The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 1 in the most recent NWCA coaches poll on Tuesday, securing all but two first-place votes. Penn State’s whole team has not competed since completing the Journeymen Collegiate Duals event in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 20; however, it put together a great showing in the Southern Scuffle on January 4. Ohio State remains at No. 2 with an 11-0 record on the season.

Conference schedules loom as new year kicks off with Top 25 relatively unchanged
#1 @pennstateWREST
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#3 @CycloneWR
#4 @Hawks_Wrestling
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— NWCA (@nwcawrestling) January 6, 2026

There were minimal changes for the Nittany Lions with Intermat’s individual rankings.

Aaron Nagao dropped from eighth to ninth in the rankings this week after getting injured in his first return to the mat since his Black Knight Invitational exit. Although it is still unknown when or if Nagao will return, look for freshman Nate Desmond or junior Braeden Davis to fill in for him in the meantime.

Cole Mirasola dropped to 15th after being ranked 13th. It’s been a tough road thus far for the redshirt freshman as he sits at 8-2 on the season with two back-to-back losses prior to the holiday break.

Luke Lilledahl, Marcus Blaze, PJ Duke, and Rocco Welsh each maintained their top-5 ranks this week.

Shayne Van Ness, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines, and Josh Barr will head into Big Ten competition at the top of their respective weight classes.

Penn State will be back in action on January 10 as the Nittany Lions host Rutgers at 4 p.m. in Rec Hall for its Big Ten opener. The match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.