Feb. 4, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of head coach Cael Sanderson, continues its trend of having 10 ranked individuals in the latest Intermat rankings release. The Lions also remain the No. 1 ranked team nationally in Intermat's Tournament Power Index (TPI).
Penn State leads the TPI with 113.0 points while Iowa is second with 93.5. 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 All-American Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) holds the No. 2 ranking at 125 with a 20-2 record. Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) is at No. 16 at 133 and is 13-9 overall while true freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), unbeaten with a 23-0 mark, is No. 2 at 141. Junior Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is 8-1 overall and ranked No. 8 at 149 while twin brother Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is ranked No. 4 at 157 with an unblemished 15-0 record.
Senior All-American David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), unbeaten with a 23-0 record, is No. 1 at 165 and junior All-American Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is No. 3 at 174 with a 23-1 mark. Senior Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) is No. 2 at 184 with a 22-1 ledger as well. Sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.) has moved up to No. 5 at 197 with a 22-2 record and 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 sport a perfect 13-0 mark and are 7-0 in Big Ten action. Penn State has clinched at least a share of the 2014 Big Ten regular season title and could win the title outright with one more victory in league action. Penn State will close out the 2014 Big Ten dual meet season with a stiff road test at No. 3 Minnesota on Sunday. The dual is set for 2 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Central) and will air live on the Big Ten Network. Minnesota will be looking to grab a share of the dual meet title as the Gophers are 9-1 overall, 6-1 in Big Ten duals.
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 some 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.