Penn State wrestling starts 2025 still at top of NWCA Top 25 poll. See the full rankings
The first National Wrestling Coaches Association Top 25 poll was released on Tuesday, and with most schools on winter breaks, there weren’t too many changes.
Northern Iowa made a leap up the rankings thanks to a 24-9 blowout of Nebraska on Sunday. The Panthers jumped up to No. 7 from No. 10 after routing the then-No. 4 Cornhuskers.
Nebraska dropped to No. 9.
It was no surprise to see Penn State still listed No. 1, with Iowa and Oklahoma State rounding out the top three in that order.
Ohio State, North Carolina State and Minnesota all moved up a spot thanks to the Cornhuskers’ loss.
The Big Ten as a whole has nine ranked teams with six coming in the top 10. Michigan (No. 10), Illinois (No. 11), Rutgers (No. 16) and Indiana (No. 23) are the other ranked schools.
Very little changes to individual rankings
Tuesday also marked the first Intermat ranking of 2025 and the Nittany Lions only saw a couple of changes for their wrestlers.
Luke Lilledahl dropped a spot, from No. 11 to No. 12 at 125 pounds. Tyler Kasak moved into the top three at 157 pounds at No. 3 after being No. 4.
All of Penn State’s other wrestlers stayed in their same spots.
Mitchell Mesenbrink (165 pounds) and Carter Starocci (184) remained No. 1 at their respective weights. Shayne Van Ness (149), Levi Haines (174) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) are No. 2.
Braeden Davis is No. 5 at 133 pounds. Beau Bartlett stayed No. 3 at 141 pounds, but Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez overtook Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez for the top spot.
Josh Barr (197) is one spot away from the top three at his weight.
NWCA top 25 poll
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous rank |
| 1 | Penn State | (6-0) | 400 | 1 |
| 2 | Iowa | (6-0) | 382 | 2 |
| 3 | Oklahoma State | (7-0) | 369 | 3 |
| 4 | Ohio State | (8-0) | 346 | 5 |
| 5 | NC State | (6-0) | 332 | 6 |
| 6 | Minnesota | (4-0) | 309 | 7 |
| 7 | Northern Iowa | (4-0) | 303 | 10 |
| 8 | Virginia Tech | (3-1) | 284 | 8 |
| 9 | Nebraska | (5-1) | 274 | 4 |
| 10 | Michigan | (3-0) | 265 | 9 |
| 11 | Illinois | (6-0) | 237 | 11 |
| 12 | Cornell | (2-1) | 230 | 12 |
| 13 | Iowa State | (4-3) | 200 | 13 |
| 14 | South Dakota State | (5-2) | 190 | 14 |
| 15 | Stanford | (4-1) | 176 | 15 |
| 16 | Rutgers | (8-2) | 165 | 16 |
| 17 | Little Rock | (7-1) | 146 | 17 |
| 18 | Pittsburgh | (5-2) | 127 | 18 |
| 19 | Lehigh | (1-2) | 96 | 20 |
| 20 | Oklahoma | (6-1) | 88 | 21 |
| 21 | Missouri | (2-6) | 80 | 19 |
| 22 | West Virginia | (7-1) | 67 | 22 |
| 23 | Army West Point | (4-1) | 48 | 24 |
| 24 | Indiana | (4-1) | 27 | 25 |
| 25 | North Carolina | (4-4) | 26 | 23 |
Others Receiving Votes: Northern Colorado 18, Arizona State 7, Utah Valley 3, George Mason 2, Virginia 2, California Baptist 1
Dropped Out: None
