NWCA Coaches Poll sees little changes after historic Grapple in the Garden at Madison Square Garden

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Coyte Cooper (NWCA)
12/18/2012


November 18, 2012 - There was again little movement among the Top 10 teams in the USA Today/NWCA/AWN Division I Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.

Top-ranked Penn State, fresh off its weekend victory over Lock Haven, received nine out of 10 possible first-place votes to remain at No. 1. The Nittany Lions (4-0) have won the last two NCAA Division I championships.

Oklahoma State improved to 7-0 with two wins at the Grapple in the Garden and a third win over host Bucknell on Monday. The Grapple in the Garden drew over 9,000 fans at the World's Most Famous Arena on Dec. 16, the first college wrestling event to be held in storied Madison Square Garden.

Minnesota, Ohio State and Iowa rounded out the top five. Ohio State improved to 6-0 with wins over Kent State, Hofstra and Maryland, while Iowa beat Bucknell and Hofstra on Sunday at The Garden, and topped Buffalo on Monday at the Bulls' annual Takedown Cancer Benefit dual.

Missouri and Illinois come in tied for sixth. The Tigers topped eighth-ranked Cornell 22-12 and Bloomsburg in New York City.

Cornell and Central Michigan remained ranked eighth and ninth.
Edinboro upset 10th-ranked Northwestern on Sunday, causing the Wildcats to drop to 15th, while the Fighting Scots moved up two places to 18, tied with Maryland, who upended then-No. 14 Nebraska 18-17 in New York.

This will be the final poll of the 2012 calendar year, as the next Division I Coaches Poll will be released after the holiday break on January 8, 2013.

Rank/Teams/First/Points/Record/Previous
 1 Penn State (9) 399 4-0 1 
 2 Oklahoma State (1) 390 7-0 2 
 3 Minnesota  378 8-1 3 
 4 Ohio State  371 6-0 4 
 5 Iowa  360 10-0 5 
 6 (tie) Illinois 346 3-0 6 
 6 (tie) Missouri  346 6-0 7 
 8 Cornell  329 4-2 8 
 9 Central Michigan  317 5-2 9 
 10 Oregon State  307 2-2 11 
 11 Virginia Tech  293 4-2 12 
 12 Michigan  289 6-1 13 
 13 Pittsburgh   280 2-2 15 
 14 Oklahoma  255 4-3 16 
 15 Northwestern  249 4-2 10 
 16 Wyoming  248 2-2 17 
 17 Nebraska  243 6-3 14 
 18 (tie) Edinboro  241 3-1 20 
 18 (tie) Maryland  241 5-2 18 
 20 Virginia  216 6-2 19 
 21 Purdue  190 9-2 21 
 22 Penn 189 2-1 22 
 23 Wisconsin 176 4-2 23 
 24 Old Dominion  153 2-2 25 
 25 Lehigh  120 3-3 24 
      
 Dropped out: None 
 Others receiving votes: Rutgers 39, Bloomsburg 35