Dec. 15, 2015
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa wrestlers Edwin Cooper, Jr. and Sam Stoll were rewarded for last week’s wins with first-time appearances in the national rankings.
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Cooper is ranked No. 16 at 157 pounds and Stoll is ranked No. 10 at 285 by the Intermat poll released Dec. 15. It is the first time either wrestler has appeared in the national polls. Stoll is also ranked 13th by Amateur Wrestling News (AWN), and 19th by WIN Magazine.
Both wrestlers enter the rankings following wins over Rutgers last week. Cooper topped 17th-ranked Richie Lewis, 6-4, and Stoll upset sixth-ranked Billy Smith, 3-1, in sudden victory. It was Cooper’s first win in four tries against a ranked foe. Stoll dropped his only other meeting against a ranked opponent in Iowa’s season opener, falling 6-1 to No. 4 Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State. He has since won seven straight, averaging 5.6 team points per win.
The Hawkeyes have eight wrestlers ranked by at least one national ratings service, including six in the top four of AWN. No other school has more than five ranked in the top five.
Brandon Sorensen is the top-ranked 149-pounder, Cory Clark is ranked second at 133, and Thomas Gilman is ranked third at 125.
Alex Meyer (174), Sammy Brooks (184), and Nathan Burak (197) are all ranked fourth by AWN. Burak has held steady at No. 4 since the beginning of the season. Meyer has reached as high as No. 3 in the Intermat poll, and Brooks’ No. 4 ranking by AWN is a season high.
The Hawkeyes (8-0, 2-0) are ranked No. 2 in the USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll. Iowa is one of 10 Big Ten Conference teams ranked in the top 25. Six of those ranked schools will join Iowa at the Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30. They include No. 9 Rutgers, No. 10 Nebraska, No. 11 Illinois, No. 19 Purdue, and No. 22 Indiana.
Iowa has won a record 24 team titles at the Midlands Championships and set team scoring records each of the last two seasons.
