Several teams shuffled positions in the NCAA Division I wrestling rankings released by InterMat yesterday. Following a weekend sweep over Brown and Harvard to clinch its first Ivy League title since 1995, Cornell moved up one spot to No. 6.
Others moving up in the top 10 included No. 5 West Virginia, No. 7 Michigan, and No. 8 Illinois. After losing to Illinois and Michigan last week, Ohio State dropped from No. 5 to No. 9. Michigan State remained in the No. 10 spot.
Northern Illinois made the biggest jump of the week, moving from No. 25 to No. 22. In addition, No. 14 Penn State, No. 15 Purdue, and No. 16 Penn each moved up two spots from last week’s rankings.
Oklahoma tied Ohio State for the biggest drop, as it fell from No. 15 to No. 19. The Sooners dropped 27-19 decision to Iowa State and will face rival Oklahoma State on Sunday.
Among individual rankings, there were few changes for the Red. Sophomore All-American Travis Lee remained No. 2 in the 125-pound weight class behind Purdue’s Chris Fleeger after winning two major decisions on the weekend. His season record improves to 25-0 with the wins. He is tied for ninth place in wins in his weight class.
At 149, freshman Dustin Manotti moved up a spot to No. 8 after splitting the weekend. On Friday, he lost to No. 3 Jesse Jantzen of Harvard 9-1 but rebounded Saturday at Brown, earning a 22-7 win over Dave Saadeh.
Senior All-American Clint Wattenberg remained at No. 2 behind Iowa’s Jessman Smith in the 184-pound weight class after going 2-0 on the weekend to improve to 31-2.
He won a major decision Saturday night for his 112th career win, which is good for third among Cornell’s all-time wins leaders. Wattenberg’s 31 wins rank him third in the country in his class. He also is tied for fifth with six pins on the season.
Despite recording a pin and a major decision over the weekend, senior Matt Greenberg fell from No. 13 to No. 15 in the 197-pound weight class. Greenberg’s season record is 23-7.
In the 133-pound weight class, Minnesota senior Ryan Lewis took the top spot, followed by Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State. Thompson’s teammate Zach Esposito is ranked first in the 141-pound weight class, while Eric Larkin of Arizona State claimed the top spot in the 149-pound weight class.
Ohio State’s Keaton Anderson retains his hold on No. 1 at 157 and Illinois senior Matt Lackey is tops in the 165-pound class.
West Virginia’s Greg Jones is ranked No. 1 at 174 pounds, followed by another sophomore, Oklahoma State’s Chris Pendleton.
Jon Trenge of Lehigh claimed No. 1 in the ultra competitive 197-pound weight class.
Iowa sophomore Steve Mocco remains-No. 1 in the 285 pound class.
With the Ivy season now complete, the grapplers (12-5, 5-0) will return to the Friedman Wrestling Center on Saturday to host East Stroudsburg in the final meet before EIWA’s.
Archived article by Sun Staff