 3 and 5 leads all regions with 28 ranked wrestlers, while Super Region 4 is not far behind with 27 ranked individuals. Six of Super Region 6's teams are in the Top 25, while Super Region 3 leads all regions with three top-ranked wrestlers.

The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) leads all conferences with 27 ranked individuals, with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) coming in second with 22 ranked wrestlers. The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) has the most top-ranked wrestlers with three, while the NSIC has the most ranked teams with five in the top 25 in this edition of the poll. 

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This edition of the poll includes matches as of Feb. 16, 2026. The final edition of the poll will be released Friday, March 7 and will reflect the seeds for the 2026 NCAA Division II National Championships. The Division II Super Regionals are up next, with the top three wrestlers in each of the six Super Regionals qualifying out of each site Feb. 28 and March 1.