Jan. 21, 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 were off last week and begin Big Ten dual meet action this weekend on the road.
Penn State, now 7-6 on the year, has five individuals ranked among the top 20 at their respective weights and a sixth receiving a ranking in other national polls. The Nittany Lions are being led by a trio of All-Americans all holding down top 12 spots.
Iowa continues to hold down the No. 1 spot, followed by Cornell (2), Iowa State (3), Nebraska (4) and Ohio State (5). Central Michigan is now No. 6 while Illinois (7), Lehigh (8), Minnesota (9) and Boise State (10) round out the top ten, which is basically unchanged from last week with most teams off last weekend as well. The Big Ten now has 10 of its 11 teams ranked among the top 25, the first time all season long that the conference has had ten ranked teams. Penn State (14), Wisconsin (15), Michigan (17), Northwestern (19) and Indiana (21) have been ranked all season long. Purdue earned its first national ranking this season, checking in at No. 25 after receiving votes for the bulk of the campaign.
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.) is still ranked No. 11 at 133. True freshman Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) checks in at No. 14 at 174 while sophomore Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.) continues to hold down the 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. 19 at 141 by W.I.N. Magazine.
The Nittany Lions open up Big Ten dual meet action this weekend, visiting No. 21 Indiana on Friday night at 7 p.m. and No. 25 Purdue on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Indiana dual will air live on the Big Ten Network (Comcast Channel 55).
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.