Penn State remained atop the latest NWCA Coaches Poll released on Tuesday, while six Nittany Lion wrestlers maintained their No. 1 individual InterMat rankings.
The Nittany Lions (11-0, 5-0) received all but one first-place vote in the coaches poll after dismantling Indiana and Maryland in back-to-back shutouts on Friday and Saturday. Ohio State was No. 2, followed by Iowa State, Iowa and Oklahoma State to round out the top five.
Luke Lilledahl (125), Shayne Van Ness (149), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Levi Haines (174), Rocco Welsh (184) and Josh Barr (197) all retained their No. 1 spots in the latest InterMat rankings.
No. 4 Marcus Blaze (133), No. 3 PJ Duke (157) and No. 12 Cole Mirasola (285) also held steady in this week’s rankings.
Penn State’s only movement was at 141, where Braeden Davis fell one spot from No. 11 to No. 12 despite two major decision victories over the weekend. The drop was a result of Central Mountain product and North Carolina redshirt freshman Luke Simcox surging seven spots to No. 10 after defeating then-12th ranked Ryan Jack of N.C. State on Friday.
The Nittany Lions return to action on Friday night when they host No. 6 Nebraska at 8 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center. The Cornhuskers are coming off consecutive losses to Iowa and Ohio State, the latter a 17-16 nail-biter that came down to a sudden victory decision by the Buckeyes’ Nick Feldman over Nebraska’s AJ Ferrari in the final bout at heavyweight.
Nebraska brings eight wrestlers ranked in the top 10 of their weight classes this week.
