Dec. 17, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of head coach Cael Sanderson, continues to hold serve with ten wrestlers ranked among the top 20 in the latest Intermat national rankings. Six of Penn State's ten ranked grapplers are listed among the top three at their respective weights.
Penn State is ranked No. 1 in the latest Intermat Tournament Power Index (TPI) with 116.5 points while Minnesota is in second with 111.0. Iowa sits in third with 101.0 as the three teams are the only three over 100 points. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma round out the top five. 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.
Two-time All-American Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) is No. 3 at 125 with a 10-1 record while red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) holds steady at 133 with a No. 15 ranking. True freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), fresh off a win over two-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber of Ohio State on Sunday, vaults to No. 2 at 141 with a perfect 11-0 mark. Junior Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) and twin brother Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) continue at No. 7 and No. 5 respectively at 149 and 157. The duo is slated for a late-December return.
Three-time All-American David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio) is No. 1 at 165 with a perfect 11-0 record while junior All-American Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is No. 3 at 174 with an 11-0 mark as well. Three-time All-American Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) is No. 1 at 184 with an identical 11-0 record and sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.) is No. 3 at 197 with a 10-0 ledger. Junior Jimmy Lawson (Tom's River, N.J.) is No. 12 at 285 with a 10-0 record as well. Penn State, with six wrestlers ranked in the top ten, features a line-up that has six unbeaten individuals with 10 or more victories.
Penn State treks to Iowa City this weekend for a much-anticipated non-conference battle with No. 3 Iowa on Saturday night. The dual, which will air live on the Big Ten Network, begins at 9 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Central) in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Penn State's next home date is a Sunday, Jan. 12, dual with Purdue in Rec Hall at 2 p.m.
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 remaining Rec Hall duals. 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.