Graphic for NWCA Div. I Coaches Poll for October 28

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 Dual Rank	NCAA Finish
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.

Penn State starts season ranked No. 1 in NWCA D1 Preseason Coaches Poll

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