Penn State starts season ranked No. 1 in NWCA D1 Preseason Coaches Poll
by Jason Bryant, NWCA
Manheim, Pennsylvania – Penn State will start the season at the top as the Nittany Lions are one of nine Big Ten schools ranked in the NWCA Preseason Division I Wrestling Coaches poll released on Friday.
Penn State, a perfect 17-0 last season, garnered 13 of the 14 possible first-place votes, while rival Iowa, which collected the other first-place vote, starts the season ranked second. Arizona State, Missouri and Michigan round out the top five.
The Nittany Lions are ranked No. 1 for the 89th week in the program’s history, including the last seven polls of the 2021-22 season.
The Big 12 ranks second with five of its squads ranked in the Top 25. Joining Missouri in the poll to start the season are No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 14 Iowa State, No. 20 Northern Iowa and South Dakota State, which is tied for 25th.
The Pac-12 has four teams ranked for the first time since November 16, 2011 when Boise State, Oregon State, Arizona State and Cal Poly were all in the Top 25. Third-ranked Arizona State is joined in the poll by No. 19 Oregon State, No. 24 Cal Poly and Stanford, which is tied for 25th.
The ACC and EIWA also have four schools each, with the ACC led by No. 9 NC State and followed by No. 11 Virginia Tech, No. 16 North Carolina and No. 18 Pittsburgh.
Three of the four EIWA schools ranked are Ivy League programs, led by No. 7 Cornell. Lehigh, the only non-Ivy ranked from the conference, comes in ranked 17th, while Penn starts the year at No. 21 and Princeton at No. 23.
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
Preseason – October 28, 2022
|
Rank |
Team (First) |
Record |
Points |
Conf. |
Final |
NCAA |
|
1 |
Penn State (13) |
(17-0) |
349 |
Big Ten |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
Iowa (1) |
(14-1) |
328 |
Big Ten |
2 |
3 |
|
3 |
Arizona State |
(9-4) |
295 |
Pac-12 |
13 |
4 |
|
4 |
Missouri |
(11-4) |
288 |
Big 12 |
9 |
9 |
|
5 |
Michigan |
(12-1) |
268 |
Big Ten |
3 |
2 |
|
6 |
Ohio State |
(9-3) |
267 |
Big Ten |
6 |
13 |
|
7 |
Cornell |
(12-3) |
255 |
EIWA |
11 |
7 |
|
8 |
Nebraska |
(6-5) |
250 |
Big Ten |
10 |
5 |
|
9 |
NC State |
(13-1) |
230 |
ACC |
4 |
10 |
|
10 |
Oklahoma State |
(13-4) |
220 |
Big 12 |
12 |
14 |
|
11 |
Virginia Tech |
(9-5) |
216 |
ACC |
7 |
8 |
|
12 |
Wisconsin |
(12-2) |
197 |
Big Ten |
8 |
14 |
|
13 |
Minnesota |
(4-6) |
183 |
Big Ten |
18 |
11 |
|
14 |
Iowa State |
(15-1) |
171 |
Big 12 |
5 |
17 |
|
15 |
Northwestern |
(7-4) |
159 |
Big Ten |
23 |
6 |
|
16 |
North Carolina |
(8-6) |
99 |
ACC |
22 |
18 |
|
17 |
Lehigh |
(9-9) |
94 |
EIWA |
NR |
25 |
|
18 |
Pittsburgh |
(8-6) |
88 |
ACC |
NR |
24 |
|
19 |
Oregon State |
(8-3) |
85 |
Pac-12 |
NR |
12 |
|
20 |
Northern Iowa |
(7-7) |
83 |
Big 12 |
17 |
20 |
|
21 |
Penn |
(8-2) |
80 |
EIWA |
19 |
27 |
|
22 |
Rutgers |
(16-5) |
78 |
Big Ten |
14 |
20 |
|
23 |
Princeton |
(6-5) |
74 |
EIWA |
20 |
16 |
|
24 |
Cal Poly |
(4-3) |
34 |
Pac-12 |
NR |
22 |
|
25 (tie) |
South Dakota State |
(13-4) |
31 |
Big 12 |
25 |
44 |
|
25 (tie) |
Stanford |
(5-4) |
31 |
Pac-12 |
NR |
19 |
Others Receiving Votes: Wyoming 21, Purdue 18, Central Michigan 11, Illinois 9, Appalachian State 8, North Dakota State 8, West Virginia 7, Michigan State 6, Campbell 5, Oklahoma 2, Navy 2.