Nov. 19, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State Nittany Lion senior David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio) has been named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for the week ending Nov. 17, 2013. The honor is the second for Penn State this year, the second straight for Taylor and the third of his career.
Taylor, ranked No. 1 at 165 by Intermat, continued to dominate the opposition with two more wins, both with bonus points, in a 2-0 road week for top-ranked Penn State. Taylor, now 7-0 on the year, pinned No. 13 Ramon Santiago at Rider in front of a sold out Rider crowd. The next day, Taylor dominated Lehigh's Brian Brill in Stabler Arena in front of 5,000 fans and posted a 20-7 major decision.
Taylor has five pins, a tech fall and a major this year. The major against Brill was a milestone for the Lion senior as it was his 100th career bonus point victory. Taylor is by far the all-time leader in bonus point percentage in Penn State history. He is 107-3 overall with 42 pins, 35 techs and 23 majors. That is 100 bonus point wins in 110 bouts for a stunning .909 percentage.
The Nittany Lions return to action this Sunday for their opener against Lock Haven. The dual starts at 2 p.m. in Rec Hall and will be preceded by the raising of the 2013 Big Ten and NCAA title banners. The dual meet, as is every home dual for the Nittany Lions, is sold out. As of press time, less than 80 Standing Room Only tickets remain.
With the full season of Rec Hall duals sold out prior to the start of the campaign, a very limited number of standing room only tickets are available to a few of the seven Rec Hall duals. Also, there are still tickets available for Penn State's Dec. 8 dual against Pitt in the Bryce Jordan Center. People may purchase tickets by calling 1-800-NITTANY or by visiting the Penn State Athletics ticket office located in the BJC. 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 2013-14 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.