Penn State Wrestling

Penn State wrestling remains atop team rankings with 4 wrestlers at No. 1 individually

Penn State’s 10 wrestlers are all ranked for the third consecutive week as the Nittany Lions continue steamrolling opponents through the regular season.

The program has four wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their weight class in Levi Haines (157 pounds), Carter Starocci (174 pounds), Aaron Brooks (197 pounds) and Greg Kerkvliet (285 pounds).

The Nittany Lions also have four in the top five — Braeden Davis (3rd, 125 pounds), Aaron Nagao (5th, 133 pounds), Beau Bartlett (2nd, 141 pounds), Bernie Truax (5th, 184 pounds) — while Tyler Kasak (149 pounds) and Mitchell Mesenbrink are ranked 12th and 7th, respectively.

The team remained atop the NWCA top 25 poll, as it stayed unbeaten at 7-0. The Nittany Lions took down Maryland 42-6 in their lone dual since last week’s rankings.

The Big Ten as a whole has continued its dominance, with five schools ranked in the top 10 and eight overall in the top 25. Iowa is the highest ranked Big Ten team behind Penn State at No. 2, with Nebraska (No. 6), Ohio State (No. 7), Minnesota (No. 10), Michigan (No. 12), Rutgers (No. 14) and Michigan State (No. 25) also ranked. Wisconsin fell out of the rankings.

NWCA Coaches Poll

Released Tuesday, Jan. 30

RankTeam (Record)Points
1Penn State (7-0)350
2Iowa (10-0)333
3Oklahoma State (10-0)319
4Iowa State (10-2)290
5Missouri (8-1)285
6Nebraska (9-1)285
7Ohio State (12-1)272
8NC State (11-2)252
9Cornell (7-3)235
10Minnesota (6-2)224
11South Dakota State (9-2)215
12Michigan (5-3)201
13Virginia Tech (5-3)182
14Rutgers (10-3)179
15Lehigh (4-3)152
16Stanford (8-2)125
17West Virginia (9-3)99
18Northern Iowa (4-5)95
19Pittsburgh (7-6)90
20Little Rock (11-5)70
21Oregon State (5-4)64
22Oklahoma (5-5)50
23Cal Poly (5-2)42
24Arizona State (3-4)29
25Michigan State (8-3)26

Dropped out: Wisconsin 25, Indiana, 24, Appalachian State 18, Campbell 9, Penn 5, Navy 4, Northern Illinois 1.

Others Receiving Votes: No. 21 Wisconsin (6-4), No. 23 Navy (6-5).

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Jon Sauber
Centre Daily Times
Jon Sauber covers Penn State football and men’s basketball for the Centre Daily Times. He earned his B.A. in digital and print journalism from Penn State and his M.A. in sports journalism from IUPUI. His previous stops include jobs at The Indianapolis Star, the NCAA, and Rivals.
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