Sprenkle, Monk Both Remain No. 6 in the Nation

North Dakota State wrestlers Trent Sprenkle and Steven Monk are both ranked No. 6 in the country in the most recent national wrestling polls released this week. Amateur Wrestling News and Intermat each have Sprenkle and Monk rated as the sixth-best in their respective weight classes.

As a team, NDSU remained at No. 22 in the Intermat tournament-strength poll. The Bison are receiving votes in the USA Today/NWCA/AWN Division I Coaches Poll for the second straight week and are ranked No. 20 by WrestlingReport.com.

Sprenkle (21-2, 12-0 duals) is 4-1 against ranked opponents at 125 pounds this season, including wins over David Thorn of Minnesota and Christian Cullinan of Central Michigan, who were ranked No. 5 and No. 8 in the nation at the time of their meetings.

Sprenkle was ranked as high as No. 4 in December - the highest ranking ever achieved by a Bison wrestler in NDSU's Division I era. He owns 96 career wins and is aiming to become the eighth wrestler in NDSU history with 100 or more victories.

Monk (25-3, 12-0 duals) owns five wins this season over wrestlers ranked in the top 11 at 165 pounds - No. 7 Nick Sulzer (Virginia), No. 8 Conrad Polz (Illinois), No. 10 Cody Yohn (Minnesota), No. 10 Zach Toal (Missouri) and No. 11 Mark Lewandowski (Buffalo).

Monk is 42-6 in his last 48 matches and owns a record of 87-21 in his Bison career. His .806 career winning percentage is the 10th-best in NDSU history.

The two Bison standouts have combined to go 24-0 in dual meets this season.

North Dakota State will open Western Wrestling Conference action at Air Force on Friday, Jan. 25, and take on defending WWC champion Wyoming on the road on Sunday, Jan. 27.