Manheim, Pennsylvania – The nation’s top two teams collided last Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and top-ranked Iowa came away with a 19-17 victory in front of 14,905 fans, the 18th largest crowd to see a dual in NCAA wrestling history. As a result, Iowa remains the top-ranked team in the country as the most recent NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll was released on Tuesday.
Iowa remains the unanimous No. 1, while Penn State remained No. 2 despite suffering its second loss of the season. NC State moved up to No. 3 after beating No. 10 Pittsburgh 21-12 on the road. The win leaves Iowa and NC State as the lone unbeatens in Division I. The Wolfpack are 12-0 heading into this weekend where they host No. 8 North Carolina. Including last week, It’s only the fourth time in history both schools have been ranked in the Top 10 at the same time, and according to their respective athletics communications professionals, will be the first Top 10 meeting ever between the schools.
The Top 10 was shaken up a bit as No. 6 Nebraska used a fall from Isaiah White at 165 pounds to knock off No. 3 Ohio State 19-14 in Lincoln on Sunday. The win bumped Nebraska up to No. 4 and dropped the Buckeyes to No. 6. Arizona State split the difference and remained at No. 5. The Sun Devils (10-1) beat Pac-12 Conference rival and then-No. 22 Stanford 28-12 in Tempe over the weekend. Virginia Tech (10-1) remained at No. 7 after in-state wins against Virginia and Old Dominion. North Carolina (11-1) beat Duke and Bucknell to set the stage for its Friday dual with visiting NC State. No. 9 Wisconsin improved to 10-3 with road wins over then-No. 13 Purdue and Indiana. Other notable ranked head-to-head duals saw No. 11 Oklahoma State beat No. 24 Missouri 26-6, No. 12 Lehigh topped No. 19 Army West Point 24-9, then-No. 14 Minnesota beat then-No. 13 Purdue 27-12. Those two schools swapped spots in this week’s poll. Then-No. 25 Michigan beat then-No. 22 Rutgers 21-16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, while the lone unranked upset came as Illinois beat then-No. 21 Northwestern 19-18.
Ranked Duals This Week: On Friday, No. 8 North Carolina is at No. 3 NC State, No. 4 Nebraska is at No. 14 Purdue and No. 9 Wisconsin hosts No. 2 Penn State. On Saturday, No. 1 Iowa travels to No. 22 Michigan, while on Sunday, No. 2 Penn State is at No. 13 Minnesota, No. 5 Arizona State travels to No. 24 Missouri and No. 6 Ohio State hosts No. 23 Northwestern.
Methodology: 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. The poll is based on dual meet results.
NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll
February 4, 2020
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conf. | Previous |
| 1 | Iowa (14) | (10-0) | 350 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2 | Penn State | (8-2) | 333 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 3 | NC State | (12-0) | 315 | ACC | 4 |
| 4 | Nebraska | (7-3) | 303 | Big Ten | 6 |
| 5 | Arizona State | (10-1) | 293 | Pac-12 | 5 |
| 6 | Ohio State | (9-3) | 290 | Big Ten | 3 |
| 7 | Virginia Tech | (10-1) | 261 | ACC | 7 |
| 8 | North Carolina | (11-1) | 253 | ACC | 8 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | (10-3) | 241 | Big Ten | 9 |
| 10 | Pittsburgh | (7-3) | 218 | ACC | 10 |
| 11 | Oklahoma State | (10-2) | 214 | Big 12 | 11 |
| 12 | Lehigh | (9-3) | 195 | EIWA | 12 |
| 13 | Minnesota | (9-5) | 175 | Big Ten | 14 |
| 14 | Purdue | (11-4) | 164 | Big Ten | 13 |
| 15 | Northern Iowa | (6-3) | 156 | Big 12 | 15 |
| 16 | Princeton | (4-4) | 134 | EIWA | 16 |
| 17 | Cornell | (8-5) | 126 | EIWA | 17 |
| 18 | Iowa State | (6-4) | 99 | Big 12 | 18 |
| 19 | Army West Point | (8-2) | 98 | EIWA | 19 (tie) |
| 20 | Campbell | (7-2) | 95 | SoCon | 19 (tie) |
| 21 | Stanford | (8-2) | 69 | Pac-12 | 22 |
| 22 | Michigan | (6-3) | 36 | Big Ten | 25 |
| 23 | Northwestern | (3-5) | 34 | Big Ten | 21 |
| 24 | Missouri | (10-6) | 26 | MAC | 24 |
| 25 | Rutgers | (8-5) | 26 | Big Ten | 23 |
Others Receiving Votes: Illinois 23, Rider 17, Appalachian State 6
Dropped Out: None