Feb. 12, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Nine members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team remain ranked nationally by Intermat, all of whom appear in the top 14 at their weight classes. The Nittany Lions continued their hold on the No. 1 team ranking on Intermat's Tournament Power Index (TPI). The TPI ranks a team's potential tournament strength based on Intermat's individual rankings, not dual meet strength. The full list of national rankings is available at www.intermatwrestle.com.
Penn State is ranked No. 1 once again, a position it has held all season long in the TPI, with 99.0 points. Iowa is a close second at 96.0 while Oklahoma State sits in third with 89.5. No other team tops 75 points in the team rankings.
Sophomore All-American Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) is ranked No. 2 at 125 with a 19-2 record, including five pins, two tech falls and four majors. Red-shirt freshman Jordan Conaway (Abbottstown, Pa.) makes his national rankings debut, landing at No. 14 at 133. Conaway is 12-6 on the year with a pin and three majors. He has three wins over ranked wrestlers and four of his losses are to ranked opponents (including No.'s 1 and 2). Sophomore Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa) is 20-2 and ranked No. 12 at 149. Alton has ten pins, two techs and four majors. Sophomore All-American Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is ranked No. 5 at 157 with a 20-3 mark, eight pins and two majors.
Defending NCAA Champion and two-time All-American David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio) is ranked No. 2 at 165 and is 21-1 with nine pins, three majors and eight tech falls. Sophomore Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is ranked No. 7 at 174 and is 19-4 with five pins, two tech falls and five majors. Defending NCAA Champion and two-time All-American Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) is ranked No. 1 nationally at 184 with a 23-0 mark. Ruth has nine pins, three techs and seven majors. Three-time All-American Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa) is now ranked No. 2 at 197 with a 22-0 record, including nine pins and three majors. Sophomore heavyweight Jimmy Lawson (Tom's River, N.J.) returns to the national rankings, checking in at No. 12 with an 18-4 mark, including two pins and three majors.
Penn State will close out the home portion of its schedule on Sunday, Feb. 17, when Rider visits Rec Hall for a 2 p.m. meeting. The dual is sold out but a limited number of SRO tickets may be available. For availability, fans can call 1-800-NITTANY or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office windows from 10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstateWREST and on Penn State Wrestling's facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling. The 2012-13 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.