South Beach Duals shake things up in first USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll of 2018

Manheim, Pennsylvania —  A number of ranked teams collided over the holiday break at the South Beach Duals in Deerfield Beach, Florida, and the results caused a bit of a shakeup in the USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Wednesday.

The top seven teams remained the same, but fourth-ranked Missouri improved to 12-0 with four wins, including three over ranked teams. The Tigers beat No. 12 Cornell 27-11, No. 22 Rider 31-8 and No. 24 North Carolina 24-9. The biggest Tiger win of the weekend came at 141 pounds where Jaydin Eierman defeated Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell with some third-period heroics. Diakomihalis was ranked anywhere from first to third in the various media rankings.

Other results from the South Beach Duals saw then-No. 24 North Carolina upend then-No. 8 Minnesota 25-16. The Tar Heels would also beat Michigan State and SIU Edwardsville. The win over the Gophers propelled Coleman Scott’s team to No. 19 in the rankings. Cornell also picked up a win over Minnesota, but the Big Red also fell to unranked North Dakota State. To even further complicate things, No. 22 Rider also had a win over North Dakota State. Minnesota took the biggest tumble this week, falling six spots to No. 14, while North Carolina jumped five to No. 19. North Dakota State re-entered the poll this week at No. 25.

Top-ranked Penn State (5-0) picked up an individual tournament title at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ohio State was idle during the break, while Oklahoma State sent a few entries to Chattanooga. The Cowboys did travel to Naples, Italy to prepare for its upcoming top-five showdown with NC State at the Tussle for the Troops on January 5. Lehigh, Iowa, Virginia Tech and Arizona State saw tournament action.

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Of note, Arizona State (2-2) moved up one spot to No. 10, the first time the Sun Devils have been in the Top 10 since October 27, 2005.

The USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll is comprised of two voting coaches from each Division I wrestling conference. Points are 25 for each first-place vote, 24 for second, 23 for third all the way to a 25th-place vote is one point.

Future Poll Dates (Tuesdays unless otherwise noted):  January 9, January 16, January 23, January 30, February 6, February 13, February 20, February, 27.

RankTeam (First)RecordPointsConferencePrevious1Penn State (11)5-0395Big Ten12Ohio State (5)6-0389Big Ten23Oklahoma State5-0364Big 1234Missouri12-0353MAC45NC State10-0336ACC56Lehigh6-1315EIWA67Iowa7-0309Big Ten78Michigan2-1283Big Ten99Virginia Tech5-1266ACC1010Arizona State2-2248Pac-121111Northern Iowa2-1210Big 121412Illinois1-2210Big Ten1313Cornell4-2207EIWA1214Minnesota5-3199Big Ten815South Dakota State4-2188Big 121516Wisconsin4-0174Big Ten1617Rutgers3-2136Big Ten1718Oklahoma2-299Big 121919North Carolina5-495ACC2420Nebraska2-294Big Ten1821Central Michigan3-393MAC2122Lock Haven4-093EWL2023Rider5-247EWL2224Purdue4-133Big Ten2325North Dakota State4-522Big 12NR

Others Receiving Votes: Northwestern 17, Edinboro 15, Utah Valley 4, Drexel 3, Navy 2, Campbell 1
Dropped out: No. 25 Edinboro.

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