KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The NAIA released the third regular season Men's Wrestling Coaches Top 20 poll on Friday. Eastern jumped back into the top 20 after a big weekend that saw the Mounties pick up two dual victories along with their first ever placer at the Reno Tournament of Champions (Kyle Knudtson). The Mountaineers had four wrestlers rank in the top 25 of their respective weight divisions.
 
Eastern Oregon jumps back into the national rankings after falling out of the top 20 in the second installment of the Coaches Top 20 Poll that came out on December 7^th. EOU dropped a dual to the University of Providence that day but bounced back in a big way since.
 
Individuals earning top 25 rankings are as follows:
 
125
#1 Hunter Sparks
 
133
#10 Braden Carson
 
184
#8 Kyle Knudtson
 
197
#12 Jay Smith
 
Rating Methodology
 
The rating was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the eight conferences/groups.
 
Two days prior to the national rating, each qualifying group rater submits the top 10 individuals from each weight class in his conference into the system. Only wrestlers listed on a conference ballot are considered for the national ballot.
 
The top 25 individuals in each weight class is based on how each voter ranks the best individuals. An individual receives 25 points for each first place vote, 24 for second place and so on through the list. This same point system is used to determine the team ranking.
 
The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot
 
Eastern Oregon will be back in action on Friday, January 5th when they travel to Prescott, Arizona to take on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.