Northern Iowa checks in at No. 1 in NWCA Mid-Major Division I Poll
by Jason Bryant, NWCA

COVID-19 played a significant role in this year’s college sports season, with wrestling being impacted without the participation of seven schools that would qualify for inclusion in the Mid-Major Top 20. The six wrestling Ivy League schools – Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn and Princeton along with the lone Division III school sponsoring Division I wrestling, Franklin & Marshall, did not compete this season.
Northern Iowa, one of the nation’s top non-Power 5 wrestling programs historically, comes in atop of the poll, followed by the U.S. Naval Academy and first-year head coach Cary Kolat. Traditional Mid-American Conference power Central Michigan is third, followed by Campbell at four and Rider fifth.
While the Big 12 is a Power 5 conference, a number of its affiliate members are considered Mid-Majors and seven of them are in the Top 20. The EIWA has six schools in the rankings, followed by the MAC and SoCon with three each.
Methodology: The NWCA Division I Mid-Major Wrestling Coaches Poll is voted on by coaches representing teams from non-Power 5 conferences. 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. Teams who are not competing this season are not included in the voting process.
NWCA Division I Mid-Major Wrestling Coaches Poll
February 17, 2021
Rank |
School |
Record |
Points |
Conf. |
All-Sports Conf. |
1 |
Northern Iowa (4) |
(4-4) |
98 |
Big 12 |
Missouri Valley |
2 |
Navy (1) |
(5-1) |
96 |
EIWA |
Patriot League |
3 |
Central Michigan |
(5-2) |
82 |
MAC |
MAC |
4 |
Campbell |
(8-1) |
81 |
SoCon |
Big South |
5 |
Rider |
(4-1) |
78 |
MAC |
Metro Atlantic |
6 |
Wyoming |
(3-3) |
72 |
Big 12 |
Mountain West |
7 |
North Dakota State |
(7-3) |
63 |
Big 12 |
Summit |
8 |
Northern Colorado |
(4-2) |
61 |
Big 12 |
Big Sky |
9 |
Binghamton |
(3-1) |
57 |
EIWA |
America East |
10 |
Appalachian State |
(7-2) |
56 |
SoCon |
Sun Belt |
11 |
Lehigh |
(3-4) |
53 |
EIWA |
Patriot League |
12 |
Army West Point |
(2-3) |
46 |
EIWA |
Patriot League |
13 |
Northern Illinois |
(6-3) |
44 |
MAC |
MAC |
14 |
South Dakota State |
(5-6) |
42 |
Big 12 |
Summit |
15 |
Chattanooga |
(8-4) |
22 |
SoCon |
SoCon |
16 |
Drexel |
(2-1) |
22 |
EIWA |
Colonial |
17 |
Air Force |
(2-5) |
21 |
Big 12 |
Mountain West |
18 |
Hofstra |
(2-1) |
20 |
EIWA |
Colonial |
19 |
Utah Valley |
(2-4) |
12 |
Big 12 |
WAC |
20 |
Cal Poly |
(2-3) |
11 |
Pac-12 |
Big West |
Others Receiving Votes: Buffalo 6, Edinboro 5, Kent State 1, Lock Haven 1