Release courtesy of Jason Bryant and the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)
MANHEIM, Pa. - After a pair of weekend dual victories, including an upset of then-No. 20 Chattanooga, Purdue pushed into the top 25 of the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll released on Tuesday. The Boilermakers, who are off to a 7-2 start with a pair of wins over ranked teams, had been receiving votes in the last three editions of the weekly poll.
"This is an indication of the direction our guys are going," Purdue head wrestling coach Tony Ersland said. "For me, I appreciate it and I think it acknowledges the hard work these guys are putting in. By no means are we where we want to be and we are not satisfied, but it's a good indicator and it's good to have our team see that their hard work is paying off."
Purdue returns to the national rankings for the first time since Feb. 3, 2014, when the Boilermakers were ranked 24th, an absence of nine polls. They are one of two newcomers to the seventh edition of the 2014-15 poll. Wisconsin (5-1) entered at No. 19 after beating then-No. 8 Nebraska, 23-14, on Saturday in Lincoln, Neb. The Badgers were in the Nov. 18 poll at No. 19, but fell out following a 20-19 loss on criteria at Rider on Nov. 20.
The top seven teams remained unchanged as Iowa, Minnesota, Cornell, Penn State, Missouri, Virginia Tech and Ohio State stayed in the same position. Missouri improved to 9-0 with a 20-19 criteria win over Ohio State (4-2) Sunday. It was the Buckeyes' second loss this season by criteria.
Wisconsin's upending of Nebraska dropped the Huskers five spots to No. 13. Their loss made room for three ACC programs to find a home in the top 10. Along with No. 6 Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh (4-2) comes in at No. 9, while Virginia (5-1) moves up to No. 10.
Purdue's win over Chattanooga, the only Southern Conference team in the rankings, dropped the Mocs out of the poll for the first time this season.
Eleven of the 14 B1G teams are ranked in the Top 25. The eighth and final poll for 2014 will be released Dec. 23 and the first poll of 2015 will be released Jan. 6. A poll will not be released on Dec. 30 due to the volume of teams competing in tournaments from Dec. 29-Jan. 2.
| USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll | |||||
| Rank | Team (1st-place Votes) | Record | Points | Conference | Previous |
| 1 | Iowa (9) | 5-0 | 297 | B1G | 1 |
| 2 | Minnesota (2) | 5-0 | 285 | B1G | 2 |
| 3 | Cornell | 4-0 | 277 | EIWA | 3 |
| 4 | Penn State (1) | 4-0 | 265 | B1G | 4 |
| 5 | Missouri | 9-0 | 255 | MAC | 5 |
| 6 | Virginia Tech | 4-0 | 240 | ACC | 6 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 4-2 | 223 | B1G | 7 |
| 8 | Oklahoma State | 3-1 | 217 | Big 12 | 9 |
| 9 | Pittsburgh | 4-2 | 193 | ACC | 10 |
| 10 | Virginia | 5-1 | 182 | ACC | 11 |
| 11 | Lehigh | 6-2 | 172 | EIWA | 12 |
| 12 | Edinboro | 5-1 | 164 | EWL | 13 |
| 13 | Nebraska | 4-1 | 162 | B1G | 8 |
| 14 | Illinois | 6-1 | 145 | B1G | 14 |
| 15 | Iowa State | 4-1 | 138 | Big 12 | 15 |
| 16 | Michigan | 2-1 | 124 | B1G | 16 |
| 17 | Oregon State | 3-0 | 103 | Pac-12 | 17 |
| 18 | Rider | 6-1 | 100 | EWL | 18 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 5-1 | 93 | B1G | NR |
| 20 | Northwestern | 8-1 | 77 | B1G | 19 |
| 21 | Wyoming | 4-2 | 50 | WWC | 22 |
| 22 | NC State | 6-2 | 48 | ACC | 21 |
| 23 | Rutgers | 7-0 | 30 | B1G | 23 |
| 24 | Old Dominion | 2-2 | 26 | MAC | 24 |
| 25 | Purdue | 7-2 | 13 | B1G | NR |
Dropped Out: No. 20 Chattanooga, No. 25 Ohio.
Others Receiving Votes: Ohio 12, Stanford 5, Chattanooga 4.