Manheim, Pennsylvania – Penn State closes the regular season as the unanimous No. 1 team in the country, finishing 15-0 to headline the final NWCA Division I Men's Wrestling Coaches Poll of the regular season, released Tuesday.
The Nittany Lions capped their dual slate with a 50-0 win over Princeton and will head into next season riding a Division I-record 86 straight dual meet victories. Third-ranked Oklahoma State closed at 15-1 after a 32-11 win over then-No. 7 Iowa in front of 12,629 fans and a worldwide audience on ESPN's flagship channel. It's the fourth-largest crowd in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
It's the 12
th dual meet crowd over 10,000 fans at a Division I men's dual event this year, surpassing the previous high of 10 set last season. Penn State, Iowa, Iowa State and Oklahoma State hosted all 12 of those events, with Iowa hosting half of them. Oklahoma State held three duals with over 10,000, Penn State two and Iowa State one.
Iowa State secured the No. 4 spot with a 20-14 victory over then-No. 14 Missouri to finish 12-2, while fifth-ranked Nebraska wrapped its dual schedule at 13-6 following a 32-6 win over Utah Valley.
Virginia Tech finished sixth at 11-3 after a 26-17 win over Duke. Eighth-ranked NC State edged Cornell 19-18 to close at 15-4.
Rutgers finished 14-5 and 11th after a 45-3 win over Hofstra. Michigan moved to 12th at 9-6 with a 34-6 victory over Central Michigan. Pittsburgh climbed to 13th after a 37-0 shutout of Virginia.
North Carolina dropped to 15th after a 28-6 loss to 18th-ranked Stanford. West Virginia secured the No. 16 position with a 21-15 win over Lock Haven.
Northern Iowa edged Wisconsin 16-15 in a ranked matchup to finish 17th. Stanford's win over North Carolina pushed the Cardinal to 18th. Wisconsin fell to 19th.
Indiana closes the regular season ranked 20th after a 20-16 win over Purdue. South Dakota State dropped to 21st following a 20-13 loss to North Dakota State. Wyoming, Oklahoma and Oregon State did not compete during the final ranking period and round out the poll, while Lehigh falls to 25th after a loss to Arizona State.
Methodology: The NWCA Division I Men's 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 points 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 MEN'S WRESTLING COACHES POLL
FEBRUARY 24, 2026
| Rank |
Team (First) |
Record |
Points |
Conference |
Previous |
| 1 |
Penn State (16) |
(15-0) |
400 |
Big Ten |
1 |
| 2 |
Ohio State |
(18-1) |
383 |
Big Ten |
2 |
| 3 |
Oklahoma State |
(15-1) |
369 |
Big 12 |
3 |
| 4 |
Iowa State |
(12-2) |
351 |
Big 12 |
4 |
| 5 |
Nebraska |
(13-6) |
334 |
Big Ten |
5 |
| 6 |
Virginia Tech |
(11-3) |
319 |
ACC |
6 |
| 7 |
Iowa |
(12-6) |
295 |
Big Ten |
7 |
| 8 |
NC State |
(15-4) |
293 |
ACC |
8 |
| 9 |
Minnesota |
(11-5) |
272 |
Big Ten |
9 |
| 10 |
Illinois |
(12-5) |
258 |
Big Ten |
10 |
| 11 |
Rutgers |
(14-5) |
235 |
Big Ten |
11 |
| 12 |
Michigan |
(9-6) |
216 |
Big Ten |
13 |
| 13 |
Pittsburgh |
(11-4) |
187 |
ACC |
15 |
| 14 |
Missouri |
(12-8) |
181 |
Big 12 |
14 |
| 15 |
North Carolina |
(9-5) |
151 |
ACC |
12 |
| 16 |
West Virginia |
(11-5) |
144 |
Big 12 |
17 |
| 17 |
Northern Iowa |
(11-8) |
138 |
Big 12 |
18 |
| 18 |
Stanford |
(7-6) |
135 |
ACC |
20 |
| 19 |
Wisconsin |
(12-5) |
132 |
Big Ten |
16 |
| 20 |
Indiana |
(9-5) |
89 |
Big Ten |
21 |
| 21 |
South Dakota State |
(12-5) |
85 |
Big 12 |
19 |
| 22 |
Wyoming |
(8-5) |
79 |
Big 12 |
23 |
| 23 |
Oklahoma |
(9-6) |
48 |
Big 12 |
24 |
| 24 |
Oregon State |
(7-2) |
41 |
Pac-12 |
25 |
| 25 |
Lehigh |
(11-7) |
24 |
EIWA |
22 |
Others Receiving Votes: Columbia 20, Rider 7, Purdue 4, Penn 4, SIU Edwardsville 3, Cornell 2.
Dropped Out: None.
2025-26 Division I Mid-Major Men's Wrestling Coaches Poll Release Dates
Feb. 25
