Several Big 12 teams make moves in NWCA Top 25, Penn State’s Mesenbrink vaults into top 10
The new year began with some high-quality duals, which in turn saw some changes occur in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Top 25 poll.
As Penn State took care of business against No. 17 Oregon State on Jan. 5, Oklahoma State and Ohio State earned top-10 victories the same night.
The Cowboys traveled east to Raleigh, N.C., where they took down then-No. 4 N.C. State, 22-12. The Buckeyes, which are now No. 7, needed a win from redshirt freshman heavyweight Nick Feldman to earn a 21-20 win over then-No. 10 Cornell.
Oklahoma State vaulted to No. 5 as fellow Big 12 teams Missouri (No. 2) and Iowa State (No. 4) are in the top 5 as well. The Tigers earned a pair of dual wins against Illinois and then-No. 11 Virginia Tech. The Cyclones went out west, where they topped then-No. 21 Arizona State (28-10) and Cal Baptist (39-3).
Iowa at No. 3 rounds out the top five teams.
In what was one of the biggest upsets to start the new year, No. 11 South Dakota State took down then-No. 6 Michigan at home. The Jackrabbits were No. 15 at the time of the upset, which was the highest ranked win in program history. The No. 11 ranking is also the highest for the squad.
The Wolverines dropped to No. 12.
The Big Ten has four other schools in the top 25 in Nebraska (No. 6), Minnesota (No. 10), Rutgers (No. 14) and Indiana (No. 21).
When it comes to the Nittany Lions in the individual rankings, there were only a couple of changes.
Mitchell Mesenbrink, who is fresh off a 17-2 technical fall of then-No. 10 Matthew Olguin, has taken over that No. 10 spot at 165 pounds. Bernie Truax, who suffered a second straight loss to the Beavers’ Trey Munoz, fell to No. 5 at 184 pounds.
Truax was passed by Munoz (No. 4), Oklahoma State’s Dustin Plott (No. 2) and Nebraska’s Lenny Pinto (No. 3). Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen remained the No. 1 at the weight.
Penn State’s other wrestlers all stayed put in their rankings: Aaron Nagao (No. 4, 133 pounds), Beau Bartlett (No. 2, 141), Levi Haines (No. 1, 157), Carter Starocci (No. 1, 174), Aaron Brooks (No. 1, 197) and Greg Kerkvliet (No. 1, 285).
NWCA Coaches Poll
Released Tuesday, Jan. 9
| Rank | Team (Record) | Points |
| 1 | Penn State (3-0) | 350 |
| 2 | Missouri (6-0) | 330 |
| 3 | Iowa (5-0) | 323 |
| 4 | Iowa State (8-1) | 297 |
| 5 | Oklahoma State (5-0) | 287 |
| 6 | Nebraska (5-0) | 285 |
| 7 | Ohio State (8-1) | 267 |
| 8 | NC State (10-2) | 250 |
| 9 | Cornell (4-2) | 229 |
| 10 | Minnesota (5-0) | 219 |
| 11 | S. Dakota State (4-2) | 201 |
| 12 | Michigan (2-1) | 198 |
| 13 | Virginia Tech (3-3) | 187 |
| 14 | Rutgers (7-1) | 170 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh (7-3) | 164 |
| 16 | Navy (6-0) | 136 |
| 17 | Oregon State (4-2) | 123 |
| 18 | Stanford (5-1) | 101 |
| 19 | Oklahoma (4-2) | 91 |
| 20 | West Virginia (8-1) | 81 |
| 21 | Indiana (3-0) | 58 |
| 22 | Arizona State (2-3) | 50 |
| 23 | Lehigh (0-3) | 30 |
| 24 | Northern Iowa (2-4) | 28 |
| 25 | Appalachian State (2-1) | 22 |
Dropped out: No. 25 Maryland (2-1)
Others receiving votes: Maryland 20, North Carolina 18, Cal Poly 12, Campbell 4, Northern Colorado 4, Penn 4, Wisconsin 4, Illinois 3, Michigan State 2, Utah Valley 2
