Unbeaten Maryland enters NWCA Div. I Coaches Poll Top 25 for first time since 2013

Manheim, Pennsylvania – It’d been 3,296 days since Maryland occupied space in the nation’s Top 25. Buoyed by this past weekend’s upset win at No. 17 Pittsburgh, coach Alex Clemsen’s Terrapins entered this week’s NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll ranked No. 24.


Maryland (4-0) was last ranked during the 2013-14 season. They were No. 22 on Nov. 13, 2013 when they were still members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. It’s quite the rise for the Terps, who went 2-17, 0-8 and 7-12 in Clemsen’s first three seasons since taking over as the program’s head coach.


There was a shift in the top five this week as Ohio State moved up to No. 3 after a pair of weekend wins. The Buckeyes (3-0) topped Columbia 33-6 at home before heading to Chapel Hill and beating then-No. 16 North Carolina 33-9. Second-ranked Iowa headed east and won a trio of duals. The Hawkeyes topped Army West Point 28-13 before topping Sacred Heart 35-6 and Buffalo 35-7.

Arizona State improved to 2-0 as nearly 3,000 fans came to the brand-new Mullett Arena in Tempe to see the host Sun Devils knock off then-No. 3 Missouri 19-17 in the season’s first matchup between top-five programs. Arizona State moved up to No. 4, while Missouri slid to No. 6. Michigan moved to No. 5 after a 38-6 win over visiting Columbia.

Iowa State (5-0) moved up one spot to No. 7 after a 40-0 shutout over 10-time NAIA national champions Grand View, snapping the Vikings’ college-wrestling record win streak of 116 duals in a row. N.C. State (5-0) moved up to No. 8 after wins over Central Michigan and Illinois, while Oklahoma State (3-0) topped Wyoming 34-3 to move up to No. 9.

Wisconsin was also on the move this week as the Badgers improved to 3-1 after a 19-13 win over then-No. 7 Cornell in Ithaca, New York. Austin Gomez knocked off three-time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis 9-3 at 149 pounds ending Diakomihalis’ 75-match win streak and handing the Cornellian just his second collegiate loss ever. Cornell fell to No. 12 this week.


No. 13 Minnesota opened with a tight 19-15 win over visiting Binghamton, while Northwestern jumped a spot to No. 14 with a 20-15 win at Virginia. It wasn’t all bad news for Pittsburgh, though. The Panthers rebounded from the upset loss to Maryland to knock off then-No. 13 Lehigh 22-12. The Panthers stayed put at No. 17, while Lehigh slid one spot behind to No. 18.

North Dakota State (2-0) also stopped Binghamton 18-13, while Rutgers moved up to No. 19 after a weekend win outside on the tennis courts over Stanford 20-15. South Dakota State re-entered the Top 25 this week, while Princeton and Oregon State fell out of the rankings. Princeton was upended by unranked Indiana 22-13.

This Week: There are only two dual meets scheduled this week in Division I as No. 21 Penn visits Carver-Hawkeye to face the second-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday while Binghamton heads to Buffalo on Sunday.


NOTE: Due to the limited Division I schedule, there will be no poll released on November 29.


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 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 Wrestling Coaches Poll

November 22, 2022


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

1 Penn State (12) (1-0) 348 Big Ten 1

2 Iowa (2) (4-0) 335 Big Ten 2

3 Ohio State (3-0) 317 Big Ten 4

4 Arizona State (2-0) 303 Pac-12 5

5 Michigan (3-0) 281 Big Ten 6

6 Missouri (1-1) 272 Big 12 3

7 Iowa State (5-0) 271 Big 12 8

8 NC State (5-0) 255 ACC 9

9 Oklahoma State (3-0) 243 Big 12 10

10 Virginia Tech (0-1) 220 ACC 11

11 Wisconsin (3-1) 200 Big Ten 14

12 Cornell (0-1) 198 EIWA 7

13 Minnesota (1-0) 185 Big Ten 12

14 Northwestern (1-0) 150 Big Ten 15

15 North Dakota State (2-0) 116 Big 12 18

16 Nebraska (1-2) 100 Big Ten 19

17 Pittsburgh (2-1) 97 ACC 17

18 Lehigh (3-2) 96 EIWA 13

19 Rutgers (3-1) 92 Big Ten 21

20 North Carolina (1-2) 91 ACC 16

21 Penn (0-0) 80 EIWA 20

22 Northern Iowa (0-0) 66 Big 12 22

23 Cal Poly (1-0) 42 Pac-12 24

24 Maryland (4-0) 36 Big Ten NR

25 South Dakota State (1-0) 33 Big 12 NR

Dropped Out: No. 23 Princeton (0-1), No. 25 Oregon State (2-1).

Others Receiving Votes: Oregon State 32, Oklahoma 17, Princeton 14, West Virginia 13, Michigan State 11, Appalachian State 10, Stanford 8, Campbell 6, Central Michigan 4, Illinois 3, Indiana 2, Purdue 1, Rider 1, Virginia 1.