Feb. 18, 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's 23-12 win over No. 5 Oklahoma State helped the team strengthen its hold on the No. 1 spot in Intermat's Tournament Power Index (TPI) with ten ranked wrestlers in the latest release.
Penn State leads the TPI with 107.0 points while Iowa continues on in a strong second with 97.5. 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.
Penn State's ten ranked individuals remain nearly static from last week's release. Junior All-American Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) holds the No. 2 ranking at 125 with a 22-2 record. Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) moves up to No. 15 at 133 and is 13-11 overall while true freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), remains unbeaten with a 25-0 mark and is No. 2 at 141. Red-shirt freshman Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) holds steady at 149, sitting at No. 17 with an 11-9 mark. Junior Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is ranked No. 6 at 157 with a 15-2 record.
Senior All-American David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), unbeaten with a 25-0 record, is No. 1 at 165 and junior All-American Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is No. 4 at 174 with a 23-3 mark. Senior Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) is No. 2 at 184 with a 24-1 ledger as well. Sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.) remains at No. 3 at 197 with a 24-2 record. Junior Jimmy Lawson (Tom's River, N.J.) is No. 12 at 285 with a 16-4 mark.
The Nittany Lions head into the 2013-14 dual meet finale with a 14-1 record, 7-1 in Big Ten action and owners of their second Big Ten dual co-title in three years. Penn State hosts Clarion on Sunday, Feb. 23, in sold out Rec Hall. The dual begins at 2 p.m., will be streamed live online via GoPSUsports' All-Access and will serve as Senior Day for Penn State.
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.