Penn State Nittany Lions remain No. 2 in NWCA poll after important wrestling win over Ohio State
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.
With one week left in the regular season, Penn State maintained its No. 2 ranking in the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s weekly Division I coaches’ poll and gained a new No. 1 in the individual InterMat rankings.
Nick Lee officially took over the top spot at 141 pounds after a convincing 8-4 win over Ohio State’s previous No. 1 Luke Pletcher in front of 15,995 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday. The win earned Lee (17-0) co-Big Ten Wrestler of the Week status for the second week in a row and cemented the junior as the top seed for Big Tens.
With Penn State’s 20-16 win over Ohio State, the Nittany Lions completed their 2019-20 Big Ten slate with an 8-1 record. Penn State’s lone conference loss came to Iowa, which clinched the Big Ten regular season title with its 35-6 win over Minnesota on Saturday.
The Hawkeyes (12-0) remained the unanimous No. 1 in Tuesday’s poll as one of the two remaining unbeatens. The other, North Carolina State, sits behind Penn State at No. 3 with 326 voting points to the Nittany Lions’ 331. The Wolfpack are coming off another big win, a 21-18 vicory over No. 7 Virginia Tech, to clinch a share of the regular-season ACC title.
After N. C. State, the following teams round out the top 10, in order: Nebraska, Arizona State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh. The Big Ten has a total of 10 ranked teams, including No. 12 Wisconsin, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 15 Purdue, t-No. 21 Illinois, t-No. 21 Michigan and No. 25 Rutgers.
Northwestern dropped out of the rankings but still received votes.
With the addition of Lee, the Nittany Lions now have two top-ranked wrestlers, with Vincenzo Joseph (12-0) continuing to dominate opponents at 165 pounds. Penn State also has Roman Bravo-young (17-1) ranked No. 2 at 133 pounds, and Mark Hall (20-1) No. 2 at 174 pounds. Aaron Brooks remained No. 6 after a dominant win over fellow freshman No. 12 Rocky Jordan.
Penn State’s Jarod Verkleeren was not punished in the rankings for his sudden-victory loss to Ohio State’s No. 1 Sammy Sasso at 141 pounds. Shakur Rasheed and Seth Nevills, however, did fall slightly after their losses. Rasheed slid down one spot to No. 18 at 197 pounds after losing by major decision to top-ranked Kollin Moore, and Nevills slid two spots to No. 17 while previously unranked Gary Traub cracked the rankings at No. 16
The Nittany lions wrestle American at 2 p.m. Sunday in their final dual of the season. The Eagles have one InterMat-ranked wrestler in No. 8 Kizhan Clarke at 149 pounds, giving Verkleeren one last shot at another ranked win before the postseason.
NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll
(Feb. 18, 2020)
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conf. | Previous |
| 1 | Iowa (14) | (12-0) | 350 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2 | Penn State | (11-2) | 331 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 3 | NC State | (14-0) | 326 | ACC | 3 |
| 4 | Nebraska | (10-3) | 303 | Big Ten | 4 |
| 5 | Arizona State | (14-1) | 296 | Pac-12 | 5 |
| 6 | Ohio State | (10-4) | 277 | Big Ten | 6 |
| 7 | Virginia Tech | (11-2) | 263 | ACC | 7 |
| 8 | North Carolina | (13-2) | 261 | ACC | 8 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | (13-2) | 231 | Big 12 | 10 |
| 10 | Pittsburgh | (9-4) | 220 | ACC | 9 |
| 11 | Lehigh | (10-3) | 215 | EIWA | 11 |
| 12 | Wisconsin | (11-5) | 192 | Big Ten | 12 |
| 13 | Minnesota | (9-7) | 183 | Big Ten | 13 |
| 14 | Princeton | (8-4) | 167 | EIWA | 14 |
| 15 | Purdue | (12-5) | 148 | Big 12 | 15 |
| 16 | Cornell | (10-7) | 124 | EIWA | 17 |
| 17 (tie) | Northern Iowa | (7-4) | 118 | Big 12 | 16 |
| 17 (tie) | Army West Point | (9-3) | 118 | EIWA | 18 |
| 19 | Iowa State | (9-4) | 116 | Big 12 | 19 |
| 20 | Campbell | (10-2) | 100 | SoCon | 20 |
| 21 (tie) | Illinois | (9-4) | 53 | Big Ten | 23 |
| 21 (tie) | Michigan | (6-6) | 53 | Big Ten | 22 |
| 23 | Stanford | (11-4) | 40 | Pac-12 | 21 |
| 24 | Missouri | (11-7) | 32 | MAC | 24 |
| 25 | Rutgers | (10-6) | 14 | Big Ten | NR |
Others Receiving Votes: Appalachian State 6, Northwestern 6, North Dakota State 3, South Dakota State 3, Northern Illinois 1Dropped Out: No. 25 Northwestern
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 4:45 PM.
