Penn State wrestling’s Nick Lee cracks rankings after varsity debut
It didn’t take long after his redshirt was lifted for Penn State freshman Nick Lee to leap into the national rankings.
The Evansville, Ind., native picked up two wins in his varsity debut this weekend, with a 9-5 decision over Michigan’s Sal Profaci and a technical fall over No. 20 Javier Gasca of Michigan State.
The wins vaulted Lee to No. 7 in InterMat’s NCAA Division I rankings at 141 pounds, where he sits between Northern Iowa’s Josh Alber, whom he topped at the Southern Scuffle, and Clarion’s Brock Zacherl, who beat Lee at the Clarion Open.
Nos. 1-5 at 141 continue to be dominated by Bryce Meredith (Wyoming), Kevin Jack (N.C. State), Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) and Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), respectively.
Individual rankings remain the same for all other Nittany Lions this week, as Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph and Bo Nickal are all No. 1 at 149, 157, 165 and 184, respectively.
Mark Hall remains No. 2 at 174, Nick Nevills No. 8 at heavyweight and Shakur Rasheed No. 10 at 197. The Nittany Lions are unranked at 133 and 125 pounds, as freshman Devin Schnupp dropped two matches this weekend, and senior Corey Keener went 1-1, including a loss to No. 5 at 133, Michigan’s Stevan Micic.
Penn State (7-0) remains No. 1 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association/USA Today Division I Team Coaches Poll, earning 11 of 16 first-place votes. The Nittany Lions are followed by the Buckeyes (9-0), who knocked off No. 13 Minnesota this weekend.
Oklahoma State fell from No. 3 to 5 after losing to Iowa on Sunday at Carver Hawkeye Arena. The win vaulted Iowa (9-0) from No. 7 to 4, pushing unbeaten Missouri to No. 3.
The Nittany Lions take on No. 24 Purdue on Friday at Rec Hall, then go on the road to face Maryland on Sunday.
Lauren Muthler: 814-231-4646, @lmuth1259
NWCA/USA Today Division I Team Coaches Poll
Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Previous |
1 | Penn State (11) | 7-0 | 395 | 1 |
2 | Ohio State (5) | 9-0 | 389 | 2 |
3 | Missouri | 14-0 | 357 | 4 |
4 | Iowa | 9-0 | 350 | 7 |
5 | Oklahoma State | 6-1 | 339 | 3 |
6 | NC State | 10-1 | 320 | 5 |
7 | Lehigh | 8-1 | 312 | 6 |
8 | Michigan | 5-2 | 289 | 8 |
9 | Arizona State | 7-2 | 271 | 10 |
10 | Virginia Tech | 8-2 | 256 | 9 |
11 | Northern Iowa | 5-2 | 235 | 11 |
12 | Cornell | 4-2 | 214 | 13 |
13 | Minnesota | 7-4 | 210 | 14 |
14 | Illinois | 3-3 | 197 | 12 |
15 | South Dakota State | 7-2 | 183 | 15 |
16 | Rutgers | 4-3 | 156 | 17 |
17 | Central Michigan | 5-3 | 136 | 18 |
18 | Nebraska | 4-3 | 124 | 19 |
19 | Rider | 7-2 | 81 | 21 |
20 | Northwestern | 7-1 | 80 | 25 |
21 | Wisconsin | 4-1 | 77 | 16 |
22 | Wyoming | 7-2 | 61 | 23 |
23 | Lock Haven | 7-1 | 59 | 20 |
24 | Purdue | 5-3 | 51 | 22 |
25 | North Carolina | 6-8 | 26 | 24 |
Others Receiving Votes: Oklahoma 14, Navy 11, Drexel 3, American 2, West Virginia 2
Dropped Out: None.
This story was originally published January 16, 2018 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Penn State wrestling’s Nick Lee cracks rankings after varsity debut."