Penn State wrestling moves up in NWCA coaches poll after perfect Big Ten-opening weekend
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 wrestling moved up to No. 2 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s weekly coaches poll on Tuesday after beating Illinois and No. 15 Northwestern in its Big Ten-opening weekend to improve to 5-1.
The previous No. 2, Nebraska, slid to No. 7 after failing 25-18 at home to No. 8 Wisconsin on Sunday. Iowa remains the unanimous No. 1 after shutting out both Indiana and No. 14 Purdue 41-0. The Nittany Lions were replaced at No. 3 by Virginia Tech, which routed West Virginia 36-3 to improve to 6-0 and earn its highest NWCA ranking in school history.
Rounding out the top 10 is Ohio State at No. 4, followed by North Carolina State, Arizona State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh.
The Big Ten has nine total teams ranked, with Minnesota (11), Purdue (14), Northwestern (15) and Rutgers (22) also cracking the top 25. Michigan dropped out of the rankings, but still received votes. Illinois also picked up votes.
Penn State will wrap up January with a slate of three ranked opponents, hosting Rutgers at 5 p.m. Sunday in a nationally televised dual on ESPN2. the Nittany Lions will then head on the road to face Nebraska and Iowa in back-to-back weeks.
With a slew of early-season injuries, Penn State has yet to wrestle the exact same lineup twice, utilizing 19 different wrestlers in its six duals so far this season. As for whether the Nittany Lions will have their optimized lineup in time for Nebraska and Iowa, coach Cael Sanderson couldn’t commit Tuesday.
He said that while the goal is to have their best lineup every week, preserving the wrestlers’ health for the Big Ten and NCAA championships is his ultimate priority.
“If our guys are ready to go and cleared to wrestle, we’re going to wrestle them,” Sanderson said at his weekly media availability. “We’ve never not wrestled a kid for any reason outside of medical issues, when they were cleared through our trainer or doctor. We want to wrestle. You’re not going to win national titles with a mindset outside of that.”
Not much changed for Pen State’s wrestlers in this week’s individual InterMat rankings. With former heavyweight Anthony Cassar officially dropping out of the rankings after last week’s announcement that he would not finish out the NCAA season after sustaining a shoulder injury at Senior Nationals, Penn State now has two top-ranked wrestlers in Vincenzo Joseph (165) and Mark Hall (174).
Minnesota sophomore Gable Steveson takes over as the top-ranked heavyweight after sitting out the first semester.
Junior Nick Lee remains second at 141 pounds, sophomore Roman Bravo-Young third at 133, sophomore Brady Berge fourth at 157 and freshman Aaron Brooks eighth at 184. Senior Shakur Rasheed entered the 197-pound rankings at No. 20 after going 1-1 in his season debut this past weekend.
Penn State’s next opponent, Rutgers, has three wrestlers ranked by InterMat this week in freshman 133-pounder Sammy Alvarez (No. 9), freshman 125-pounder Nicholas Aguilar (No. 16) and senior 197-pounder Jordan Pagano.
Iowa is the only team with all 10 of its wrestlers ranked, with freshman Abe Assad making his debut at No. 10 at 184 pounds after his redshirt was pulled this weekend. The Hawkeyes have two No. 1s, per InterMat, with Spencer Lee at 125 and Pat Lugo at 149 pounds.
NWCA Division I Coaches Poll
(Jan. 14, 2020)
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conf. | Previous |
| 1 | Iowa (14) | (6-0) | 350 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2 | Penn State | (5-1) | 319 | Big Ten | 3 |
| 3 | Virginia Tech | (6-0) | 316 | ACC | 4 |
| 4 | Ohio State | (5-1) | 305 | Big Ten | 5 |
| 5 | NC State | (8-0) | 299 | ACC | 6 |
| 6 | Arizona State | (8-1) | 278 | Pac-12 | 7 |
| 7 | Nebraska | (5-1) | 266 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | (8-2) | 258 | Big Ten | 8 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | (5-1) | 245 | Big 12 | 9 |
| 10 | Pittsburgh | (5-1) | 209 | ACC | 10 |
| 11 | Minnesota | (6-3) | 197 | Big Ten | 15 |
| 12 | Lehigh | (6-3) | 181 | EIWA | 14 |
| 13 | North Carolina | (8-1) | 175 | ACC | 17 |
| 14 | Purdue | (8-2) | 166 | Big Ten | 18 |
| 15 | Northwestern | (2-3) | 149 | Big Ten | 13 |
| 16 | Iowa State | (4-3) | 129 | Big 12 | 11 |
| 17 | Princeton | (2-4) | 124 | EIWA | 12 |
| 18 | Northern Iowa | (2-3) | 99 | Big 12 | 16 |
| 19 | Cornell | (5-4) | 87 | EIWA | 19 |
| 20 | Army West Point | (6-2) | 83 | EIWA | 20 |
| 21 | Campbell | (3-2) | 70 | SoCon | NR |
| 22 | Rutgers | (7-1) | 52 | Big Ten | 24 |
| 23 | Missouri | (6-5) | 48 | MAC | 21 |
| 24 | Stanford | (4-1) | 39 | Pac-12 | 23 |
| 25 | Rider | (6-2) | 25 | MAC | NR |
Others Receiving Votes: Michigan 20, South Dakota State 19, Virginia 15, Oregon State 10, Illinois 7, Lock Haven 6, Central Michigan 3, Northern Illinois 1. Dropped Out: No. 22 Virginia, No. 25 Michigan
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 5:59 PM.
