After 36 straight weeks at the top, Penn State wrestling falls to No. 3 in the NWCA poll
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.
After 36 straight weeks at the top, Penn State wrestling is no longer the No. 1 team in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division I coaches poll.
With its first loss in nearly five years on Friday to Arizona State, Penn State tumbled to No. 3, and Iowa took over as No. 1 in Tuesday’s poll. The Hawkeyes improved to 2-0 on the season after a 29-6 beatdown of in-state rival Iowa State on Sunday.
The Hawkeyes got 13 first-place votes, while Arizona State, which moved up six spots to No. 4, got the other.
FloWrestling has the Nittany Lions No. 2 and TrackWrestling has them No. 1 in their respective team rankings. Both of those sites rank teams based upon the number of advancement and placement points each team would accumulate if it wrestlers were to finish at their current ranks at the NCAA tournament. NWCA’s poll is based upon dual meet performance.
With Penn State’s loss, Nebraska moves up a spot to No. 2, after picking up bonus points in four of their five bout victories on Sunday en route to a 23-19 win over the University of Northern Iowa, and a 28-7 victory over Wyoming. The No. 16 Panthers fell to 0-2 on the season.
After Arizona State at No. 4, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh round out the top 10, in that order. The Big Ten has eight teams in the top 25, with Minnesota coming in at No. 14, Northwestern at 15, Michigan at 22 and Purdue at 23. Illinois, Rutgers and Michigan State also received votes.
Penn State is off this weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday, but will return Dec. 6 for a road dual at No. 13 Lehigh, before taking on Penn at home on Dec. 8. The Mountainhawks fell to 1-2 this weekend after what has so far been an up-and-down season. After starting its season off with a big win over Oklahoma State on match points criteria, Lehigh lost this past weekend to No. 12 Princeton and No. 10 Pittsburgh — also on third criteria — which both moved up two spots this week. Lehigh fell six spots to No. 13.
In the individual InterMat rankings, Penn State still boasts three No. 1s in Vincenzo Joseph at 165 pounds, Mark Hall at 174 and Anthony Cassar at heavyweight. Shakur Rasheed is ranked second at 184, despite having yet to wrestle so far this season, as he continues to recover from offseason ACL surgery. He weighed in Friday as a formality, but Penn State ultimately forfeited the bout against No. 1 Zahid Valencia, after a “late development” kept backup Creighton Edsell from competing.
Junior Nick Lee holds steady at No. 3 at 141 after improving to 6-0, while 5-0 sophomore Roman Bravo-Young fell to No. 4 at 133 pounds with the addition of reigning Big Ten 125-pound champ Sebastian Rivera, of Northwestern, into the weight class at No. 3.
Sophomore Brady Berge, who also has yet to wrestle due to injury, fell one spot to No. 6 at 157 pounds after a big win by Iowa State’s David Carr over former No. 2, Iowa’s Kaleb Young. The Hawkeye fell to No. 4. Now at 2-2 on the season, graduate transfer Kyle Conel fell from No. 7 to 20 at 197 pounds. The Nittany Lions do not have ranked wrestlers at 125 or 149 pounds.
Penn State’s next opponent, Lehigh, features six ranked wrestlers in No. 11 Brandon Paetzell at 125, No. 17 Nick Farro at 133, No. 14 Josh Humphreys at 157, No. 2 Jordan Kutler at 174, No. 15 Jake Jakobsen at 197 and No. 9 Jordan Wood at heavyweight. Penn has two InterMat-ranked wrestlers in No. 10 Michael Colaiocco at 125 and No. 10 Anthony Artalona at 157.
NWCA Division I Coaches Poll
(Nov. 26, 2019)
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conf. | Previous |
| 1 | Iowa (13) | (2-0) | 348 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 2 | Nebraska | (4-0) | 319 | Big Ten | 3 |
| 3 | Penn State | (1-1) | 316 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 4 | Arizona State (1) | (5-0) | 305 | Pac-12 | 10 |
| 5 | Virginia Tech | (3-0) | 299 | ACC | 4 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | (6-0) | 284 | Big Ten | 4 |
| 7 | NC State | (6-0) | 266 | ACC | 9 |
| 8 | Ohio State | (2-1) | 258 | Big Ten | 6 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | (2-1) | 250 | Big 12 | 7 |
| 10 | Pittsburgh | (2-1) | 210 | ACC | 12 |
| 11 | Iowa State | (1-1) | 204 | Big 12 | 11 |
| 12 | Princeton | (1-0) | 201 | EIWA | 14 |
| 13 | Lehigh | (1-2) | 165 | EIWA | 7 |
| 14 | Minnesota | (1-2) | 143 | Big Ten | 12 |
| 15 | Northwestern | (2-1) | 142 | Big Ten | 16 |
| 16 | Northern Iowa | (0-2) | 130 | Big 12 | 17 |
| 17 | Cornell | (0-1) | 123 | EIWA | 15 |
| 18 | North Carolina | (2-1) | 94 | ACC | 19 |
| 19 | Missouri | (2-2) | 86 | MAC | 18 |
| 20 | Rider | (2-0) | 68 | MAC | 20 |
| 21 | Army West Point | (4-1) | 63 | EIWA | 24 |
| 22 | Michigan | (1-1) | 60 | Big Ten | 21 |
| 23 | Purdue | (6-1) | 42 | Big Ten | 25 |
| 24 | Virginia | (3-1) | 39 | ACC | 23 |
| 25 | Lock Haven | (0-0) | 36 | MAC | 22 |
Others Receiving Votes: Campbell 25, Stanford 20, Illinois 19, Rutgers 14, Wyoming 13, Old Dominion 5, Michigan State 3
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 4:40 PM.
