Penn State remains No. 1 in NWCA Top 25, 8 Nittany Lions wrestlers ranked individually
A week ago, there was no movement in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Top 25 poll.
This week, there were plenty of changes thanks to Pittsburgh and Oklahoma State. But one thing that didn’t change was Penn State keeping its grip on the No. 1 spot in the NWCA poll.
After the Nittany Lions (2-0) crushed Hofstra, 43-10, on Sunday, the Panthers pulled off a 21-13 upset of then-No. 5 Ohio State. The win gave Pittsburgh its fourth straight win — three consecutive over Big Ten opponents — and a 6-1 record.
The Panthers jumped up six spots with the win. Their lone loss came to No. 17 Navy, who is 5-0 this year.
The Buckeyes fell the whole way to No. 10, and was passed by the Cowboys, who sit at No. 9.
Oklahoma State had a pair of ranked wins over the weekend to remain perfect at 3-0. It beat then-No. 20 Lehigh, 25-12, on Friday, and followed up with a victory over No. 18 Oklahoma, 28-9, on Sunday.
As a conference, the Big Ten has just eight teams in the Top 25. Iowa is the only other school in the top five, sitting at No. 4.
Michigan and Nebraska benefited from the Ohio State loss to bump up one spot. The Wolverines are No. 7 with the Cornhuskers right behind them.
The other ranked Big Ten schools include Minnesota (No. 12), Rutgers (No. 15) and Indiana (No. 24). The Golden Gophers and Hoosiers are undefeated so far this season.
For individual rankings, it came as no surprise that Penn State lost a ranked wrestler, with Shayne Van Ness being ruled out for the year.
With Braeden Davis getting the nod on Sunday, one would have thought he may enter this week’s Intermat rankings, but that didn’t come to fruition. If Davis gets the start against Oregon State on Jan. 5, he may enter the rankings at that point.
As for those eight wrestlers that are ranked, none of them changed their spot in the top 33 of their weight class. Levi Haines (157 pounds), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) are No. 1.
Beau Bartlett (141, No. 2), Aaron Nagao (133, No. 4) and Bernie Truax (184, No. 2) are still in the top five of their weights. Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) is the lowest ranked Nittany Lion at No. 14.
NWCA Coaches Poll
Released Tuesday, Dec. 5
| Rank | Team (Record) | Points |
| 1 | Penn State (2-0) | 350 |
| 2 | N.C. State (7-0) | 327 |
| 3 | Missouri (2-0) | 319 |
| 4 | Iowa (5-0) | 308 |
| 5 | Cornell (1-0) | 284 |
| 6 | Iowa State (3-1) | 271 |
| 7 | Michigan (2-0) | 269 |
| 8 | Nebraska (2-0) | 265 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State (3-0) | 229 |
| 10 | Ohio State (4-1) | 216 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech (2-1) | 209 |
| 12 | Minnesota (5-0) | 203 |
| 13 | Pittsburgh (6-1) | 173 |
| 14 | S. Dakota State (3-1) | 166 |
| 15 | Rutgers (5-1) | 164 |
| 16 | Oregon State (3-1) | 134 |
| 17 | Navy (5-0) | 127 |
| 18 | Oklahoma (4-2) | 94 |
| 19 | Stanford (2-0) | 87 |
| 20 | West Virginia (6-1) | 74 |
| 21 | North Carolina (5-2) | 57 |
| 22 | Arizona State (1-2) | 43 |
| 23 | Lehigh (0-3) | 38 |
| 24 | Indiana (3-0) | 35 |
| 25 | Northern Iowa (0-1) | 26 |
Others receiving votes: Campbell 18, Penn 16, Maryland 13, Cal Poly 11, Purdue 8, Northwestern 7, Illinois 4, Northern Colorado 2, Wisconsin 2, Columbia 1
