Penn State Wrestling Dominates First NCAA Coaches Rankings of 2025

Four Nittany Lions are No. 1 in the wrestling season's premiere set of coaches rankings.

Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Carter Starocci celebrates after winning his fourth NCAA Wrestling title. / Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Penn State has dominated the competition so far during the 2024-25 college wrestling season, so it's no surprise the Nittany Lions dominated the first edition of the coaches rankings ahead of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team has 10 wrestlers ranked in the top-7 with four ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes.

Tyler Kasak (157), Mitchell Mesenbrink (165), Carter Starocci (184) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) are Penn State's top-ranked wrestlers. Beau Bartlett (141) and Levi Haines (174) are ranked No. 2. That means, more than half of Penn State's lineup is ranked first or second in the first set of NCAA coaches rankings.

A few things to note about the coaches rankings. A panel of 16 college wrestling coaches vote for the rankings with one key requirement. Wrestlers must have competed in at least eight Division I matches this season. As a result, the coaches rankings look different from others, such as InterMat Wrestling's rankings.

For example, Kasak (11-0) is No. 1 in the coaches rankings but No. 3 according to InterMat behind Iowa's Jacori Teemer (2-1) and Cornell's Meyer Shapiro (3-1). Similarly at heavyweight, Kerkvliet gets the top spot because Minnesota's Gable Steveson is 5-0. Of course, Kerkvliet also is the weight class' defending champ and on a collision course to see Steveson first at the Big Ten Championships.

The coaches rankings are part of the formula used to determine at-large bids and to seed wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. Other components include head-to-head results, the ratings percentage index (RPI) and conference tournament finishes. The NCAA Wrestling Championships are scheduled for March 20-22 at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.

Penn State (8-0) has outscored its eight opponents by a combined total of 354-16. The Nittany Lions are 75-5 in dual matches and have outscored their four ranked opponents 52-13 and have a ridiculous 75-5 individual-bout record in duals. The Nittany Lions have outscored the four ranked teams on their schedule by a combined 152-13. All 10 starters are ranked in the top 10according to InterMat.

Penn State in the NCAA Coaches Wrestling Rankings

• 125: 4. Luke Lilledahl

• 133: 7. Braeden Davis

• 141: 2. Beau Bartlett

• 149: 4. Shayne Van Ness

• 157: 1. Tyler Kasak

• 165: 1. Mitchell Mesenbrink

• 174: 2. Levi Haines

• 184: 1. Carter Starocci

• 197: 4. Josh Barr

• 285: 1. Greg Kerkvilet

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