National Wrestling Coaches Association dual rankings: Iowa State, Iowa hold top-4 spots as conference slates start

College wrestling competition resumed after a break for the holidays.

University of Iowa, Iowa State and University of Northern Iowa are reaching the heart of the regular season.

The Cyclones lead the way, one spot ahead of the Hawkeyes, in the National Wrestling Coaches Association NCAA Division I dual rankings released Tuesday. Iowa State remains third, Iowa is fourth and UNI came in at No. 17 in the first poll of the new year.

The Hawkeyes (7-2) wrestled select starters in the Soldier Salute on Saturday and Sunday at Xtream Arena in Coralville. Jordan Williams won the 157-pound title for Iowa, which opens the Big Ten Conference dual season Friday against No. 18 Wisconsin at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, beginning at 7 p.m.

Iowa has a tough slate this month. After the Badgers, the Hawkeyes host top-ranked Penn State (6-0) on Jan. 16. The Nittany Lions received 14 of 16 first-place votes with Ohio State garnering the other two.

Iowa also travels to No. 6 Nebraska on Jan. 23 before hosting No. 11 Minnesota on Jan. 30.

Iowa State (4-1) returned to action with a comeback 20-18 win over No. 24 Stanford. The short-handed Cyclones needed a technical fall from top-ranked heavyweight Yonger Bastida in the final bout for the victory. Iowa State, which did not wrestle Stevo Poulin at 125, 133-pounder Evan Frost, Vinny Zerban at 157, M.J. Gaitan (174) and 197-pounder Rocky Elam against Stanford, starts the Big 12 Conference schedule at Arizona State (0-5) Tuesday night.

UNI (3-4) is coming off a tough loss to the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb. UNI received victories from Trever Anderson (125) and 165-pounder Ryder Downey in a 30-6 loss. Downey, ranked 11th, defeated No. 7 L.J. Araujo, 3-0, in sudden victory-1. Downey (9-2) earned his fifth win over a ranked foe this season and Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors. It is his second conference honor of his career.

UNI will host the NWCA/USMC Multi-Divisional National Dual Meet Championships on Friday and Saturday at the UNI-Dome. The Panthers are in Pool B with Bloomsburg, CSU-Bakersfield, Drexel and Ohio. Pool A consists of Campbell, Central Michigan, Harvard, Northern Illinois and South Dakota State.

The Panthers, who won the event last year, faces CSU-Bakersfield at 2 p.m. Friday. They also wrestle Ohio Friday and Bloomsburg and Drexel on Saturday.

The NWCA event includes brackets for NCAA women, including defending champion Iowa as the top seed, and NCAA Division II and III men.

The Hawkeye women take on William Jewell in the first round Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Upper Iowa is in the D-II field, wrestling Tiffin in the first round.

For complete brackets, visit https://nwcaonline.com/sports/natduals

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com