Jan. 14, 2009
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the guidance of head coach Troy Sunderland, has held on to the No. 14 spot in the latest NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, as compiled and released by Intermat. The full release can be viewed at www.intermatwrestle.com. The Nittany Lions are coming off a solid eighth-place finish as an unseeded team at the 2009 NWCA National Duals.
Penn State, now 7-6 on the year, downed then-No. 5 Missouri and No. 17 Michigan at the event while losing close bouts to No. 4 Nebraska, No. 11 Minnesota and No. 16 Boise State. Five of Penn State's six losses to date are to teams now ranked in the top ten.
Iowa continues to hold down the No. 1 spot, followed by Cornell (2), Iowa State (3), Nebraska (4) and Ohio State (5). Central Michigan, winner of the Virginia Duals, is now No. 6 while Illinois (7), Lehigh (8), Minnesota (9) and Boise State (10) round out the top ten. The Big Ten has nine teams ranked in the top 25 with Penn State (14), Wisconsin (15), Michigan (17), Northwestern (19) and Indiana (20) joining the four conference squads in the top ten. Purdue is receiving votes.
Junior All-Americans Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) lead Penn State's ranked contingent. Jenkins maintains his hold on No. 2 at 149 while Vallimont is ranked No. 8 at 157. All-American Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.), returning to the Penn State line-up at 133, is now ranked No. 11. True freshman Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) moved up to No. 13 at 174 as well. Sophomore Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.) has made his NWCA regular season rankings debut, stepping in at No. 19 at 125 after a strong performance at the National Duals. In addition to those ranked wrestlers, freshman Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.) is ranked No. 20 at 141 by W.I.N. Magazine.
Penn State is off this coming weekend as it prepares for the opening of the 2008-09 Big Ten dual meet season. The Nittany Lions visit No. 20 Indiana on Friday, Jan. 23, for a 7 p.m. dual and then trek to RV Purdue on Saturday, Jan. 24, for a 2 p.m. match-up.
Penn State's next home dual is set for Friday, Jan. 30, when Minnesota comes to town for a 7 p.m. dual in Rec Hall. Single event tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for youth. Penn State students get in FREE with a Penn State ID. All Penn State dual meets and post-season action can be heard live in the Centre Region on WRSC (1390 AM State College), WHUN (1150 AM Huntingdon) and live at www.GoPSUsports.com as part of the All-Access package.