SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Wrestling Falcons of Notre Dame College have now spent a year at the top. So says the NAIA Coaches' Top-20 Poll which was released by the NAIA today. (NAIA Release)

Notre Dame received 126.5 points in the poll, 19 more than a fast-closing McKendree (Ill.), as the Falcons earned the No. 1 ranking for a 10th consecutive poll dating back to Nov. 24, 2009. Four Notre Dame grapplers -- #Jeffrey Pelton# (149 pounds), #Thomas Straughn# (157), #Derek Foore# (197), #Orlando Scales# (HWT) -- retained their No. 1 individual rankings in the poll, and eight Falcon wrestlers overall were tabbed as Top-10's.

McKendree has gradually gained on Notre Dame since the Falcons were voted into the top spot by a margin of more than 80 points in the preseason poll. McKendree was tabbed as the No. 4 team in that poll. For NDC, the 19-point margin marked its slimmest in the coaches' poll since posting a 17-point spread (over California Baptist) on Dec. 22, 2009.

For the Falcons, though, the No. 1 ranking does close out their 2010 calendar year on a high note. NDC has been ranked in the top spot of the coaches' poll in each of seven polls in 2010 -- the final three polls of the 2009-10 season and the first four this season, including the NAIA 2010-11 Preseason Coaches' Poll. Notre Dame kicked off 2010 by earning the NAIA title at the National Duals in January (Jan. 9-10). Two months later, NDC earned the College's first national championship when the Wrestling Falcons decimated all comers in the NAIA National Championship Tournament.

The No. 1 ranking in the Dec. 21 poll likely means a top seed in Notre Dame's next event this season, the 2011 edition of the National Duals. The Falcons will compete in the prestigious 16-team field in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Jan. 8-9.