Rutgers wrestling was ranked No. 11 in the final National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Coaches Poll of the regular season, according to a Feb. 25 announcement from Rutgers University Athletics. The Scarlet Knights finished the 2025-26 dual season with a record of 14-5, including a 5-3 mark in conference matches, which led to their highest-ever regular season Big Ten finish, tying for third place.
The ranking highlights another strong year for the program under head coach Scott Goodale. Rutgers closed out the regular season on a six-match winning streak, which included its first-ever victory over No. 6 Minnesota. The team also recorded wins against local rivals Rider and Princeton, as well as conference opponents Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Purdue. All five losses came against ranked teams, three of which—Penn State (No. 1), NC State (No. 8), and Illinois (No. 10)—finished in the NWCA top ten.
Since Goodale took over in 2007, Rutgers has achieved double-digit dual wins in seventeen out of nineteen seasons and has now posted at least fourteen wins nine times during his tenure. The program has finished within the NWCA Coaches Poll rankings fourteen times since the 2009-10 season and has been among the top twenty-five for five consecutive years dating back to the 2021-22 campaign.
Individually, all ten starters were ranked by Intermat at the close of the regular season—a distinction shared by only six schools nationwide this year: Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, and Rutgers. Joseph Olivieri led Rutgers’ individual rankings with an undefeated record at 141 pounds and appeared as high as No. 6 across several national polls.
The final coaches ranking and first Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) for NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be released Thursday. These metrics are part of several criteria used by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee for at-large selection and seeding processes ahead of postseason competition.
Looking ahead, all ten Scarlet Knight starters will compete at the Big Ten Championships on March 7-8 in State College, Pennsylvania before advancing to the NCAA Wrestling Championships scheduled for March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.