Jan. 21, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of head coach Cael Sanderson, continues to have 10 wrestlers ranked in the top 15 nationally at their respective weights. The Lions also remain the No. 1 ranked team nationally in Intermat's Tournament Power Index (TPI).
Penn State leads the TPI with 109.5 points, over ten ahead of second place Iowa's 95.5. No other team is above 80. 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.
Junior Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) holds the No. 2 ranking at 125 with a 19-2 record. True freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) is at No. 15 at 133 and is 11-8 overall while True freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), unbeaten with a 20-0 mark, is No. 2 at 141. Junior Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is ranked No. 8 at 149 while brother Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is No. 4 at 157. Andrew is 7-0 on the year while Dylan is 12-0.
Senior David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), unbeaten with a 20-0 mark, is No. 1 at 165 and junior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is No. 3 at 174 with a 20-1 mark. Senior Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) is No. 2 at 184 with a 19-1 ledger while sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.) is No. 7 at 197 and is 19-2 on the year. Junior Jimmy Lawson (Tom's River, N.J.) is No. 12 at 285 with a 16-4 record.
The Nittany Lions are 8-0 on the year and 4-0 in Big Ten action. Penn State hosts No. 11 Illinois next Friday night, Jan. 24, in a 7 p.m. dual in sold out Rec Hall. The dual will be the 17th-straight home sell out for Penn State.
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 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.