Penn State wrestling jumps to No. 3 in latest NWCA coaches poll after win over Wisconsin
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 has jumped to No. 3 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association’s coaches poll, released Tuesday, after defeating the Wisconsin Badgers, 34-6, in their lone dual last week.
The 3-0 Nittany Lions are now behind only No. 1 Iowa (5-0) and No. 2 Michigan (3-0) in the poll. The Hawkeyes received all 14 of the poll’s first-place votes.
The previous No. 3, North Carolina State, fell to No. 7 after being edged by then-No. 8 Virginia Tech in third criteria on Friday. The 8-0 Hokies have now taken over the No. 4 spot.
Penn State’s three matches are tied with two other programs — Michigan and Arizona State — for fewest in the poll. The Nittany Lions are joined by five other Big Ten programs in the top 10, including the Hawkeyes, Wolverines, the No. 8 Nebraska Cornhuskers, the No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers and the No. 10 Illinois FIghting Illini.
There are four additional Big Ten programs in the top 25 — No. 12 Ohio State, No. 17 Purdue, No. 19 Wisconsin and No. 22 Michigan State.
Those 10 teams are one fewer than last week, with Rutgers falling from No. 24 to out of the poll.
The Nittany Lions do not have a dual scheduled for this week after their highly anticipated matchup with Iowa was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns within the Hawkeyes’ program. This is Penn State’s fourth dual that’s been postponed due to COVID. The program experienced its own COVID concerns that caused the postponements of matchups with Michigan State and Rutgers, while virus issues at Michigan caused that dual to be postponed.
There was very little movement in the latest individual InterMat rankings for the NIttany Lions after taking down the Badgers. One fell a spot, two moved up a spot and the six others held steady to give Penn State nine ranked wrestlers once again.
Sophomore heavyweight Seth Nevills bumped up from No. 8 to No. 7 after earning a victory by decision, 4-3, over Wisconsin’s Peter Christensen. Nevills went from unranked to No. 8 after he wrestled in a tri-meet for the Nittany Lions last week. Freshman Greg Kerkvliet dropped out last week’s rankings from No. 5 after not wrestling at the tri-meet.
The other Nittany Lion to move up a spot was junior 149-pounder Jarod Verkleeren, who moved from No. 20 to No. 19 despite not wrestling against Wisconsin.
The lone Penn Stater to drops in the rankings was freshman 197-pounder Michael Beard. Beard fell from No. 13 to No. 14 despite earning an 18-2 technical fall win in his matchup with Wisconsin’s Andrew Salemme.
The other six Nittany Lions — Roman Bravo-Young (No. 3, 133 pounds), Nick Lee (No. 2, 141 pounds), Brady Berge (No. 9, 157 pounds), Joe Lee (No. 6, 165 pounds), Carter Starocci (No. 8, 174 pounds) and Aaron Brooks (No. 3, 184 pounds) — all held steady after earning wins against the Badgers.
The Nittany Lions are still defending their title from the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships after last season’s postseason was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.
NWCA Division I Coaches Poll
(Feb. 9, 2021)
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conf. | Previous |
| 1 | Iowa (14) | (5-0) | 350 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2 | Michigan | (3-0) | 332 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 3 | Penn State | (3-0) | 312 | Big Ten | 4 |
| 4 | Virginia Tech | (8-0) | 295 | ACC | 8 |
| 5 | Missouri | (10-0) | 291 | MAC | 6 |
| 6 | Oklahoma State | (9-0) | 289 | Big 12 | 5 |
| 7 | NC State | (5-1) | 268 | ACC | 3 |
| 8 | Nebraska | (6-1) | 267 | Big Ten | 7 |
| 9 | Minnesota | (5-2) | 217 | Big Ten | 13 |
| 10 | Illinois | (5-2) | 212 | Big Ten | 9 |
| 11 | Arizona State | (3-0) | 210 | Pac-12 | 10 |
| 12 | Ohio State | (5-2) | 209 | Big Ten | 11 |
| 13 | Iowa State | (8-2) | 190 | Big 12 | 12 |
| 14 | North Carolina | (4-2) | 174 | ACC | 14 |
| 15 | Northern Iowa | (4-2) | 147 | Big 12 | 16 |
| 16 | Pittsburgh | (3-3) | 130 | ACC | 15 |
| 17 | Purdue | (2-5) | 99 | Big Ten | 18 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | (5-4) | 91 | Big 12 | 19 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | (1-4) | 84 | Big Ten | 17 |
| 20 | Navy | (4-1) | 79 | EIWA | 21 |
| 21 | Virginia | (3-2) | 75 | ACC | 20 |
| 22 | Michigan State | (2-3) | 35 | Big Ten | 23 |
| 23 | Campbell | (8-1) | 30 | SoCon | NR |
| 24 | Central Michigan | (5-2) | 28 | MAC | NR |
| 25 | Rider | (3-1) | 21 | MAC | NR |
Others Receiving Votes: Stanford 20, Rutgers 19, Binghamton 18, Wyoming 13, West Virginia 11, Lehigh 9, Northern Illinois 5, Appalachian State 4, Army West Point 4, Hofstra 3, North Dakota State 3, Northern Colorado 3, Northwestern 3.
Dropped Out: No. 22 Stanford (5-3), No. 24 Rutgers (0-4), No. 25 Lehigh (3-4).
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 3:29 PM.
