Jan. 24, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Eight members of the Nittany Lion wrestling team continue to be ranked in the latest version of the Intermat national individual rankings. Four Nittany Lion All-Americans are ranked in the top two and all eight are listed in the top 12. Penn State is now 8-1 overall, 4-1 in the Big Ten, after its resounding 22-12 win over Iowa in a sold out Rec Hall last Sunday. Head coach Cael Sanderson's Lions are ranked No. 2 in the latest USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll and continue to hold the No. 1 in Intermat's Tournament Power Index (TPI).
Three-time All-American Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.) is 20-0 on the year and ranked No. 1 at 149. All-American David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio) is 18-0 thus far and is No. 1 at 165 and All-American Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) is 20-0 at ranked No. 2 at 174. Two-time All-American Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) is No. 2 at 184 with a 17-2 mark.
Senior Cameron Wade (Twinsburg, Ohio) is 17-4 at heavyweight and is ranked No. 6 and red-shirt freshman Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is 15-4 at 157 and ranked No. 7. True freshman Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) is 16-5 at 125 and ranked No. 8 while classmate Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.) is 13-5 at 197 and ranked No. 12.
Penn State is now ranked No. 2 in the latest USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll. Oklahoma State remains No. 1 with 250 points with the Nittany Lions at No. 2 with 235. Minnesota is No. 3 with 228 while Cornell is No. 4 with 225 and Ohio State No. 5 with 206. The Nittany Lions retain their hold on the No. 1 spot on Intermat's Tournament Power Index with 103.0 points while Oklahoma State is second with 81.0. Minnesota (74.5), Cornell (67.5) and Iowa (50.5) follow to round out the TPI top five.
Penn State's next dual is on Sunday, Jan. 29, when No. 5 Ohio State invades Rec Hall for a dual that is already sold out, including the allotted Standing Room Only tickets. Penn State hosts Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. and a limited number of SRO tickets do remain for that battle. Tickets are priced at $8 for adults and $5 for youth (18 and under) and can be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY or in person at the Bryce Jordan Center box office. A maximum of four tickets may be purchased per person.
The full season slate of live dual meet and tournament action will air locally on WRSC AM (1390 AM) with Friday evening duals being simulcast on WRSC FM (103.1 FM). Lock Haven's WBPZ (1230 AM) will also carry the entire season live, WIEZ (670 AM) in Huntingdon/Lewistown carries all Sunday events and further affiliates may be added soon. The regular season schedule of radio broadcasts will be streamed live at www.GoPSUsports.com as part of Penn State's All-Access package, which will also feature live video streams of many home events. Ticket information is accessed easily online at www.GoPSUsports.com/tickets/m-wrestl-tickets.html . Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstatepat and on Penn State Wrestling's facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling. The 2011-12 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.