November 18th, 2018 at 7:22 PM ^
We're entering a golden age of Michigan athletics. I can't think of a program that isn't good.
November 18th, 2018 at 7:24 PM ^
No way Taylor Lewan could cut to get to 157.
November 18th, 2018 at 7:50 PM ^
157 kg
November 18th, 2018 at 8:52 PM ^
false
November 18th, 2018 at 7:30 PM ^
Lehigh was ranked #6 btw so this is quite the victory
November 18th, 2018 at 8:20 PM ^
It always surprises me that hockey and wrestling have so many small schools that are so successful. I just looked at the current top 25 and am surprised to see how it has changed since I followed it at all. Lehigh is the only traditional small school power that I recognize (maybe N. Iowa?) but several small schools, including Wyoming and something called Lockhaven, are on there, along with North and South Dakota States.
Meanwhile, Iowa State and Oklahoma are no where to be found. The Big 12 used to be very good, now they are almost unrepresented, just OK State (although Nebraska and Missouri are still top 25 programs in other conferences).
The Big Ten is extremely well represented with 4 of the top 5, 11 of the top 25 and Maryland getting a single vote. No Indiana or, surprisingly, MSU.
https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/wrestling/d1/usa-today/nwca-coaches
November 18th, 2018 at 9:49 PM ^
Wrestling is BIG here. Lock Haven is about an hour from State College. My son's HS baseball team had more kids that are D1 wrestlers than any other sport (Lehigh, Pitt, and Bucknell). I don't follow it like I used to and was surprised Lock Haven is ranked that high.
A lot of big schools recruit this area for wrestlers. I think it may be like getting Canadian hockey players.
***edit*** Holy Shit Rutgers is good at something!
November 19th, 2018 at 12:31 AM ^
I'm from that area and used to wrestle in high school. Wrestling was bigger than every sport except football.
It is like hockey in Canada. It's part of the culture.
It's a coal-mining region, and the eastern European immigrants that came over to work in the mines in the late 1800's and early 1900's brought the sport over with them.
It persists to this day.
November 18th, 2018 at 9:59 PM ^
Pennsylvania is the best state (over the last generation) in terms of producing the highest absolute number of athletes who are All-Americans at the collegiate level. Ohio & New Jersey are also up there.
Iowa, South Dakota and Wyoming are the best states in terms of producing the highest number of All-Americans at the per-capita level.
Oklahoma was up there but it's fallen off over the last decade.
Geography explains a lot. The best collegiate programs tend to be where high school wrestling is at its best.
As for Iowa State --- they haven't been a well-run program for nearly all of the 2010s. Trying to rebuild but that takes a long time. They were a very good program in the late 2000s with Cael Sanderson as their coach. But Cael left for PSU in 2009, that was right at a time where ISU was spending $ elsewhere (Gene Chizik left for Auburn and ISU spent a lot of $ to bring in Paul Rhodes). So ISU couldn't come up with the $ to keep him.
I wouldn't be shocked to see Cael back at ISU some day: he's still only 39 years old and it is his alma mater.
November 18th, 2018 at 11:57 PM ^
I've been around awhile and had the same reaction to the rankings. The missing Big 12 teams jump out at me as does the presence of the ACC teams. I don't remember that conference having such a strong presence.
November 18th, 2018 at 8:15 PM ^
Go blue!