NWCA DI Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll Heading Into National Duals Invite

MANHEIM, Pa. - The second National Wrestling Coaches Association NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Coaches Poll of the regular season, released Tuesday, saw limited movement following the first full slate of dual competition for a number of ranked teams.
 
The top five remained unchanged, with Penn State holding the No. 1 position ahead of No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Oklahoma State. Nebraska opened its dual schedule with a 33-3 win over then-No. 23 Army West Point. Iowa posted a 40-0 shutout of Bellarmine, while Ohio State won 42-4 on the road at Chattanooga. Oklahoma State defeated then-No. 19 Stanford, 33-7, in Stillwater.

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In the middle of the rankings, several teams recorded their first dual victories of the season. No. 7 NC State defeated Northern Colorado, 30-3, and No. 8 Lehigh improved to 2-0 with wins over Duke, 38-7, and Virginia, 21-17, at WrangleMania in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. No. 10 Virginia Tech opened with a 19-12 win over Bucknell, and No. 11 Michigan shut out VMI, 45-0. No. 13 Rutgers, now 4-0, moved up one spot after a 24-12 win over Navy, while No. 15 Illinois began its season with a 24-12 victory over Rider.
 
In the lower half of the poll, No. 19 Pittsburgh stayed unbeaten at 2-0 with a 33-6 win over Buffalo. No. 20 West Virginia opened its dual schedule with a 32-6 win at American, and No. 21 North Carolina began its season with a 40-0 victory over Northern Colorado. Stanford dropped four spots to No. 23 following its loss at Oklahoma State, while Army West Point moved to No. 25 after its road loss at Nebraska. Wyoming climbed one position to No. 24.
 
Expect some monster shakeups next week as the inaugural National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom fires up in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday with 16 Division I teams in a bracketed dual tournament, which features more than $1 million in prize money on the line. In action are No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 7 NC State, No. 8 Lehigh, No. 9 Minnesota, No. 10 Virginia Tech, No. 11 Michigan, No. 12 Cornell, No. 14 Northern Iowa, No. 15 Illinois, No. 16 Missouri, No. 22 Little Rock, No. 24 Wyoming and Arizona State, which is receiving votes in this week's poll.
 
Methodology: The NWCA Division I Men's 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.

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