Northern Iowa, coached by Doug Schwab is ranked No. 1 in the Mid-Major Top 20 (Photo/UNI Athletics)MANHEIM, Pa. -- The National Wrestling Coaches Association released its first Mid-Major Top 20 of the season on Wednesday. Formulated in 2017, the Mid-Major Top 20 concentrates on the programs that fall outside of the traditional "Power 5" conferences.
COVID-19 played a significant role in this year's college sports season, with wrestling being impacted without the participation of seven schools that would qualify for inclusion in the Mid-Major Top 20. The six wrestling Ivy League schools -- Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn and Princeton along with the lone Division III school sponsoring Division I wrestling, Franklin & Marshall, did not compete this season.
Northern Iowa, one of the nation's top non-Power 5 wrestling programs historically, comes in atop of the poll, followed by the U.S. Naval Academy and first-year head coach Cary Kolat. Traditional Mid-American Conference power Central Michigan is third, followed by Campbell at four and Rider fifth.
While the Big 12 is a Power 5 conference, a number of its affiliate members are considered Mid-Majors and seven of them are in the Top 20. The EIWA has six schools in the rankings, followed by the MAC and SoCon with three each.
Methodology: The NWCA Division I Mid-Major Wrestling Coaches Poll is voted on by coaches representing teams from non-Power 5 conferences. Each first-place vote is worth 20 points, 19 points for a second-place vote, 18 for a third-place vote and so on through to one point for a 20th-place vote. The poll is based on dual meet results. Teams who are not competing this season are not included in the voting process.
NWCA Division I Mid-Major Wrestling Coaches Poll
February 17, 2021
Rank School Record Points Conf. All-Sports Conf.
1 Northern Iowa (4) (4-4) 98 Big 12 Missouri Valley
2 Navy (1) (5-1) 96 EIWA Patriot League
3 Central Michigan (5-2) 82 MAC MAC
4 Campbell (8-1) 81 SoCon Big South
5 Rider (4-1) 78 MAC Metro Atlantic
6 Wyoming (3-3) 72 Big 12 Mountain West
7 North Dakota State (7-3) 63 Big 12 Summit
8 Northern Colorado (4-2) 61 Big 12 Big Sky
9 Binghamton (3-1) 57 EIWA America East
10 Appalachian State (7-2) 56 SoCon Sun Belt
11 Lehigh (3-4) 53 EIWA Patriot League
12 Army West Point (2-3) 46 EIWA Patriot League
13 Northern Illinois (6-3) 44 MAC MAC
14 South Dakota State (5-6) 42 Big 12 Summit
15 Chattanooga (8-4) 22 SoCon SoCon
16 Drexel (2-1) 22 EIWA Colonial
17 Air Force (2-5) 21 Big 12 Mountain West
18 Hofstra (2-1) 20 EIWA Colonial
19 Utah Valley (2-4) 12 Big 12 WAC
20 Cal Poly (2-3) 11 Pac-12 Big West
Others Receiving Votes: Buffalo 6, Edinboro 5, Kent State 1, Lock Haven 1
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