Manheim, Pennsylvania – Missouri went 4-0 at the South Beach Duals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida over the holiday break to push its win streak to 30 and move up one spot to No. 5 into the NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll released Tuesday. The Tigers improved to 10-0 on the season.
Missouri’s move was one of a number related to the second-year event. The Tigers beat three ranked teams – then-No. 13 Purdue 41-3, then-No. 8 Cornell 22-9 and then-No. 21 Lehigh 21-12. The top four teams – Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Iowa stayed put to open up the new calendar year. This week’s poll splits two very well-attended individual tournaments as the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships concluded on December 30, while the Southern Scuffle, hosted at Chattanooga, kicked off today.
Prior to the South Beach Duals, Missouri topped Virginia in a packed gym at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, with All-American Daniel Lewis securing the dual with a fall in the dual’s final bout.
The shift in the top 10 primarily came to Wyoming’s 22-21 criteria victory over then-No. 7 NC State. It dropped the Wolfpack (9-1) two spots to No. 9, while the Cowboys (6-3) moved up five spots from No. 18 to sit at No. 13 this week. Wyoming also topped Michigan State and SIU Edwardsville, but fell to Cornell (5-1). NC State did top ranked teams Purdue and Utah Valley in Florida.
Minnesota slid up a spot to No. 9 after beating three ranked teams. The Golden Gophers topped Kent State, North Carolina, Lehigh and Utah Valley to improve to 7-1. North Carolina, which entered the event at No. 12, dropped three spots after losing duals to Minnesota and unranked Indiana. The Tar Heels (5-3) defeated North Dakota State on criteria and Lehigh.
Midwestern winter travel woes kept North Dakota State from the first day of the South Beach Duals, but the Bison did make it for the second day. They fell to North Carolina on criteria and were also upset by West Virginia. The Bison slid three spots to No. 23 this week. Utah Valley went 1-3 on the weekend, but did pick off then-No. 13 Purdue. Lehigh won its first dual of the year, beating Virginia, but the 1-7 Mountain Hawks fell out of the Top 25 this week.
In other non-South Beach Duals action, Virginia Tech beat West Virginia 24-9, North Dakota State beat Oregon State 31-13, and Pittsburgh beat Clarion 39-3.
The NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll 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 for a third-place vote and so on through to one point for a 25th-place vote.
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NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll – January 1, 2019
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conference | Previous |
| 1 | Penn State (16) | 4-0 | 400 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 4-0 | 379 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 3 | Oklahoma State | 5-0 | 371 | Big 12 | 3 |
| 4 | Iowa | 6-0 | 349 | Big Ten | 4 |
| 5 | Missouri | 10-0 | 332 | MAC | 6 |
| 6 | Michigan | 3-0 | 327 | Big Ten | 5 |
| 7 | Cornell | 5-1 | 298 | EIWA | 8 |
| 8 | Minnesota | 7-1 | 289 | Big Ten | 9 |
| 9 | NC State | 9-1 | 269 | ACC | 7 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 6-1 | 257 | Big Ten | 10 |
| 11 | Nebraska | 5-2 | 239 | Big Ten | 11 |
| 12 | Virginia Tech | 2-2 | 192 | ACC | 14 |
| 13 | Wyoming | 6-3 | 187 | Big 12 | 18 |
| 14 | Northern Iowa | 1-2 | 171 | Big 12 | 16 |
| 15 | North Carolina | 5-3 | 169 | ACC | 12 |
| 16 | Arizona State | 1-3 | 163 | Pac-12 | 15 |
| 17 | Purdue | 3-4 | 144 | Big Ten | 13 |
| 18 | Illinois | 1-1 | 120 | Big Ten | 17 |
| 19 | Lock Haven | 2-0 | 118 | EWL | 19 |
| 20 | Pittsburgh | 5-0 | 81 | ACC | 24 |
| 21 | Iowa State | 2-1 | 71 | Big 12 | 23 |
| 22 | Utah Valley | 6-5 | 69 | Big 12 | 22 |
| 23 | North Dakota State | 6-3 | 62 | Big 12 | 20 |
| 24 | Rutgers | 6-1 | 51 | Big Ten | 24 |
| 25 | Princeton | 3-3 | 43 | EIWA | NR |
Others Receiving Votes: Lehigh 15, Old Dominion 11, Stanford 8, Northwestern 7, Virginia 2, Appalachian State 2
Dropped Out: No. 21 Lehigh