WPIAL products Lee, Pletcher, Joseph ranked No. 1 in initial NCAA Division I wrestling coaches poll

The NCAA released the first of four coaches’ panel rankings for the 2019-20 wrestling season Friday, and three WPIAL wrestlers — Iowa junior Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional), Ohio State senior Luke Pletcher (Latrobe) and Penn State senior Vincenzo Joseph (Central Catholic) earned No. 1 spots.

Lee and Joseph are two-time NCAA champions. Lee is seeded first at 125 pounds, and Joseph got the top nod at 165.

Pletcher is a two-time NCAA All-American who is No. 1 at 141 pounds.

Penn State’s Mark Hall is ranked No. 1 at 174, and Iowa senior Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional) is ranked No. 2. The Nittany Lions’ Nick Lee is ranked No. 2 at 141, and sophomore Roman Bravo-Young is No. 4 at 133.

Pitt sophomore Micky Phillippi (Derry Area) is ranked No. 6 at 133.

West Virginia’s Noah Adams earned a No. 2 seed at 197.

The final rankings will be one of the criteria used as part of the selection process to determine qualifiers and seeding for the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two coaches from each of the seven conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, EIWA, MAC, Pac-12 and SoCon), which is double the amount of voters who had previously been used for the coaches’ panel rankings.

For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler who has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have participated in at least five matches against Division I opponents in the weight class and have wrestled within the last 30 days to be ranked.

125 pounds: 1. Spencer Lee, Iowa (Franklin Regional); 2. Jack Mueller, Virginia; 3. Pat Glory, Princeton; 4. Nicholas Piccininni; 5. Brandon Paetzel, Lehigh. 15. Luke Werner, Lock Haven; 24. Gage Curry, American (North Hills).

133: 1. Seth Gross, Wisconsin; 2. Austin DeSanto, Iowa; 3. Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern; 4. Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State; 5. Charles Tucker, Cornell; 6. Micky Phillippi, Pitt (Derry); 28. D.J. Fehlman, Lock Haven.

141: 1. Luke Pletcher, Ohio State (Latrobe); 2. Nick Lee, Penn State; 3. Mitch McKee, Minnesota; 4. Real Woods, Stanford; 5. Max Murin, Iowa; 20. Kyle Shoop. Lock Haven; 24. Cole Matthews, Pitt.

149: 1. Pat Lugo, Iowa; 2. Austin O’Connor, North Carolina; 3. Boo Lewallen, Oklahoma State; 4. Brayton Lee, Minnesota; 5. Brock Mauller, Missouri; 11. Brock Zacherl, Clarion; 29. Jarod Verkleeren, Penn State (Hempfield); 30. Josh Maruca, Arizona State (Franklin Regional).

157: 1. Ryan Deakin, Northwestern; 2. Hayden Hidley, N.C. State; 3. David Carr, Iowa State; 4. Kaleb Young, Iowa; 5. Quincy Monday, Princeton; 20. Austin Headlee, North Carolina (Waynesburg); 28. Taleb Rahmani, Pitt; 29. Alexander Klucker, Lock Haven.

165: 1. Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State (Central Catholic); 2. Alex Marinelli, Iowa; 3. David McFadden, Virginia Tech; 4. Evan Wick, Wisconsin; 5. Isaiah White, Nebraska; 7. Josh Shields, Arizona State (Franklin Regional); 10. Jake Wentzel, Pitt (South Park); 11. Ethan Smith, Ohio State (Latrobe); 17. Zach Hartman, Bucknell (Belle Vernon); 25. Nick Kiussus, West Virginia.

174: 1. Mark Hall, Penn State; 2. Michael Kemerer, Iowa (Franklin Regional); 3. Jordan Kutler, Lehigh; 4. Dylan Lydy, Purdue; 5. Bryce Steiert, Northern Iowa; 19. Jacob Oliver, Edinboro; 24. Gregg Harvey, Pitt; 32. Jared Siegrist, Lock Haven.

184: 1. Zahid Valencia, Arizona State; 2. Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech; 3. Trent Hidlay, N.C. State; 4. Taylor Lujan, Northern Iowa; 5. Lou Deprez, Binghamton; 8. Aaron Brooks, Penn State; 9. Nino Bonaccorsi, Pitt (Bethel Park).

197: 1. Kollin Moore, Ohio State; 2. Noah Adams, West Virginia; 3. Patrick Brucki, Princeton; 4. Jacob Warner, Iowa; 5. Christian Brunner, Purdue; 14. Jake Woodley, Oklahoma (North Allegheny); 16. Greg Bulsak, Clarion (South Park); 28. Drew Phipps, Bucknell (Norwin).

285: 1. Gabe Steveson, Minnesota; 2. Maron Parris, Michigan; 3. Tony Cassioppi, Iowa; 4. Matt Stencel, Central Michigan; 5. Trent Hillger, Wisconsin; 9. Demetrius Thomas, Pitt; 20. Seth Nevills, Penn State; 25. Jon Spaulding, Edinboro; 28. Tyler Bagoly, Clarion; 33. Brandon Ngati, West Virginia.

Around the NCAA

No. 1 Iowa stops No. 4 Ohio State: The Hawkeyes won seven of 10 matches and rolled to a 24-10 victory over the Buckeyes on Friday.

Lee and Kemerer came up big in the victory. Lee won by technical fall, 18-0, and Kemerer won by major decision, 13-4.

Pletcher led the Buckeyes with a major decision win.

Penn State holds on: The No. 2 ranked Nittany Lions got a win by heavyweight Seth Nevills in the final bout of the match helped Penn State edge Nebraska, 20-18.

No. 9 Oklahoma State rolls No. 10 Pitt: The Cowboys were too much for the Panthers on Jan. 18, winning 30-10.

Phillippi continued his fine season with a pin of Reece Witcraft, and Demetrius Thomas collected a win by major decision.

The Panthers rebounded Saturday when they whipped Duke, 50-0. On Sunday they will face Edinboro, which comes to Fitzgerald Field House.

Showdown: It should be a fun night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Friday as Iowa (8-0 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) plays host to No. 2 Penn State (7-1, 4-0).

Half of Iowa’s starters hail from the Keystone state – Lee at 125, Austin DeSanto at 133, Max Murin at 141, Kaleb Young at 157 and Kemerer (174). Penn State only has three starters from the state – Brandon Meredith at 125, Jarod Verkleeren at 149 and Joseph at 165.

The match can be seen on the Big Ten Network at 9 p.m.

Here are the possible matchups (Iowa vs. Penn State): 125: (1) Lee vs. Meredith; 133: (2) DeSanto vs. (4) Roman Bravo-Young; 141: Murin vs. (2) Nick Lee; 149: (1) Pat Lugo vs. Verkleeren; 157: Young vs. Brady Berge; 165: (2) Alex Marinelli vs. (1) Joseph; (2) Kemerer vs. (1) Mark Hall; 184: Abe Assad vs. Aaron Brooks; 197: Cash Wilche vs. Shakur Rasheed; 285: (3) Tony Cassioppi vs. Seth Nevills.