Dec. 19, 2007
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of head coach Troy Sunderland, maintained its No. 3 in the latest edition of the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll. Six individuals also garnered rankings, led by three-time All-American Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.), who is No. 2 at 197, and All-American Jake Strayer, who is No. 2 at 141.
Penn State, coming off an off weekend, maintained its hold on its lofty ranking as the top ten remained unchanged from last week's poll. Big Ten foe Iowa is still No. 1 followed by No. 2 Iowa State. Penn State follows at No. 3 with defending national and Big Ten champion Minnesota at No. 4 and Oklahoma State at No. 5.
Central Michigan sits at No. 6 with Michigan close behind at No. 7. Missouri (8), Big Ten entry Northwestern (9) and UT-Chattanooga (10) round out the top ten. In all, nine Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25 with Ohio State sitting at No. 12, Wisconsin at No. 13, Indiana at No. 16 and Illinois at No. 18.
Davis maintained his No. 2 spot at 197 while Strayer moved up to No. 2 at 141. Sophomore Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.) is ranked No. 5 at 149 while senior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.) sits at No. 6 at 125. Sophomore Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) checks in at No. 11 at 157 and junior Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) sits at No. 15 at 184 to give Penn State six ranked individuals.
Penn State, which is 4-0 overall, will return to action on Jan. 4, 2008, when it hosts No. 17 Cornell in Rec Hall. The dual will start at 7 p.m. All Penn State duals can be heard locally on WBLF AM (970) and WKVA (920 AM). Tickets for all regular season duals are on sale now at the athletic department ticket office in the Bryce Jordan Center. Single-dual tickets are $5 for adults and seniors and $3 for students 18 and under. Penn State students with a proper student ID are admitted free! Fans can call 814-863-1000 or 800-833-5533 to order single-dual tickets.