Manheim, Pennsylvania – While one of the nation’s premier in-season individual tournaments took place in Las Vegas, there was plenty of dual meet action around the Division I mats as competition resumed after the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Maryland (4-0) entered the NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll for the first time this season as the new poll was released on Tuesday. Coach Alex Clemsen’s team was ranked for two weeks last season and climbed as high as No. 22 during the 2022-23 season.
Penn State (2-0) remained the unanimous No. 1 after blasting then-No. 22 Lehigh 36-3 at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The dual drew 9,769, the largest home crowd in the storied history of Lehigh wrestling. Iowa improved to 6-0 after taking out Army West Point and Princeton at Journeymen Wrestling’s Uncivil War in St. Charles, Missouri. The Hawkeyes pulled out a 23-16 win over the Black Knights and a 39-3 win over the Tigers.
The rest of the Top 10 was in Las Vegas, where third-ranked Oklahoma State won the team title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Illinois moved up two more spots to No. 11, after defeating Indiana 34-3 prior to the Big Ten’s conference championship football game in Indianapolis. Currently, seven of the nation’s top 11 teams reside in the Big Ten.
Rutgers picked up a pair of wins to improve to 5-2. The Scarlet Knights beat Lock Haven 34-6 and in-state rival Princeton 32-7. No. 20 Little Rock and No. 21 Oklahoma both beat Central Michigan over the weekend. Little Rock (4-0) won 27-15, while Oklahoma (3-0) won 28-6.
Methodology: The NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll is voted on by two coaches from each Division I wrestling conference. Each first-place vote is worth 25 points, 24 points for a second-place vote, 23 points for a third-place vote, and so on, through to one point for a 25th-place vote. The poll is based on dual meet results.
NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll
December 10, 2024
Rank/Team (First)/Record/Points/Conf./Previous
1 Penn State (16) (2-0) 400 Big Ten 1
2 Iowa (6-0) 380 Big Ten 2
3 Oklahoma State (4-0) 368 Big 12 3
4 Nebraska (3-0) 352 Big Ten 4
5 Ohio State (3-0) 329 Big Ten 5
6 NC State (5-0) 315 ACC 6
7 Virginia Tech (3-0) 303 ACC 7
8 Minnesota (4-0) 302 Big Ten 8
9 Michigan (3-0) 265 Big Ten 9
10 Northern Iowa (2-0) 247 Big 12 10
11 Illinois (6-0) 222 Big Ten 13
12 Cornell (1-0) 221 Ivy League 11
13 Iowa State (1-2) 219 Big 12 12
14 South Dakota State (1-2) 181 Big 12 14
15 Stanford (4-1) 180 ACC 15
16 Missouri (1-3) 152 Big 12 16
17 Rutgers (5-2) 151 Big Ten 17
18 West Virginia (3-0) 134 Big 12 18
19 Pittsburgh (2-0) 109 ACC 19
20 Little Rock (4-0) 99 Pac-12 20
21 Oklahoma (3-0) 88 Big 12 21
22 Lehigh (1-2) 68 EIWA 22
23 Oregon State (1-2) 31 Pac-12 23
24 North Carolina (3-2) 24 ACC 24
25 Maryland (4-0) 18 Big Ten NR
Others Receiving Votes: Arizona State 14, Army West Point 11, Northern Colorado 8, Indiana 6, Cal Poly 1, George Mason 1, Virginia 1.
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