Feb. 27, 2008
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of veteran head coach Troy Sunderland, ended the dual meet season ranked No. 6 in the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll as compiled and released by Intermat. The Nittany Lions were second only to top-ranked Iowa among Big Ten schools in the final dual meet poll, which can be viewed in its entirety at www.intermatwrestle.com.
Iowa claimed all 12 first place votes and finished first, followed by Central Michigan in second and Iowa State in third. Nebraska claimed the No. 4 spot while Oklahoma State finished ranked fifth. Penn State concludes the dual seat at No. 6 followed by four more Big Ten schools to round out the top ten: Wisconsin (7), Minnesota (8), Ohio State (9) and Illinois (10). Michigan is ranked No. 11 with Northwestern (13) and Indiana (20) giving the Big Ten nine ranked teams in the top 25, with six claiming top ten spots.
The Nittany Lions ended the dual meet season with a 14-5 overall record, 5-3 in Big Ten duals (good enough for third place in the final dual standings) and had impressive wins over two of the teams ranked ahead of it (21-18 at No. 5 Oklahoma State and 22-16 vs. Iowa State in the National Duals). It marks the second straight season that Sunderland's squad went 14-5 overall and finished in third place in the dual meet standings.
Senior All-American Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) leads a contingent of seven ranked individuals. Davis is ranked No. 3 at 197 and ended the regular season with a 17-1 record with six pins. The co-captain's career mark stands at 107-20. Joining Davis with a top three ranking is sophomore Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.). Vallimont is ranked No. 3 at 157 and sports a team-best 24-1 record. Sophomore Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.) is ranked No. 5 at 149 with a 20-3 record, giving the Nittany Lions three grapplers ranked in the top five.
Senior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.) checks in at No. 9 at 125 with his 12-6 record and recently won his 100th career victory. McKnight is 100-40 for his career, which included two seasons at Buffalo (35 of his wins have come as a Lion). True freshman Garrett Scott (Alexandria, Pa.) is ranked No. 10 at 141 with a 16-3 record and gives Penn State five wrestlers ranked in the top ten.
Junior Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) is ranked No. 14 at 184 and sports a 17-6 record this year. Sophomore David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) is ranked No. 16 at 174 and ended the regular season with a 23-8 record.
Penn State will take part in the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships next weekend in Minneapolis. The two-day event, hosted by the University of Minnesota, takes place on Saturday and Sunday, March 8-9, at UM's Williams Arena. For more on the tournament, go to www.gophersports.com.
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