Michigan moves into Top 10 of USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll; Princeton ranked for second time in school history
Manheim, Pennsylvania — With a slim college wrestling schedule following the Thanksgiving Break, there were only a handful of duals that impacted the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.
No. 8 Cornell’s 28-10 victory over then-No. 10 Rutgers in the fifth annual Graple at the Garden in New York’s Madison Square Garden pushed the Scarlet Knights out of the Top 10 for the first time this season. Rutgers (5-1) checked in at No. 12 in this week’s poll, while Michigan moved up a spot to No. 10, and Lehigh moved up one spot to No. 11.
Top-ranked Oklahoma State (2-0) blitzed then-No. 16 Minnesota (1-1) 34-3 in Minneapolis on Sunday. No. 3 Iowa (3-0) earned its first Division I victory of the season as well as its Big Ten dual opener by beating Purdue 34-3. No. 4 Ohio State won a pair of duals against Ohio schools prior to Thanksgiving. The Buckeyes (3-0) blanked Cleveland State 52-0 and beat Kent State 36-13.
Prior to beating Rutgers, Cornell blanked Hofstra 39-0. Rutgers did pick up one weekend win, beating former EIWA rival Columbia 39-3. No. 22 Northern Iowa defeated MAC-rival Old Dominion 29-9 in West Gym on Sunday to improve to 3-1.
The third match involving ranked teams came down to heavyweight as No. 23 Appalachian State topped No. 25 North Carolina 18-16 in Boone, N.C., on Sunday. Nationally-ranked heavyweight Denzel Dejournette lifted the Mountaineers past the Tar Heels. A key victory came at 157 pounds where Gavin Londoff upset nationally-ranked Joey Moon 5-2. It’s just the fourth time in school history Appalachian State has beaten North Carolina and the first time in over 40 years.
Princeton (2-1) earned a pair of victories and moved into the Top 25 for just the second time in school history. The Tigers were ranked No. 25 last season for one week, which followed last year’s Grapple at the Garden. The Tigers topped Maryland 24-9 and Buffalo 28-12.
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conference | Previous |
| 1 | Oklahoma State (11) | 2-0 | 395 | Big 12 | 1 |
| 2 | Penn State (5) | 2-0 | 387 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 3 | Iowa | 3-0 | 366 | Big Ten | 3 |
| 4 | Ohio State | 3-0 | 349 | Big Ten | 4 |
| 5 | Missouri | 2-0 | 343 | MAC | 5 |
| 6 | Virginia Tech | 4-1 | 318 | ACC | 6 |
| 7 | Nebraska | 2-0 | 305 | Big Ten | 7 |
| 8 | Cornell | 3-0 | 284 | EIWA | 8 |
| 9 | NC State | 2-0 | 269 | ACC | 9 |
| 10 | Michigan | 3-0 | 250 | Big Ten | 11 |
| 11 | Lehigh | 3-0 | 241 | EIWA | 12 |
| 12 | Rutgers | 5-1 | 231 | Big Ten | 10 |
| 13 | Illinois | 0-0 | 208 | Big Ten | 13 |
| 14 | Central Michigan | 1-0 | 191 | MAC | 14 |
| 15 | Stanford | 2-1 | 174 | Pac-12 | 15 |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 1-1 | 136 | Big 12 | 17 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 1-0 | 131 | Big Ten | 18 |
| 18 | Minnesota | 1-1 | 129 | Big Ten | 16 |
| 19 | Arizona State | 1-1 | 119 | Pac-12 | 19 |
| 20 | South Dakota State | 1-1 | 101 | Big 12 | 20 |
| 21 | Pittsburgh | 3-1 | 75 | ACC | 21 |
| 22 | Northern Iowa | 3-1 | 70 | MAC | 22 |
| 23 | Appalachian State | 3-0 | 66 | SoCon | 23 |
| 24 | Chattanooga | 2-1 | 29 | SoCon | 24 |
| 25 | Princeton | 2-1 | 9 | EIWA | NR |
Others Receiving Votes: North Carolina 8, Wyoming 5, Oregon State 3, American 2, Edinboro 2, Navy 2, North Dakota State 2
Dropped Out: No. 25 North Carolina