Penn State has all 10 wrestlers ranked, Lehigh’s big win sees Mountain Hawks climb NWCA Top 25
For the first time in quite a while, Penn State now has all 10 of its wrestlers ranked individually.
True freshmen Braeden Davis and Tyler Kasak have been on a roll since the pair were inserted into the Nittany Lions’ starting lineup.
The duo picked up a pair of upsets in the Oregon State dual. Kasak then earned another by taking out the then-No. 14 wrestler in Indiana’s Graham Rooks on Sunday.
Kasak, who is 6-1 with his loss coming to teammate Beau Bartlett at 141 pounds, is ranked highest of the two as he came in at No. 12. He is one of eight Big Ten wrestlers in the top 15 at 149 pounds.
Kasak will have another ranked matchup on Friday when he’ll face Michigan’s Austin Gomez, who is No. 6 in the country. Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett is No. 1 at 149 pounds.
Davis, who is undefeated at 10-0, entered the rankings at No. 14. He is one of seven Big Ten wrestlers in the top 15 at 125 pounds, which has had a revolving door at the No. 1 spot all season.
Davis, like Kasak, will have another ranked matchup when he faces Michigan’s Michael DeAugustino, who is No. 5 in the country. This week’s No. 1 at 125 is Iowa’s Drake Ayala, with Purdue’s Matt Ramos at No. 2.
Wisconsin’s Eric Barnett is No. 4 as Lehigh’s Luke Stanich (No. 3) is the lone wrestler not from the Big Ten in the top five.
With Davis and Kasak entering the ranks, all 10 Penn State wrestlers are ranked within the top 15 of their weight, with five in the top two.
Of the remaining eight wrestlers, Mitchell Mesenbrink was the only one to make a change. He climbed one spot to No. 9 at 165 after picking up a win over No. 23 Tyler Lillard of Indiana on Sunday.
Bartlett (No. 2, 141 pounds), Levi Haines (No. 1, 157), Carter Starocci (No. 1, 174), Aaron Brooks (No. 1, 197) and Greg Kerkvliet (No. 1, 285) are those five wrestlers in the top two of their weight class.
Aaron Nagao (No. 4, 133 pounds) and Bernie Truax (No. 5, 184) are still in the top five of their weight class.
When it came to the team rankings, Penn State remained No. 1 in the NWCA Top 25 poll after a dominating 46-0 win over then-No. 21 Indiana. The Hoosiers fell out of the rankings.
Lehigh had the biggest win of the week as they topped then-No. 9 Cornell, 17-16. With the win, the Mountain Hawks jumped six spots to No. 16 in the country. The Big Red fell five to No. 14.
The Big Ten holds down half of the top 10 with Iowa (No. 3), Nebraska (No. 6), Ohio State (No. 7) and Minnesota (No. 9) joining the Nittany Lions.
The Hawkeyes handed the Cornhuskers and Golden Gophers their first losses of the season. Iowa beat Nebraska, 22-10, on Friday, and then beat Minnesota, 22-9, on Monday.
Wisconsin joined the rankings this week at No. 22 after earning an upset of then-No. 19 Oklahoma, 22-16, during the Virginia Duals.
Other Big Ten schools in the top 25 are Michigan (No. 11) and Rutgers (No. 13).
NWCA Coaches Poll
Released Tuesday, Jan. 16
| Rank | Team (Record) | Points |
| 1 | Penn State (4-0) | 350 |
| 2 | Missouri (7-0) | 335 |
| 3 | Iowa (7-0) | 323 |
| 4 | Iowa State (9-1) | 303 |
| 5 | Oklahoma State (7-0) | 293 |
| 6 | Nebraska (5-1) | 277 |
| 7 | Ohio State (6-1) | 265 |
| 8 | NC State (10-2) | 253 |
| 9 | Minnesota (5-1) | 229 |
| 10 | S. Dakota State (6-2) | 217 |
| 11 | Michigan (4-1) | 209 |
| 12 | Virginia Tech (4-3) | 185 |
| 13 | Rutgers (9-1) | 178 |
| 14 | Cornell (4-3) | 174 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh (7-4) | 160 |
| 16 | Oregon State (6-2) | 122 |
| 17 | Lehigh (2-3) | 115 |
| 18 | Navy (6-2) | 92 |
| 19 | Oklahoma (5-3) | 88 |
| 20 | Stanford (5-2) | 79 |
| 21 | West Virginia (8-2) | 72 |
| 22 | Wisconsin (6-1) | 62 |
| 23 | Northern Iowa (3-4) | 35 |
| 24 | Arizona State (2-3) | 34 |
| 25 | Cal Poly (4-1) | 24 |
Dropped out: No. 21 Indiana (3-2), No. 25 Appalachian State (2-1)
Others receiving votes: Appalachian State 19, Indiana 18, Maryland 16, Penn 7, Little Rock 5, Campbell 3, Michigan State 3, North Carolina 3, Illinois 2
This story was originally published January 16, 2024 at 7:01 PM.
