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NCAA Releases Coaches Rankings, Allocations for National Championships
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Six University of Iowa wrestlers are ranked in the top 10 of the NCAA coaches’ poll, which was released Thursday by the NCAA.
The coaches’ rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the seven conferences.
At 125, Drake Ayala is the top-ranked Iowa wrestler at No. 2 in the poll. Ayala is 19-3 overall this season with 10 wins against ranked opponents. Senior Real Woods is next for the Hawkeyes, ranked third at 141. Woods is 14-2 this season.
Nine total Hawkeyes are ranked across the 10 weights.
The NCAA also released its pre-allocations for the 20202423 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, hosted in Kansas City, Missouri, from March 21-23. The Big Ten Conference was awarded 85 of the 283 automatic qualifying bids.
The Big Ten Championships take place March 9-10 in College Park, Maryland. The weight class conference champion in each qualifying tournament will earn an automatic berth to the national championships.
NCAA championship spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at conference tournaments based solely on place-finish.
The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 47 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 12, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. (CT) on March 13. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
Full rankings and tournament allocation information below.
Hawkeyes in the 2024 Coaches Poll
125 – Drake Ayala #2
133 – Brody Teske #25
141 – Real Woods #3
149 – Caleb Rathjen #8
157 – Jared Franek #5
165 – Michael Caliendo #6
174 – Patrick Kennedy #6
197 – Zach Glazier #11
285 – Bradley Hill #33
