NWCA Announces APR Conference Leaders and Top- 20 Most Improved Teams

5/11/2009 2:32:00 PM

Iowa State (Big 12), Northwestern (Big 10), George Mason (Colonial), Pittsburgh (Eastern Wrestling League), Northern Illinois (MAC), Stanford (Pac 10), Davidson (Southern Conference) and Air Force (West Regional) are the eight wrestling programs with the highest APR score in their conference for a second year in a row.

Iowa State placed third at the 2009 NCAA championships and Northwestern finish 13^th, while both programs also produced a national champion.

 Pittsburgh University, which placed 38^th at the NCAA championships, defended its APR title in the Eastern Wrestling League, which showed the largest improvement of all conferences in the nation.

Bucknell, which has a perfect 1000 APR score, led the very competitive EIWA wrestling conference.  The EIWA, comprised of 14 eastern wrestling programs including those in the Ivy League conference, had the highest average APR score of all conferences in the country at 971.

The University of Virginia is the top program in the ACC, while Millersville University lead all teams in the East Regional.

West Virginia University, a member of the Eastern Wrestling League, improved 38 points from a year ago - the best among the 84 NCAA Division I wrestling programs.  Two other EWL conference schools were in the top-20 for most improved including Pittsburgh (18-point improvement) and Clarion (16 points).  The average improvement in APR scores in the EWL was 14.7 points

The University of Iowa, which won its second consecutive NCAA title in March finished tied for 7th on the most improved list by improving 25 points from a year ago. 

Top-20 Most Improved APR scores (# represents the improvement from a year ago)

1 West Virginia (38) EWL                                                                11 Princeton (20) EIWA

2 UC Davis (33) Pac 10                                                                    12 Pittsburgh (18) EWL

3 Eastern Michigan (29) MAC                                                         12 University of North Carolina (18) ACC

4 Binghamton (27) CAA                                                                   14 Rider (17) CAA

4 Oklahoma (27) Big 12                                                                  15 Clarion (16) EWL

4 UT Chattanooga (27) Southern                                                     15 Buffalo (16) MAC

7 Iowa (25) Big 10                                                                            15 CSU Bakersfield (16) Pac 10

7 Millersville (25) East Regional                                                      18 University of Virginia (15) ACC

9 North Dakota State (24) Western Region                                     18 Appalachian State (15) Southern

10 Liberty (22) East Regional                                                           18 Purdue (15) Big 10

                                                                                                          18 Old Dominion (15) CAA

The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a professional organization dedicated to serve and provide leadership for the advancement of all levels of the sport of wrestling with primary emphasis on scholastic and collegiate programs. The membership embraces all people interested in amateur wrestling.

The NWCA, through its organizational structure, promotes communication, recognizes achievement, recommends rules and regulations, sponsors events, and serves as an educational and informational source. Additionally, the NWCA strives to foster the sportsmanship and integrity that are the cornerstones of athletic competition.

Tammy Tedesco

APR Improvements Air Force Northwestern Davidson Iowa State tammy tedesco, pat tocci, mike moyer Clarion University APR Bucknell University George Mason Pittsburgh Northern Illinois