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Penn State wrestling ranked No. 1 in the NWCA poll, nine other Big Ten teams are in top-25

Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young celebrates his win over Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix during their 133-pound match at the 2022 NCAA Division Wrestling Championships in Detroit, Saturday, March 19, 2022.

Editor’s note: The Centre Daily Times will publish weekly updates based on NWCA coaches team and InterMat individual rankings to give readers a glimpse into how Penn State wrestling fits into the bigger picture.

Penn State won its tenth national championship in school history during the 2021-22 season. Individuals won five championships.

With four of the team’s individual champions returning and a number of highly-touted recruits set to step up, the Nittany Lions were ranked No. 1 in the first National Wrestling Coaches Association’s coaches poll of the season on Wednesday.

There are nine other Big Ten teams in the top-25. Iowa is ranked No. 2, Ohio State is at No. 4, Michigan is No. 5, Minnesota sits at No. 12, Wisconsin is at No. 13, Northwestern is the No. 15 squad, Nebraska is No. 17 and Rutgers is the final Big Ten team at No. 21.

National champions Roman Bravo-Young (133), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184) and Max Dean (197) are all set to return. Returning starters Beau Bartlett (141), Shayne Van Ness (149), Alex Facundo (165) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) will also be back on the mat.

The Nittany Lions are set to take on Lock Haven on Friday in a dual meet at 7 p.m.

NWCA DIVISION I COACHES POLL

(Nov. 9, 2022)

Rank

Team (First)

Record

Points

Conf.

Previous

1

Penn State (12)

(0-0)

348

Big Ten

1

2

Iowa (2)

(0-0)

337

Big Ten

2

3

Missouri

(1-0)

310

Big 12

4

4

Ohio State

(0-0)

290

Big Ten

6

5

Michigan

(0-0)

289

Big Ten

5

6

Arizona State

(0-0)

285

Pac-12

3

7

Cornell

(0-0)

266

EIWA

7

8

NC State

(1-0)

247

ACC

9

9

Iowa State

(3-0)

236

Big 12

14

10

Virginia Tech

(0-0)

222

ACC

11

11

Oklahoma State

(0-0)

221

Big 12

10

12

Minnesota

(0-0)

186

Big Ten

13

13

Wisconsin

(2-1)

171

Big Ten

12

14

Lehigh

(2-0)

151

EIWA

17

15

Northwestern

(0-0)

149

Big Ten

15

16

North Carolina

(0-0)

118

ACC

16

17

Nebraska

(0-1)

117

Big Ten

8

18

Pittsburgh

(0-0)

98

ACC

18

19

North Dakota State

(1-0)

96

Big 12

NR

20

Penn

(0-0)

78

EIWA

21

21

Rutgers

(0-0)

77

Big Ten

22

22

Northern Iowa

(0-0)

63

Big 12

20

23

Princeton

(0-0)

49

EIWA

23

24

Oregon State

(0-1)

44

Pac-12

19

25

Cal Poly

(1-0)

23

Pac-12

24

Others receiving votes: South Dakota State 16, Purdue 15, Stanford 14, West Virginia 7, Appalachian State 6, Central Michigan 5, Wyoming 5, Campbell 4, Michigan State 4, Illinois 3.

Dropped out: No. 25 South Dakota State (0-0).