National Wrestling Coaches Association

MANHEIM, Pa. - With just seven duals involving ranked teams during the opening week of the season, there was minimal movement in the first regular-season NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll presented by Theraworx, released on Wednesday. Sixteen of the 25 teams held their spots, and there were no upsets of ranked teams to shake things up.

Penn State remained No. 1 with 16 first-place votes, and the entire top eight was unchanged. Second-ranked Oklahoma State, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Iowa, No. 5 Virginia Tech, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Stanford and No. 8 Minnesota have yet to compete.

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The biggest change near the top came from Missouri, which moved up one spot into a tie with Iowa State at No. 9 after opening the season 3-0 on Monday. The Tigers beat NAIA Central Methodist 46-3, Division II Maryville (Mo.) 44-6 and Division II Central Missouri 47-0. Iowa State (1-0) beat Bucknell 29-12 on Sunday.

Michigan also climbed one spot to No. 13 after shutting out VMI 50-0 on Sunday, while No. 17 Oklahoma held its spot after blanking Division II Northeastern State 46-0. Wyoming beat Western Wyoming of the NJCAA 51-0 on Saturday.

The rest of the lower half saw minor shuffling.

There are 11 duals involving ranked teams this coming week, including three matchups between ranked opponents. Third-ranked Nebraska will host No. 20 Wyoming in Lincoln on Friday, while fifth-ranked Virginia Tech travels to Bethlehem to take on No. 12 Lehigh at Stabler Arena the same night.

It will be a busy weekend for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh stays home on Saturday to face No. 25 Indiana at Journeymen Wrestling’s WrangleMania at Liberty High School. The Hoosiers will make their ranked debut at the event and will also face Lock Haven.

Three other ranked teams will be in action at WrangleMania. No. 18 Illinois takes on Hofstra, and No. 19 Rutgers meets LIU and Navy, which is receiving votes in this week’s poll.

Elsewhere, ninth-ranked Iowa State heads to Utah Valley on Friday, and No. 23 West Virginia hosts Mercyhurst at Cameron High School in Cameron, West Virginia, on Saturday.

The week wraps up Sunday with second-ranked Oklahoma State opening its season at home against Drexel at Gallagher-Iba Arena, while No. 17 Oklahoma goes on the road to face Northern Colorado.

Methodology: The NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll presented by Theraworx 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.

Others Receiving Votes: Little Rock 10, Oregon State 9, Princeton 9, Army West Point 8, Navy 6, North Dakota State 5, South Dakota State 4, Wisconsin 4.

Dropped Out: Princeton.
 
2026-27 Division I Men's Wrestling Coaches Poll Release Dates
Nov. 10, Nov. 17, Nov. 24
Dec. 1, Dec. 8, Dec. 15, Dec. 22
Jan. 5, Jan. 12, Jan. 19, Jan. 26
Feb. 2, Feb. 9, Feb. 16, Feb. 23
 
2026-27 Division I Mid-Major Men's Wrestling Coaches Poll Release Dates
Dec. 23
Jan. 6, Jan. 20
Feb. 10, Feb. 24