Penn State wrestling is No. 3 while Iowa is the unanimous No. 1 in the NWCA coaches 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.

While there was minimal dual action last week with the Thanksgiving holiday, the Iowa Hawkeyes continued to cement themselves as the top team in the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s weekly coaches poll.

After a 32-3 stomping of No. 8 Wisconsin on Sunday that saw junior Austin DeSanto take out Wisconsin’s then-No. 1 Seth Gross, the Hawks earned all 14 first-place votes for 350 points in Tuesday’s poll.

The 1-1 Nittany Lions, who did not wrestle last week, remain at No. 3 with 320 points, behind 4-0 Nebraska (322 points).

Arizona State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh round out the top 10, in that order. The Big Ten has nine ranked teams with No. 14 Northwestern, No. 15 Minnesota, No. 22 Michigan and No. 23 Purdue also in the top 25. Illinois, Rutgers and Michigan State each received votes.

After having been No. 1 for 36 consecutive weeks until the Nittany Lions’ 60-dual win streak was snapped Nov. 22 against Arizona State, it might be weird for fans not to see Penn State at the top of the rankings. But for Penn State’s wrestlers, nothing’s changed.

“I don’t think any of us really look at it, but that’s the way we expect to be (No. 1),” senior heavyweight Anthony Cassar said Tuesday. “We should be the top and we view ourselves at the top, whether that is reflected in the rankings or not. We feel that we’re the best and we’ll show that throughout the season and during March.”

The Nittany Lions still boast InterMat’s top-ranked wrestlers at 165 pounds in Vincenzo Joseph, 174 pounds in Mark Hall and at heavyweight with Cassar. At three, Penn State has more top-ranked individual wrestlers than any other team, although Iowa and Ohio State are close behind with a pair apiece.

With his 6-2 decision, DeSanto is now the new No. 1 at 133 pounds in the biggest individual shakeup of the week.

The rankings held steady for Penn State’s other wrestlers, with Shakur Rasheed No. 2 at 184, Nick Lee No. 3 at 141, Roman Bravo-Young No. 4 at 133, Brady Berge No. 6 at 157 and Kyle Conel No. 20 at 197 pounds. Rasheed and Berge still have yet to wrestle this season, as they recover from injuries. The Nittany Lions do not have wrestlers ranked at 125 or 149 pounds.

Penn State will take on in-state rival No. 13 Lehigh at 7 p.m. Friday in Bethlehem, and Penn at 2 p.m. Sunday at Rec Hall. The highlight of the weekend, rankings-wise, should be the No. 1 vs. No. 2 bout between Hall and Lehigh senior Jordan Kutler, a matchup that has historically been close.

“I’ll have the same guy for the third year in a row,” Hall said of Kutler. “He’s kind of frustrating. He’s really good defensively, so it’s like fire and ice I think, where I got to get to my attacks and finish quick.”

Penn State vs. Lehigh will be broadcast live on the Patriot League Network, and the Penn dual can be live streamed on BTN+, for those with subscriptions. Both can be listened to for free at psusports.com.

NWCA Division I Coaches Poll

(Dec. 3)

Others Receiving Votes: Campbell 24, Stanford 16, Illinois 14, Rutgers 13, Wyoming 13, Michigan State 4, Old Dominion 4

This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 5:29 PM.

Lauren Muthler

Centre Daily Times

814-231-4646

Lauren Muthler is managing editor at the Centre Daily Times who also covers Penn State wrestling and any other interesting stories that come up.