Feb. 11, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of head coach Cael Sanderson, continues to dominate the national rankings, both as a team and individually. Penn State rolls on as the No. 1 team in Intermat's Tournament Power Index (TPI) with 10 ranked wrestlers in the latest release.
Penn State leads the TPI with 107.0 points while Iowa continues on in a strong second with 98.0. 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 All-American Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) holds the No. 2 ranking at 125 with a 21-2 record. Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) is at No. 16 at 133 and is 13-10 overall while true freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), unbeaten with a 24-0 mark, is No. 2 at 141. Red-shirt freshman Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) returns to the rankings at 149, sitting at No. 17 with an 11-8 mark. Junior Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is ranked No. 6 at 157 with a 15-1 record.
Senior All-American David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), unbeaten with a 24-0 record, is No. 1 at 165 and junior All-American Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is No. 4 at 174 with a 23-2 mark. Senior Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) is No. 2 at 184 with a 23-1 ledger as well. Sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.), fresh off a big win over the former top-ranked wrestler, has moved up to No. 3 at 197 with a 23-2 record. Junior Jimmy Lawson (Tom's River, N.J.), who is still sidelined with an injury, is No. 12 at 285 with a 16-4 mark.
The Nittany Lions head into this weekend's national showcase dual against No. 5 Oklahoma State with a 13-1 record, 7-1 in Big Ten action and owners of their second Big Ten dual co-title in three years. Penn State hosts the Cowboys on Sunday in sold out Rec Hall. The dual begins at 2 p.m. and will be streamed live online via GoPSUsports' All-Access.
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.