Manheim, Pennsylvania – As the semester ends for many schools around the country, the competition also slows. With that, we see minimal movement in the most recent Theraworx NWCA Division I Coaches Poll, released on Tuesday.
As usual, it was the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences that dominated the poll, as the two combined for 16 of the nation’s top 25 teams. Big Ten programs has Penn State, Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan occupying four of the top five spots in the country. Oklahoma State sits third. The ACC has four teams in this week’s poll, while the EIWA has two.
Penn State (3-0) was idle but remained No. 1, earning all 16 first-place votes. It’s the 22nd straight week the Nittany Lions have been ranked atop the Coaches Poll.
Ohio State improved to 4-0 after beating No. 10 Wisconsin at home 23-13. The loss was the first for Wisconsin (6-1) in the Chris Bono era. The Buckeyes saw the home debuts of U23 World Team members Myles Martin and Kollin Moore.
Oklahoma State coach John Smith won his 50th career Bedlam dual as a coach as the No. 3 Cowboys (4-0) mauled rival Oklahoma 41-2 in front of over 5,000 fans at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. No. 4 Iowa (6-0) had the week’s biggest crowd, with over 7,400 coming to Carver-Hawkeye to see the host Hawkeyes defeat injury-riddled Lehigh 28-14. Lehigh, which started the year with high hopes and a Top 10 rankings, has slid to No. 20 and has started the season 0-4.
No. 5 Michigan (3-0) opened up Big Ten competition with a 32-7 home victory over Indiana, while No. 6 Missouri (4-0) extended its win streak to 24 in a row with a 48-0 win over SIU Edwardsville. It was the first dual between the two teams as members of the Mid-American Conference. SIUE joined the conference as an affiliate member over the summer.
No. 7 NC State improved to 5-0 beating always scrappy Appalachian State 29-9, while No. 9 Minnesota (3-1) ventured out west to top host Fresno State 31-6.
Virginia Tech picked up its first win of the year, topping Princeton 24-14 at Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies saw the return of U23 World Team member David McFadden to the starting lineup at his new weight class, 174 pounds. The Hokies (1-2) were also aided by the debut of transfer Billy Miller at 285 pounds.
No. 18 Illinois (1-1) earned its first dual win of the year, dispatching with Northern Illinois 24-9, while then-No. 21 Wyoming (3-2) topped then-No. 19 North Dakota State 29-6 in Laramie. The win vaulted Wyoming to No. 18 in this week’s poll, while NDSU slid to No. 21. The Bison (4-1) did earn a weekend win over Air Force 23-14 in Colorado Springs.
Northwestern fell out of the Top 25 this week after losing at home 30-10 to Old Dominion. Rutgers, which dropped out of the rankings last week, slid back in at No. 25, keeping the Big Ten at 10 ranked teams in the poll.
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.
Theraworx NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll – December 11, 2018
RankTeam (First)RecordPointsConferencePrevious1Penn State (16)3-0400Big Ten12Ohio State4-0382Big Ten23Oklahoma State4-0368Big 1234Iowa6-0352Big Ten45Michigan3-0334Big Ten56Missouri4-0321MAC67NC State5-0303ACC78Cornell2-0285EIWA89Minnesota3-1277Big Ten910Wisconsin6-1253Big Ten1011Nebraska4-1233Big Ten1112North Carolina3-0225ACC1213Purdue2-1203Big Ten1314Virginia Tech1-2181ACC1415Arizona State1-2173Pac-121516Northern Iowa1-1147Big 121717Illinois1-1123Big Ten1818Wyoming3-2117Big 122119Lock Haven1-096EWL2020Lehigh0-485EIWA1621North Dakota State4-178Big 121922Utah Valley5-275Big 122223Iowa State1-162Big 122324Pittsburgh2-054ACC2425Rutgers5-129Big TenNR
Others Receiving Votes: Princeton 22, Old Dominion 13, Northwestern 4, Appalachian State 4.
Dropped Out: No. 25 Northwestern