In three years, senior Phil Davis has pretty much accomplished everything he has set his sights on at Penn State except for that elusive national title. After a season that had him ranked No. 1 at 197 pounds for much of the year, but one that ended with a fifth place finish at nationals, Davis has a quiet resolve about him as he heads into his final season with the Nittany Lions. Not many wrestlers would walk away from a third All-America honor feeling like he did not meet his own personal expectations, but those are the lofty goals of the Harrisburg native. He heads into his senior season looking to become only the fourth four-time All-American in Penn State[apos]s rich wrestling history. A certain contender for the national crown, Davis will carry 90 career wins and 169 career dual match points into the 2007-08 season as he looks to be the last man standing in St. Louis in March.
Lion Career:
2006-07: Davis went 2-0 at the Pa. Duals to open the season... scheduled to compete in the NWCA All-Star Classic the next night, he did not make weight and could not wrestle... Davis went 6-0 to win the 2006 Nittany Lion Open crown at 197...he posted three majors and a pin on his way to the title...Davis improved to 5-0 against No. 2 Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell with a 5-0 win in Penn State[apos]s 18-12 dual match victory at CU on Jan. 7...took down No. 15 T.J. Morrison of Rider 4-0 on Jan. 13 in the Virginia Duals...went 4-0 at the Virginia Duals...downed No. 11 Dallas Herbst of Wisconsin, 11-6, then pinned Minnesota[apos]s Brent Eidenschink during Penn State[apos]s Big Ten opening road swing...pinned No. 7 J.D. Bergman (4:18) of Ohio State in next bout on 1/26...pinned Illinois[apos] Patrick Bond (4:02) for third straight Big Ten pin on 1/28...beat No. 2 Mike Tamillow of Northwestern 8-2 on 2/2...pinned Iowa[apos]s Rick Leora (1:17) to clinch Penn State[apos]s 24-13 win over the Hawkeyes on 2/4...Davis is 6-0 vs. the Big Ten this season, 18-3 in conference duals...his 5-1 win over No. 20 Nick Roy of Michigan clinched Penn State[apos]s win at UM on 2/16...pinned MSU[apos]s Nick Palmieri on 2/18 to close out undefeated Big Ten dual meet season (8-0)...pinned five of eight Big Ten foes...entered the 2007 NCAA Championships as the No. 4 seed, went 4-2 to place fifth and become Penn State[apos]s 15th three-time All-American.
Big Ten Championships (2-2, 4th place): No. 1 seed in tournament, downed IU[apos]s Nate Everhart (5-1) in first round before suffering upset loss to Ohio State[apos]s Bergman...Downed #20 Nick Roy of Michigan in consos...fell to #13 Dallas Herbst of Wisconsin in third place match.
NCAA Championships (4-2, 5th place, Three-Time All-American): Entered 2007 NCAA Championships as the No. 4 seed...opened tournament with 9-3 win over Ryan Goodman of North Carolina State (the ACC Champion)...beat No. 5 seed Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell 6-3...upset by No. 9 seed Kurt Backes of Iowa State in national semifinals....upset by OSU[apos]s Bergman 5-4 in first wrestle-back bout....downed Rinaldi again (8-4) for fifth place.
2005-06: Ended the season in the national finals at 197, dropping a decision to three-time national champion Jacob Rosholt of Oklahoma State...2006 Big Ten Champion at 197 after going 4-0 at Big Tens...combined to go 8-1 in post-season tournaments...was a perfect 8-0 in Big Ten duals last season...went 25-4 overall with a 14-1 dual match mark...improved his career record to 62-14 and his career dual record to 25-4...was 6-0 in falls in and has a 15-1 career record in matches decided with a pin...named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on 11/16...named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Pennsylvania Duals in Rec Hall, helping PSU to the team title....won Most Pins in Fastest Time Award at Pennsylvania Duals, recording three pins in his three matches in a combined time of 11:25...ranked as high as No. 6 nationally by the NWCA in the final regular season poll...led Penn State with 56 dual match points and has 98 for his career...was 4-0 in majors and is a perfect 10-0 in majors for his career...grabbed wins over three ranked wrestlers prior to Big Tens, beating No. 9 Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell (3-0), No. 8 Brady Richardson of Indiana (6-0) and No. 18 Nathan Moore of Purdue (9-5)...named Most Outstanding Wrestler at Penn State[apos]s season-ending banquet.
Big Ten Championships (4-0, 2006 Big Ten Champion): Entered 2006 Big Ten Championships at Indiana as No. 2 seed...went 4-0 to claim 2006 title...opened tournament with pin of Ohio State[apos]s James Aston and major over Minnesota[apos]s Mitch Kuhlman...downed two ranked wrestlers, No. 10 Matt Delguyd of Northwestern (2-1) in the semis and No. 8 Tyrone Byrd of Illinois (4-0) in the Big Ten Championship match.
NCAA Championships (4-1, 2006 National Runner-Up, All-American): Was No. 6 seed at nationals...opened tournament with 11-0 major over Drexel[apos]s Jon Oplinger...earned three straight wins over three seeded wrestlers in No. 11 Ryan Goodman of N.C. State (6-2), No. 3 B.J. Padden of Nebraska (6-5) and No. 7 Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell (7-4) in the national semifinals...went 4-1 overall and claimed second All-America laurel with second place finish...became first national finalist for Penn State since Josh Moore and Pat Cummins both appeared in the finals in 2004.
2004-05: In his first season as a starter, Davis led the team with a 37-10 record, equalling Jim Martin (1985-86) for the most wins ever by a Penn State freshman...quickly became a crowd favorite with his exciting and sometimes precarious mat wrestling and ability to turn opponents...led the team with nine falls...battled incumbent 197-pound starter Joel Edwards for the starting job early in the year, earning the nod for Penn State[apos]s third dual meet of the season...his quick progress and clear ability allowed Penn State to move Edwards up to heavyweight later in the year when injuries hit the line up...made a strong fourth-place run at the Midlands Championships...won both the East Stroudsburg Open and Nittany Lion Open while finishing third at the Mat-Town Tournament...posted an 11-3 dual meet record (tied for third on the team) and posted 42 dual meet points (fourth)...went 10-6 against ranked opponents, including defeats over No. 10 Jerry Rinaldi (8-5), No. 9/16 Tyrone Byrd (6-1 & 6-2), No. 3 Chris Stretkowicz and No. 7 Ryan Bader...went 5-0 at the National Duals, including the victory over Rinaldi, scoring 20 dual points with a fall, two shut-out major decisions and two decisions...posted two, 10-match win streaks on the year...earned his first career ranking at No. 19 in the Dec. 21 W.I.N. poll and leapt to a career-high No. 11 ranking in the Jan. 11 W.I.N. poll...ranked as high as No. 13 in the NWCA/InterMat Rankings, reaching that on Feb. 8 and in the March 8 poll.
Big Ten Championships (3-2, 4th): Seeded No. 4 in his first Big Ten Tournament appearance, Davis overcame a tough first round loss (2-1) to No. 5 seed Tyrone Byrd to go 3-2 and equal his seed with a fourth-place finish and earn his first career NCAA bid...dominating in three straight wins, including an 11-1 major decision over No. 2 seed Nathan Moore to reach the third place bout where he was pinned in the first period by No. 7 seed Ryan Flaherty.
NCAA Championships (4-2, 7th): Unseeded in his first NCAA appearance, Davis posted a 4-2 mark beating three higher seeded wrestlers to earn a seventh place finish and the first All-America honor of his career...became just the sixth Nittany Lion to earn All-America honors as a freshman and just the second unseeded Penn State wrestler in the last 12 years to become an All-American...won his first two matches in the tournament knocking off No. 10 seed Jerry Rinaldi (7-1) and No. 7 seed Ryan Bader (3-1)...fell to No. 2 seed Jake Rosholt (9-4) in the quarterfinals...returned to post an upset of No. 3 seed Chris Stretkowicz (12-6) before falling by a point (6-5) to No. 12 seed Wynn Michalak...downed Ryan Flaherty (5-0) for seventh place.
2003-04: A redshirt season in which he posted a 16-3 record competing in open tournaments...placed high in all four tournaments he competed in, taking first at the Edinboro Open, third at the East Stroudsburg Open, third at the Cleveland State Open and fifth at the BIC Open...took second at the Fila Jr. National tournament while wrestling freestyle and second at the Eastern Regional Qualifying Tournament while wrestling Greco-Roman...defeated former Michigan State All-American Nick Fekete in freestyle.
High School/Personal: A four-year team captain and letterman at Harrisburg High, Davis posted a 112-17 career record...also lettered in cross country and tennis...a three-time PIAA placewinner he took home fourth in 2001 and 2002 and fifth in 2003...posted a 33-3 record both his senior and junior seasons...a runner-up in Junior National Greco-Roman competition in 2002 and 2003 an eighth-place finisher in freestyle...has two older brothers.
CAREER STATISTICS | |||||||
| Year | Overall | Duals (B10) | Tourn. (B10/NCAA) | Falls | TF | MD | Pts. |
| 2003-04 | Red-Shirt Season | ||||||
| 2004-05 | 37-10 | 11-3 (4-3) | 26-7 (3-2/4-2) | 9-1 | 3-0 | 6-0 | 42 |
| 2005-06 | 25-4 | 14-1 (8-0) | 11-3 (4-0/4-1) | 6-0 | 1-0 | 4-0 | 56 |
| 2006-07 | 28-5 | 16-1 (8-0) | 12-4 (2-2/4-2) | 7-0 | 1-0 | 6-0 | 71 |
| Career | 90-19 | 41-5 (20-3) | 49-14 (9-4/12-5) | 22-1 | 5-0 | 16-0 | 169 |