Penn State Nittany Lions remain No. 2 in NWCA poll after wild week of college wrestling

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 remains No. 2 in Tuesday’s National Wrestling Coaches Association Division I coaches’ poll after wins over No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 13 Minnesota in what turned out to be quite an eventful weekend for college wrestling.

The first-ever top-10 tilt between in-state rivals No. 3 North Carolina State and No. 8 North Carolina set an attendance record of 4,383 at Reynolds Coliseum, while Princeton beat Cornell 19-13 for the first time in 32 years to snap the Big Red’s 92-match Ivy League win streak.

There was also a top-10 upset as unranked Michigan State stunned then-No. 9 Wisconsin 19-17 for the Spartans’ first win over the Badgers since 2009.

Iowa remains the unanimous No. 1 after a 27-9 smackdown at Michigan, and is joined by No. 3 N.C. State as the last two remaining unbeatens.

Following No. 3 N.C. State, the following teams round out the top, in order: Nebraska, Arizona State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Oklahoma State. The Big Ten has 10 total teams ranked including No. 15 Purdue, No. 22 Michigan and No. 25 Northwestern, with Illinois jumping into the rankings at No. 23.

The Nittany Lions gained another individually ranked wrestler this week as sophomore Jarod Verkleeren entered InterMat’s poll at No. 17 at 149 pounds after defeating Wisconsin’s Cole Martin with a late third-period takedown on Friday. Martin fell four spots to No. 19.

Staying at 149 pounds, one of the biggest individual shakeups was the entry of three-time All-American Matt Kolodzik, of Princeton. The senior had been taking an Olympic redshirt, but was pulled out of it for the Cornell dual after fellow senior Mike D’Angelo previously suffered a potentially season-ending knee injury, according to NJ.com. Kolodzik, who has placed as high as third at NCAAs, enters InterMat’s rankings at No. 4.

With the addition of Verkleeren, Penn State now has eight ranked wrestlers with Vincenzo Joseph No. 1 at 165 pounds, Mark Hall No. 2 at 174, Nick Lee No. 2 at 141, Roman Bravo-Young No. 2 at 133, Aaron Brooks No. 6 at 184, Seth Nevills No. 15 at heavyweight and Shakur Rasheed No. 18 at 197. Both Brooks and Rasheed moved up a spot since last week.

Penn State will take on No. 6 Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center in a dual that could see as many as six matchups between ranked wrestlers. The most-anticipated matchup is between Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Lee vs. Ohio State’s No. 1 Luke Pletcher at 141 pounds. Both are unbeaten and both have been equally as dominant throughout the season so far, setting up what could be a preview of the national championship.

In total, four No. 1-ranked wrestlers will take the mat Saturday at the BJC with Joseph, Pletcher and Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso (149) and Kollin Moore (197). Ohio State’s other ranked wrestlers are No. 7 Kaleb Romero (174), No. 12 Rocky Jordan (184) and No. 16 Ethan Smith (165).

NWCA Division I Coaches Poll

(Feb. 11, 2020)

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.