Jan. 30, 2008
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - STATE COLLEGE, Pa.; January 30, 2008 - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the guidance of head coach Troy Sunderland, maintained their No. 8 ranking in the latest USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll. The poll is compiled by Intermat and the entire listing can be viewed at www.intermatwrestle.com. Sophomore Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) joined senior Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) with No. 2 rankings at their respectively.
The top 15 remained unchanged from last week's poll and the Big Ten had eight, fully half, of the top 16. Iowa had all 12 first place votes and sits atop the poll. Nebraska (2), Oklahoma State (3) Minnesota (4), Central Michigan (5), Michigan (6), Ohio State (7), Penn State (8), Iowa State (9) and Northwestern (10) comprise the top ten. Joining the six Big Ten teams listed among the top ten are conference brethren Wisconsin (13), Illinois (15) and Indiana (16).
Vallimont, now a perfect 20-0 on the year, moved up to No. 2 nationally at 157, joining All-American Phil Davis, who is No. 2 at 197, with the lofty ranking. Davis is also undefeated at 12-0 on the year. Eight Nittany Lions are ranked individually, with five maintaining top ten marks. Senior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.) is ranked No. 10 at 125, All-American Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) is ranked No. 10 at 141 and sophomore Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.) is ranked No. 5 at 149.
Sophomore David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) maintained his No. 16 ranking at 174 while junior Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) moved up a spot at 184 to No. 13. Junior heavyweight John Laboranti (Pittston, Pa.) kept his No. 15 spot as well.
Penn State split its duals this past weekend and moved to 9-4, 1-2 in Big Ten action. The Nittany Lions will trek to No. 10 Northwestern and No. 15 Illinois next weekend. The Lions visit the Wildcats on Friday for an 8 p.m. (Eastern) dual and then visit the Illini on Sunday at 2 p.m. (Eastern).The Nittany Lions' next home action will be at home when No. 6 Michigan comes to Rec Hall on Friday, Feb. 8, for a 7 p.m. dual. 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 or season tickets. All Penn State duals will be broadcast locally on WBLF 970 AM and WKVA 920 AM and streamed live at www.GoPSUsports.com. All home duals will feature a live video webcast and live scoring at www.GoPSUsports.com as well.
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