Penn State wrestling tops preseason DI NWCA rankings 

The story of the 2023-24 college wrestling season is the Penn State Nittany Lions. 

Under head coach Cael Sanderson, this program has now won 10 NCAA titles in the last 12 years and has two three-time national title winners leading its lineup, along with six other wrestlers ranked in the top three and two additional athletes in the top 20. 

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This is as dangerous a Penn State team as ever, and the goal for this squad will likely be less about winning duals and more about dominance. 

Penn State’s status as the No. 1 preseason team this year is no surprise, but there are a few other notable poll results to pay attention to heading into the opening week of dual action. 

First, the poll: 

Missouri makes big jump after finishing fifth at NCAAs last year; Wolverines, Hokies, Scarlet Knights also rise

Missouri has been one of the most consistent wrestling programs over the last half-decade, finishing fourth in 2015, fifth in 2017 and 2023 and sixth in 2019, 2018 and 2016. The Tigers now start the 2023-24 season ranked fourth after ending the 2023 year ninth in dual rankings. 

The Tigers are led by two-time NCAA champion Keegan O’Toole, but the success doesn’t just start and end with O’Toole. Missouri also has title contenders at 157 pounds in No. 8 Brock Mauller, and at 197 and 285 pounds with No. 4 and No. 5 Rocky and Zach Elam, respectfully. Additionally, Peyton Mocco comes into the year ranked No. 6 at a deep 174 pounds. These five guys lost just a combined six dual matches last year, and they’ll be a formidable force once against this year. 

The 2023-24 Schedule

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— Mizzou Wrestling (@MizzouWrestling)

Missouri kicks off its dual season on Nov. 19 against No. 13 Arizona State, a team that earned a seventh-place finish at the national tournament. Arizona State beat Missouri 19-17 in a barnburner dual last year, but the Tigers will have a chance for redemption this year in Columbia. 

Arizona State is just one of many tough non-conference duals the Tigers will have this season, as they’ll also meet No. 20 Oklahoma and No. 23 Illinois in December before kicking off the new year against Virginia Tech. 

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The Hokies, for their part, had a strong finish to 2023, putting five athletes on the podium and ending up ninth as a team. They return all five of those podium finishers, too, including 2019 NCAA champion Mekhi Lewis as well as Eddie Ventresca, Sam Latona, Caleb Henson and Bryce Andonian. The strength of this Virginia Tech lineup allowed the team to jump from No. 10 to No. 5 in the preseason rankings, putting the program just outside trophy-team status, but right there on the edge. The Hokies, like Missouri, will start their year with a top-15 battle, taking on Ohio State — a team that dropped from No. 6 to No. 8 likely due to NCAA finalist Sammy Sasso being out with surgery — on Nov. 10. This match now has even more rankings implications, with the winner likely holding down a top-five spot in the polls. 

Speaking of competitive top-10 Big Ten teams, the Michigan Wolverines, bitter rivals with the Buckeyes, also moved up the polls, and they now sit two spots ahead of their foes. The Wolverines have a case to make that they had one of the most successful offseasons in college wrestling, picking up four All-American transfers, three of which came from Northwestern. These transfer moves elevated the Wolverines but dropped the Wildcats in the polls, sending Northwestern from No. 13 to No. 24. Michigan, meanwhile, is using these athletes to reload an already dangerous lineup that also includes All-Americans Cameron Amine and Will Lewan. Michigan won’t see a top-10 opponent until after the winter break, when the Wolverines will run head-on into No. 1 Penn State in a dual that will truly test where each of these elite Michigan athletes are at heading into the rest of the conference dual schedule. 

Bring the fight.

— Michigan Wrestling (@umichwrestling)

The Big Ten team that made the biggest jump in the polls ahead of the season, however, is Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights will come into the year with 10 ranked wrestlers, led by No. 6 Dean Peterson and No. 6 Yaraslau Slavikouski, and this lineup helped the team move from No. 22 at the end of last year to No. 15, knocking on the door of the top 10. Head coach Scott Goodale has a team this year that could make some noise, and the Scarlet Knights will have their first chance to do so this weekend when they take on unranked Cal Poly. 

Movement within the top 10 sends Nebraska, Iowa State down five spots each 

While 12 teams total saw themselves rise in this year’s preseason poll in relation to the final 2022-23 rankings, two notable teams dropped five spots: Nebraska and Iowa State. Both of these programs remain in the top 10 at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively, and both teams will field competitive squads this year, but the drops are noticeable. Don’t sleep on these teams though, even with this drop. 

Nebraska has all 10 of its athletes in the Top 33 with No. 1 Ridge Lovett leading the way at 149 pounds. This is a team very much capable of winning a team trophy, and the Huskers will have a chance to prove that with some of their early duals. In fact, Nebraska heads to Fargo this week to take on North Dakota State, a team that received votes in the preseason poll and beat Nebraska last year. The Huskers are expected to reverse that result this year and put themselves on a path to a successful Big Ten campaign. The graduation of NCAA finalist Mikey Labriola and All-American Liam Cronin could have played a role in this preseason drop, but with Lovett’s return and the improvement of Big Ten champion Silas Allred as well as the potential comeback of Peyton Robb, Nebraska’s drop in the polls is not expected to become a pattern. 

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Iowa State, similarly, has one of the best lineups in head coach Kevin Dresser’s era. Led by No. 2 David Carr at 157 pounds, the Cyclones demonstrated just how deep this team is in their competitive wrestle-offs over the weekend, and they’ll have high-caliber options at a number of weights. The big test for Iowa State will come on Nov. 26 when the Cyclones take on No. 2 Iowa in a dual where the Cyclones are favored in four of 10 weights and will be threatening to pull out a win for the first time since Iowa head coach Tom Brands took over the Iowa program. Iowa State’s drop in the poll can likely be tied back to the graduation of Marcus Coleman and Paniro Johnson’s absence from the lineup, but, make no mistake, this Cyclone team has the potential to rise — and rise quickly. 

Lehigh, Oregon State, Oklahoma and North Carolina break into the top 25

Of the teams that ended 2023 unranked, Lehigh made the biggest improvement, moving up to No. 19. The Mountain Hawks have been key leaders of the EIWA for years, and they’ll field a strong team led by All-American Michael Beard at 197 pounds. A Penn State transfer, Beard finished seventh in 2021 and ended up in the Round of 12 in 2023. He now returns ranked No. 9, eight spots below his former teammate Aaron Brooks. While Beard may be the most credentialed Lehigh wrestler on the team this year, he’s actually not the highest-ranked athlete heading into the year. That honor belongs to his teammate, No. 7 Connor McGonagle at 133 pounds. McGonagle had a stellar year last year, finishing 12-3 before injury defaulting out of the EIWA championships. With a win over All-American Kai Orine on his resume, McGonagle has proven he can compete with the top guys in the weight, and, in fact, he’ll have a chance to show off that talent at the 2023 NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 21. McGonagle will face two-time All-American Sam Latona, and his performance will offer even more indication on McGonagle’s strength heading into his junior year. As a team, Lehigh will face its biggest challenge of the year early when the Mountain Hawks wrestle Penn State on Dec. 3. 

𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐭 - 𝟏𝟑𝟑

5th year Connor McGonagle - 3x NCAA qualifier

2nd year Ryan Crookham - 2022 Midlands placer

2nd year Mikekal McClarin (125/133) - Chicago area regional champ

1st year Luke Stanich (125/133) - 2023 NJ state champ

— Lehigh Wrestling (@LehighWrestling)

Along with Lehigh, North Carolina and Oklahoma are interesting additions to the poll, particularly because both the Tar Heels and the Sooners are led by new head coaches, as former North Dakota State head coach Roger Kish now leads Oklahoma and former Stanford head coach Rob Koll has taken over his alma mater to usher North Carolina into a new era. These two teams will now start the year at No. 20 and No. 25. North Carolina’s rise stands out in particular because the team moved up in the rankings despite the graduation of two-time NCAA champion Austin O’Connor, though true freshman Lachlan McNeil did demonstrate last year that he’s capable of stepping into O’Connor’s shoes and chasing a title at his own weight: 141 pounds. Both North Carolina and Oklahoma will be notable programs to follow as their new head coaches add their own voice to the team. 

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Another team new to the top 25 this year, Oregon State, is a perfect example of a program that has experienced great growth under new leadership and serves as a good example of the kind of improvement that North Carolina and Oklahoma could continue to see. The Beavers come into the year ranked No. 20, tied with Oklahoma, and they’ll have two All-Americans and five ranked wrestlers leading the squad this year, headlined by No. 3 Trey Munoz at 184 pounds. Munoz is a title contender, and his teammates No. 11 Brandon Kaylor and No. 8 Matthew Olguin will also be athletes to watch as the Beavers chase another Pac-12 title and perhaps compete for a spot in the Top 15 later this season.