Penn State wrestling stays No. 2 despite Iowa loss in latest NWCA 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.

Despite losing its second dual meet of the season — and first Big Ten meet in nearly five years — 19-17 to Iowa Friday night, Penn State wrestling maintained its No. 2 ranking in Tuesday’s National Wrestling Coaches Association’s Division I coaches’ poll.

The Hawkeyes remain the unanimous No. 1, and the only other unbeaten team — North Carolina State — took over Ohio State’s spot at No. 3 after taking out No. 10 Pittsburgh 21-12 on the road. The Buckeyes fell to No. 6 after a last-second pin by 165-pounder Isaiah White over Ethan Smith sealed the dual for the Huskers. Nebraska moved up to No. 4, and Arizona State held steady at No. 5.

Virginia Tech came in at No. 7, followed by, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh, in that order, to round out the top 10.

The Big Ten has nine teams in the top 25 with No. 13 Minnesota, No. 14 Purdue, No. 22 Michigan, No. 23 Northwestern and No. 24 Rutgers also ranked. Illinois received 23 votes.

While Penn State’s team ranking didn’t change after the Iowa loss and win over Maryland two days later, there was some shakeup for individual wrestlers in the InterMat rankings.

The biggest change for Penn State was loss of one of its top-ranked wrestlers, as Mark Hall fell to No. 2 at 174 pounds after his 11-6 loss to Michael Kemerer. The Hawkeye took over at No. 1, giving Iowa two top-ranked wrestlers, with Spencer Lee at 125 pounds. Penn State now has just one No. 1, in Vincenzo Joseph at 165 pounds.

InterMat moved Penn State sophomore Roman Bravo-Young up to No. 2 at 133 pounds after he won by injury forfeit over Iowa’s Austin DeSanto, who now sits at No. 3. Nick Lee holds steady at No. 2 at 141 for the Nittany Lions, after earning two technical falls this past weekend.

Aaron Brooks (8-1) moved up two spots to No. 7 at 184 pounds after a road strong win over fellow freshman Abe Assad (19-5), who fell three spots to No. 9 after losing both to Brooks and Michigan State sophomore Cam Caffey over the weekend. Caffey jumped all the way from No. 15 to 8 with the win. Caffey also beat No. 15 Zach Braunagel, of Illinois, over the weekend, and Nebraska’s No. 11 Taylor Venz, who beat Brooks, the week prior. But the biggest shakeup at this weight was Ohio State’s Rocky Jordan, who entered the rankings at No. 14 after wins this weekend over Venz and Maryland’s Kyle Jasenski.

Back to Penn State, freshman Seth Nevills and sixth-year senior Shakur Rasheed maintained their rankings at No. 15 at heavyweight and no. 18 at 197 pounds, respectively, despite losses at Iowa. Penn State does not have ranked wrestlers at 125, 149 or 157 pounds.

The Nittany Lions head on the road this weekend to take on No. 9 Wisconsin on Friday and No. 13 Minnesota Sunday. Between the two duals, there’s the potential for seven bouts between ranked wrestlers — including a No. 1 vs. No. 2 between Wisconsin’s Seth Gross and Bravo-Young.

Lee will also have the opportunity to continue adding to his resume with battles set against Minnesota’s No. 4 Mitch McKee and Wisconsin’s No. 7 Tristan Moran. Joseph is slated to wrestle Wisconsin’s No. 3 Evan Wick for the first time, and Hall is set to face Minnesota’s Devin Skatzka.

Nevills is in for a challenge this weekend with potential matchups with Minnesota’s No. 1 Gable Steveson and Wisconsin’s No. 5 Trent Hillger.

NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll

(Feb. 4, 2020)

Others Receiving Votes: Illinois 23, Rider 17, Appalachian State 6

Dropped Out: None

This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 1:18 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.