How Penn State wrestling fared in this week’s NWCA coaches poll & InterMat rankings
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.
Penn State bounced back nicely from its first loss in nearly five years on Nov. 22 at Arizona State, with two wins this weekend, against No. 14 Lehigh and Penn.
With the wins, the Nittany Lions improved to 3-1 on the season and held steady at No. 3 in this week’s National Wrestling Coaches Association coaches poll, released Tuesday. Iowa remained the unanimous No. 1, and Nebraska, which placed nine out of 10 wrestlers to win the Cliff Keen Las Vegas tournament, remains No. 2.
The Hawkeyes rolled with a 30-9 win over Princeton on Sunday.
Rounding out the top 10 are Arizona State at No. 4, followed by Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State and Pitt. The Big Ten has nine teams in the top 25, with Northwestern, Minnesota, Purdue and Michigan also ranked. Rutgers and Illinois received votes.
The biggest shakeups this week came in the individual rankings, thanks, in part, to the CKLV tournament.
The biggest move for Penn State in InterMat’s rankings was the removal of previous No. 2 Shakur Rasheed at 184 pounds, and the collegiate rankings debut of true freshman Aaron Brooks at No. 9. Brooks had his redshirt pulled Friday against Lehigh, rolling to a 10-5 win over Chris Weiler. After the match, Brooks said he was unhappy about giving up the late takedown. He didn’t let that happen Sunday, as he poured on a 19-4 technical fall of Penn’s Jesse Antrassian,
Rasheed has not yet wrestled a match this season, as he’s recovering from offseason ACL surgery. While Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson did not disclose his plan for Rasheed on Friday, or say whether or not he’s moving up to 197, he maintained the sixth-year senior is “looking good, feeling good and working hard.”
After going 1-1 on the weekend, but suffering an injury Sunday, Conel dropped out of the rankings at 197 pounds with a 3-3 record.
While the Nittany Lions lost one No. 2 this week, they gained another in junior Nick Lee at 141 pounds, according to InterMat. The two-time All-American has dominated all season, adding two more bonus-point wins this weekend. InterMat’s previous No. 2, Oklahoma’s Dom Demas, fell to No. 4 after losing 5-2 in the CKLV semifinals to Minnesota’s Mitch McKee. McKee, who then lost 10-6 in the finals to Ohio State’s No. 1 Luke Pletcher, moved up a spot to No. 3.
Penn State sophomore Brady Berge moved up a spot to No. 5 at 157 pounds, as the former No. 4, Iowa’s Kaleb Young, fell to No. 8 after a loss to Princeton’s Quincy Monday, who moved up two spots to No. 7 with the win. Berge earned a 5-3 decision over Lehigh’s No. 12 Josh Humphreys in his season debut Friday. Berge didn’t wrestle Sunday, as the coaching staff is easing him back into competition as he recovers from an injury suffered in October at the U23 World Championships.
All other Nittany Lions maintained their spots in the rankings, with seniors Vincenzo Joseph, Mark Hall and Anthony Cassar holding down the No. 1 spots at 165, 174 and heavyweight, respectively. Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young remains No. 4 at 133 pounds.
The Nittany Lions still do not have wrestlers ranked at 125 or 149 pounds, as lineup battles continue at those weights. Penn’s Michael Colaiocco fell two spots to No. 12 at 125 after being upset by Penn State redshirt freshman Brandon Meredith.
The Nittany Lions are not scheduled to return to dual action until Jan. 10 against Illinois. While Penn State doesn’t have any tournaments on its schedule during the long break, Sanderson has said most of the team will be competing in some capacity, whether its vying for a bid to April’s Olympic trials at Senior Nationals Dec. 20-22 in Fort Worth, Texas, or in open tournaments.
NWCA Division I Coaches Poll
(Dec. 10, 2019)
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conf. | Previous |
| 1 | Iowa (14) | (4-0) | 350 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2 | Nebraska | (4-0) | 325 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 3 | Penn State | (3-1) | 321 | Big Ten | 3 |
| 4 | Arizona State | (5-0) | 310 | Pac-12 | 4 |
| 5 | Virginia Tech | (3-0) | 283 | ACC | 5 |
| 6 | NC State | (6-0) | 280 | ACC | 6 |
| 7 | Ohio State | (3-1) | 274 | Big Ten | 7 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | (6-1) | 254 | Big Ten | 8 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | (3-1) | 247 | Big 12 | 9 |
| 10 | Pittsburgh | (4-1) | 208 | ACC | 10 |
| 11 | Iowa State | (1-1) | 204 | Big 12 | 11 |
| 12 | Princeton | (1-2) | 194 | EIWA | 12 |
| 13 | Northwestern | (2-1) | 168 | Big Ten | 14 |
| 14 | Lehigh | (1-3) | 160 | EIWA | 13 |
| 15 | Northern Iowa | (0-2) | 146 | Big 12 | 16 |
| 16 | Minnesota | (1-2) | 141 | Big Ten | 15 |
| 17 | North Carolina | (3-1) | 114 | ACC | 18 |
| 18 | Cornell | (0-2) | 109 | EIWA | 17 |
| 19 | Missouri | (2-2) | 89 | MAC | 19 |
| 20 | Purdue | (6-1) | 84 | Big Ten | 23 |
| 21 | Army West Point | (4-1) | 67 | EIWA | 21 |
| 22 | Michigan | (1-1) | 45 | Big Ten | 22 |
| 23 | Virginia | (3-1) | 33 | ACC | 24 |
| 24 | Central Michigan | (2-1) | 28 | MAC | NR |
| 25 | Rider | (3-1) | 27 | MAC | 20 |
Others Receiving Votes: Campbell 23, Rutgers 23, Stanford 20, Wyoming 11, Illinois 6, Old Dominion 4, Lock Haven 2
Dropped Out: No. 25 Lock Haven
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 4:52 PM.
