UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The top-ranked Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team will open up the 2012-13 season by hosting the No. 24 Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Friday (Nov. 16) night and then trekking to West Virginia for a Sunday dual. Penn State and Lehigh tangle in a sold out Rec Hall starting a 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions and Mountaineers battle at 2 p.m. in Morgantown on Sunday.
Penn State features a line-up including five returning All-Americans, three NCAA Champions and seven ranked wrestlers. Junior Ed Ruth, two-time All-American and defending NCAA Champion at 174 is ranked No. 1 at 184, his new weight. Junior David Taylor, two-time All-American and defending NCAA Champion at 165 is ranked No. 2. Senior Quentin Wright, three-time All-American and NCAA Champion at 184 in 2011 is ranked No. 3 at 197, his new weight. Sophomore Nico Megaludis, NCAA Runner-Up a year ago at 125, is ranked No. 2. Sophomore Dylan Alton, freshman All-American after placing third at 157 last year, is ranked No. 2. Sophomore Matt Brown is ranked No. 4 at 174 and sophomore Andrew Alton, coming off a red-shirt, is ranked No. 6 at 149.
Lehigh comes into the dual with a 1-0 record. The Mountain Hawks began the year with a 23-16 home win over Binghamton on Nov. 8. LU features a talented line-up as well, including five ranked wrestlers, led by No. 3 Robert Hamlin at 184. Penn State owns a 63-34-3 lead in the all-time series between the two schools, including the last two. Penn State won 24-12 at Lehigh last year and 21-17 in Rec Hall back in 2010-11. The Mountain Hawks feature four ranked wrestlers. Robert Hamlin is No. 3 at 184, Joey Napoli is No. 13 at 157, Shane Welsh is No. 18 at 149 and Nathaniel Brown is No. 18 at 174.
West Virginia will bring a 1-1 record into the dual on Sunday. The Mountaineers feature a line-up that includes four ranked wrestlers. Penn State owns a 28-7 lead in the all-time series, including six straight. Penn State won 34-6 last year in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions won the last meeting in Morgantown as well, a 33-12 win on Dec. 11, 2009. The Mountaineers have three ranked wrestlers. Colin Johnson is ranked No. 17 at 133, Nathan Pennesi is No. 19 at 141 and Shane Young is No. 20 at 125.
Penn State will take part in the Nittany Lion Open on Sunday, Dec. 2, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions’ next home dual is the Big Ten opener against the visiting Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday, Dec. 9, at 2 p.m. Penn State’s full season of home duals is sold out. For information on which duals have a limited number of SRO tickets available and to purchase tickets, fans can call 1-800-NITTANY or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office windows beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6. 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.