Feb. 25, 2010
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The NCAA has released its final individual coaches rankings and RPI as well as weight by weight national qualifiers for each conference. The 10th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions have seven wrestlers receiving final nods among the top 33 in both RPI and coaches rankings and the Big Ten will receive a total of 56 automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in Omaha on March 18-20.
Head coach Cael Sanderson's team had four wrestlers end the year with top ten rankings in both the coaches individual poll and the RPI: Sophomore Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.), No. 6 RPI, No. 4 Coaches at 149; senior Cyler Sanderson (Heber City, Utah), No. 9 RPI, No. 6 Coaches at 157; senior Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.), No. 8 RPI, No. 7 Coaches at 165, and senior David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio), No. 4 RPI, No. 10 Coaches at 184. Three other Nittany Lions also end the dual meet season with lofty rankings: Junior Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.), No. 7 RPI, No. 11 Coaches at 125; sophomore Cameron Wade (Twinsburg, Ohio), No. 10 RPI, No. 14 Coaches at heavyweight, and senior Adam Lynch (Mifflinburg, Pa.), No. 30 RPI, No. 28 Coaches at 141.
The Big Ten received 56 automatic bids for Nationals, which will be earned at the 2010 Big Ten Championships on Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data. Each wrestler was measured on the following: Division I winning percentage; rating percentage index (RPI); and coaches ranking. A threshold of a 0.725 winning percentage, top 28 in the RPI and top 28 in the coaches ranking was established to allocate 284 of the 330 championships field positions. For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his qualifying tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each qualifying tournament was awarded a minimum of one wrestler per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA tournament spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at the tournament based solely on place-finish.
The Big Ten's allotment of 56 is dispersed as follows: six at 125, five a 133, five at 141, eight at 149, four at 157, five at 165, six at 174, five at 184, seven at 197 and five at heavyweight. The Big Ten received the most automatic qualifiers of any conference. The EIVA received 41, the Big 12 was awarded 37 and the PAC-10 was given 33 to round out the top totals.
After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 10. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; qualifying event placement; quality wins; results against common opponents; winning percentage; RPI; coaches ranking and the number of matches contested at that weight class.
No. 10 Penn State closes out the 2009-10 season with a 13-6-1 dual meet record, 5-3 in Big Ten dual and ending the year in fourth place in the dual meet standings. The Nittany Lions will head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the 2010 Big Ten Championships on Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7. The two day event is hosted by the University of Michigan. All Penn State events will once again air live on Forever Broadcasting's WRSC (1390 AM) or 3WZ (95.3 FM) and on www.GoPSUsports.com as well. The 2009-10 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.