Manheim, Pennsylvania – Three of the nation’s top four teams opened up the dual meet portions of their respective seasons with resounding victories and there was minimal movement in the most recent NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.
Second-ranked Penn State (2-0) started off its dual season with a 47-3 win over Sacred Heart and a 32-7 win over Oregon State in a neutral site event held in Manheim, Pennsylvania’s Spooky Nook Sports Complex, about two hours southeast of University Park.
Missouri’s return to the Big 12 was a successful one as the Tigers started off the season 2-0 with a 37-3 road victory at North Dakota State before returning home to Columbia to beat Northern Colorado 38-3. These are new conference foes for the Tigers since neither opponent was part of the conference when Missouri first departed for the MAC after the 2011-12 season.
Michigan (1-0) beat visiting CSU Bakersfield 38-3 to kick off the Wolverines’ season in Ann Arbor.
The only ranked matchup of the week saw sixth-ranked Oklahoma State (1-0) head west to take on a new-look Stanford team that started the week ranked No. 24. The Cowboys won eight of 10 bouts en route to a 29-7 win at The Farm.
Other action saw 10th-ranked Nebraska start the year 2-0, beating a pair of in-state Division II teams, Nebraska-Kearney (45-6) and Chadron State (31-9). No. 15 Pittsburgh (2-0) beat Buffalo 21-12 and Edinboro 28-10. No. 19 Rutgers is already off to a 6-0 start with three more wins over the weekend. The Scarlet Knights topped Chattanooga 39-3, Clarion 27-10, and host Davidson 35-6. No. 20 Purdue beat host Cleveland State 39-7 and No. 23 Wisconsin beat Little Rock 32-13 in a triple-dual hosted by Wisconsin-La Crosse that featured a Division I, Division II, and Division III dual wrestled simultaneously. Mitchell Hall saw the Badger victory in Division I, Upper Iowa defeat Ouachita Baptist in Division II, and the host Eagles of UW-La Crosse top the University of the Ozarks in Division III.
This week: No. 10 Nebraska hosts No. 13 North Carolina in Lincoln on Wednesday and No. 2 Penn State hosts Army West Point on Thursday. The weekend kicks up with Friday featuring top-ranked Iowa hosting No. 21 Princeton, third-ranked Missouri hosting Air Force, fourth-ranked Michigan at Columbia, seventh-ranked Arizona State hosting No. 17 Oklahoma, and eighth-ranked Virginia Tech hosting No. 9 Ohio State in the week’s top dual meet. On Saturday, No. 6 Oklahoma State will head to Minneapolis to take on 11th-ranked Minnesota, while No. 23 Stanford heads east to face No. 12 Cornell as new Stanford coach Rob Koll faces his old team just two weeks into the season. Virginia Tech turns around and hosts Gardner-Webb at Cassell Coliseum. On Sunday, No. 5 NC State hosts West Virginia, No. 15 Pittsburgh heads to Lehigh, and Stanford drives over to Binghamton. No. 20 Purdue will host a multi-team dual event and will face Brown, Duke, and Northern Illinois. Michigan closes out its road trip with a dual at Buffalo and Oklahoma finishes its western swing at Northern Colorado.
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
November 16, 2021
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conference | Previous |
| 1 | Iowa (14) | (0-0) | 350 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2 | Penn State | (2-0) | 336 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 3 | Missouri | (2-0) | 316 | Big 12 | 3 |
| 4 | Michigan | (1-0) | 308 | Big Ten | 4 |
| 5 | NC State | (0-0) | 286 | ACC | 5 |
| 6 | Oklahoma State | (1-0) | 281 | Big 12 | 6 |
| 7 | Arizona State | (0-0) | 269 | Pac-12 | 8 |
| 8 | Virginia Tech | (0-0) | 262 | ACC | 7 |
| 9 | Ohio State | (1-0) | 232 | Big Ten | 9 |
| 10 | Nebraska | (2-0) | 215 | Big Ten | 10 |
| 11 | Minnesota | (0-0) | 203 | Big Ten | 11 |
| 12 | Cornell | (0-0) | 195 | EIWA | 12 |
| 13 | Iowa State | (0-0) | 173 | Big 12 | 14 |
| 14 | North Carolina | (2-1) | 165 | ACC | 13 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh | (2-0) | 143 | ACC | 15 |
| 16 | Northern Iowa | (0-0) | 140 | Big 12 | 16 |
| 17 | Oklahoma | (1-0) | 120 | Big 12 | 17 |
| 18 | Rutgers | (6-0) | 110 | Big Ten | 19 |
| 19 | Illinois | (0-0) | 96 | Big Ten | 18 |
| 20 | Purdue | (3-0) | 70 | Big Ten | 20 |
| 21 | Princeton | (0-0) | 62 | EIWA | 21 (tie) |
| 22 | Wisconsin | (2-0) | 49 | Big Ten | 23 |
| 23 | Stanford | (0-1) | 47 | Pac-12 | 24 |
| 24 | Wyoming | (0-0) | 42 | Big 12 | 21 (tie) |
| 25 | Northwestern | (0-0) | 38 | Big Ten | 25 |
Others Receiving Votes: Cal Poly 16, Virginia 13, Campbell 7, Central Michigan 6, Lehigh 4, Oregon State 3, Appalachian State 2.
Dropped Out: None.
Upcoming Coaches Poll Release Dates for 2021-22: Nov. 23, Nov. 30, Dec. 7, Dec. 14, Dec. 21, Jan. 4, Jan. 11, Jan. 18, Jan. 25, Feb. 1, Feb. 8, Feb. 15, Feb. 22.