UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Eight members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team remain ranked nationally by Intermat, seven of whom appear in the top seven at their respective weights. Coming off a 1-1 road weekend, the Nittany Lions widened their hold on the No. 1 team ranking on Intermat’s Tournament Power Index (TPI). 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 is ranked No. 1 once again, a position it has held all season long in the TPI, with 100.0 points. Iowa, which snapped Penn State’s 20-dual win streak last Friday night in Iowa City, is now No. 2 with 95.0 and Oklahoma State is third with 87. No other team cracks the 70 point mark.
Sophomore All-American Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) is ranked No. 2 at 125 with a 17-2 record, including five pins, two tech falls and three majors. Sophomore Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa) is 19-1 and ranked No. 7 at 149. Alton has ten pins, two techs and four majors. Sophomore All-American Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is ranked No. 5 at 157 with an 18-3 mark, eight pins and two majors.
Defending NCAA Champion and two-time All-American David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio) is ranked No. 2 at 165 and is 19-1 with eight pins, two majors and eight tech falls. Sophomore Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is ranked No. 5 at 174 and is 18-3 with five pins, two tech falls and five majors. Defending NCAA Champion and two-time All-American Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) is ranked No. 1 nationally at 184 with a 21-0 mark. Ruth has eight pins, three techs and six majors. Three-time All-American Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa) is ranked No. 3 at 197 with a 20-0 record, including eight pins and two majors. Sophomore heavyweight Jon Gingrich (Wingate, Pa.) is ranked No. 17 at 285 with a 14-6 record.
Penn State continues a rugged road trip with duals at No. 15 Pittsburgh on Friday night at 7 p.m. and at No. 6 Ohio State on Sunday at 4 p.m. Penn State’s only remaining home dual meet is Sunday, Feb. 17, when Rider visits Rec Hall. The dual is sold out but a limited number of SRO tickets may be available. For availability, fans can call 1-800-NITTANY or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office windows from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 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.
