Here’s what happened in the 3rd week of college wrestling and how Penn State fits in
Editor’s note: The Centre Daily Times will publish weekly updates based on NWCA coaches team and InterMat individual rankings to give readers a glimpse into how Penn State wrestling fits into the bigger picture.
While there were plenty of shakeups in Tuesday’s National Wrestling Coaches Association’s Division I coaches poll, Penn State remained steady at No. 1. This is the 36th straight week the Nittany Lions have held down the top spot.
Voting for the top two teams remained unchanged from last week, as Penn State received 13 of 14 first-place votes for 349 points, and Iowa one first-place vote for 337 points. The Hawkeyes opened their season on Sunday with a 39-0 shutout of Tennessee at Chattanooga, while the Nittany Lions were competing at Army West Point’s Black Knight Invitational.
After Iowa is where the chaos begins.
Nebraska (2-0) moved up two spots to No. 3, the beneficiary of two of the five top-25 upsets this past week. The previous No. 3, Ohio State, fell to No. 6 after its upset loss at the hands of Virginia Tech on Sunday. Virginia Tech (3-0) moved up seven spots to a fourth-place tie with 5-0 Wisconsin. Oklahoma State fell from No. 4 into a tie with Lehigh at No. 7. The Mountainhawks moved up three spots after beating the Cowboys on third criteria.
North Carolina State holds steady at No. 9, and Arizona State, Penn State’s Friday opponent, rounds out the top 10.
Minnesota dropped out of the top 10 this week to a tie with Pittsburgh at No. 12, after losing 21-17 to then-unranked Rider. The Broncs entered the rankings this week at No. 20.
The University of Northern Iowa fell three sports to No. 17 after its upset loss to Northwestern. The 1-1 Wildcats moved up five spots to No. 16. In the final major upset of the past week, unranked Illinois knocked off then-No. 13 Missouri. the win wasn’t enough for the Illini to get ranked, but they did receive 18 votes. The Tigers fell to No. 18.
The Big Ten has nine teams ranked in the top 25, plus Rutgers, Illinois and Michigan State each receiving votes.
The individual InterMat rankings remain largely unchanged for the Nittany Lions. The lone exception is Kyle Conel, who fell from No. 3 to No. 7 at 197 pounds after a 5-3 loss to Aaron Bolo at the Black Knight Invitational. After taking the early lead with a first-period takedown, Conel was injured on an escape in the third. While he was able to finish out the match, he gave up a late reversal.
Penn State has three top-ranked wrestlers in Vincenzo Joseph at 165 pounds, Mark Hall at 174 and Anthony Cassar at heavyweight. Shakur Rasheed, who has yet to wrestle this season as he recovers from offseason ACL surgery, sits at No. 2 at 184. Roman Bravo-Young is No. 3 at 133, Nick Lee is No. 3 at 141 and Brady Berge, who also hasn’t wrestled yet this season, is No. 5 at 157. Penn State does not have ranked wrestlers at 125 or 149 pounds.
The Nittany Lions will travel to Tempe, Arizona, to take on the 4-0 Sun Devils at 9 p.m. Eastern Time Friday. Arizona State features seven ranked wrestlers in No. 19 Brandon Courtney at 125, No. 16 Josh Kramer at 133, No. 17 Jacori Teemer at 157, No. 5 Josh Shields at 165, No. 8 Anthony Valencia at 174, No. 1 Zahid Valencia at 184 and No. 5 Tanner Hall at heavyweight.
NWCA Division I Coaches Poll
(Nov. 19, 2019)
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conf. | Previous |
| 1 | Penn State (13) | (1-0) | 349 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2 | Iowa (1) | (1-0) | 337 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 3 | Nebraska | (2-0) | 305 | Big Ten | 5 |
| 4 (tie) | Virginia Tech | (3-0) | 281 | ACC | 11 |
| 4 (tie) | Wisconsin | (5-0) | 281 | Big Ten | 7 |
| 6 | Ohio State | (2-1) | 269 | Big Ten | 3 |
| 7 (tie) | Lehigh | (1-0) | 265 | EIWA | 10 |
| 7 (tie) | Oklahoma State | (1-1) | 265 | Big 12 | 4 |
| 9 | NC State | (4-0) | 256 | ACC | 9 |
| 10 | Arizona State | (4-0) | 251 | Pac-12 | 8 |
| 11 | Iowa State | (1-0) | 209 | Big 12 | 12 |
| 12 (tie) | Minnesota | (1-1) | 161 | Big Ten | 6 |
| 12 (tie) | Pittsburgh | (1-1) | 161 | ACC | 15 |
| 14 | Princeton | (0-0) | 150 | EIWA | 16 |
| 15 | Cornell | (0-0) | 122 | EIWA | 18 |
| 16 | Northwestern | (1-1) | 120 | Big Ten | 21 |
| 17 | Northern Iowa | (0-1) | 116 | Big 12 | 14 |
| 18 | Missouri | (0-2) | 90 | MAC | 13 |
| 19 | North Carolina | (1-1) | 75 | ACC | 17 |
| 20 | Rider | (2-0) | 72 | MAC | NR |
| 21 | Michigan | (0-1) | 70 | Big Ten | 19 |
| 22 | Lock Haven | (0-0) | 56 | MAC | 22 |
| 23 | Virginia | (3-1) | 53 | ACC | 23 |
| 24 | Army West Point | (3-1) | 43 | EIWA | 24 |
| 25 | Purdue | (3-1) | 40 | Big Ten | 25 |
Others Receiving Votes: Stanford 38, Rutgers 25, Oklahoma 24, Campbell 20, Illinois 18, Michigan State 15, Old Dominion 13
Dropped Out: No. 20 Oklahoma, No. 25 Campbell.
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 6:59 PM.
