Athletics

Wrestling hosts No. 6 Ohio State Sunday

David Taylor is 10-0 and ranked No. 1 at 165 pounds. Credit: GoPSUsports.comAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Nittany Lions (5-0, 0-0 B1G), three-time defending NCAA and Big Ten Champions, will open up Big Ten action on Sunday, Dec. 15, when they welcome No. 6 Ohio State (4-0, 0-0 B1G) to Rec Hall. The dual is set for noon and airs live on the Big Ten Network. It will be Penn State's 14th straight sell-out.

Penn State is coming off a record setting weekend. The Nittany Lions travelled to Boston on Dec. 6 and downed the Terriers 34-6. The dual meet was wrestled in front of a BU record crowd in Case Hall of 1,664, the first ever sell out in Boston wrestling history. Two days later, the Lions hosted Pittsburgh in a sold-out Bryce Jordan Center and downed the Panthers 28-9. The dual's attendance mark of 15,996, which was Penn State's 13th straight home sell out, set a new NCAA dual meet attendance record and new Penn State records for a wrestling dual meet and an athletics event in the BJC.

Sanderson's squad features ten ranked grapplers. Junior All-American Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) continues to hold the No. 3 spot at 125 with a 9-1 mark while red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) is No. 15 at 133 with a 4-4 mark. True freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.) jumped up to No. 8 at 141 with a perfect 10-0 mark. Junior Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is No. 7 at 149 and twin brother Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is No. 5 at 157. The brothers are expected to return mid-to-late December after off-season surgeries. With both Alton's doubtful for the dual, look for senior James English (York, Pa.) or red-shirt freshman Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) to go at 149 and senior James Vollrath (Richboro, Pa.) to get the call at 157.

Senior All-American David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio) is No. 1 at 165 with a 10-0 mark while junior All-American Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is No. 3 at 174 with an identical 10-0 record. Senior All-American Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) is 10-0 and ranked No. 1 at 184 while sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.) has moved up to No. 3 at 197 with 10-0 record. Junior Jimmy Lawson (Tom's River, N.J.) rounds out Penn State's ten ranked grapplers, ranked No. 12 at 285 with a 9-0 mark.

Ohio State is coming off an outstanding third place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last weekend. The Buckeyes are led by top-ranked Logan Stieber, who is 9-0 at 141. Senior Nick Heflin is 8-0 and No. 5 at 197, sophomore Johnni DiJulius is 14-1 and No. 6 at 133, sophomore Kenny Courts is 17-2 and No. 12 at 184, Nick Roberts is 18-4 and No. 19 at 125 and senior Ian Paddock is 16-5 and No. 19 at 149.

The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series against Ohio State 16-11, including the last three straight. Penn State won 34-9 in Rec Hall on Jan. 29, 2012, and won last year's meeting in Columbus, 29-18, on Feb. 10, 2013.

Penn State returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 21, when it treks to Iowa for a non-conference dual in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The match-up airs live on the Big Ten Network as well and starts at 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central.

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 a few of the remaining 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.

THIS WEEKThe Penn State Nittany Lions (5-0, 0-0 B1G) will open up Big Ten action in a sold out Rec Hall on Sunday, Dec. 15, at 12 p.m. against No. 6 Ohio State (4-0, 0-0 B1G). The dual, which will be Penn State's 14th straight home sell-out, is also a live Big Ten Network telecast.

UP NEXTThe Nittany Lions travel to Iowa on Saturday, Dec. 21, for a NON-CONFERENCE dual meet in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The dual is set for 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central.

ON THE AIRTV - Big Ten Network LIVE/also available live via the BTN2go appLive Web Video - Not allowed (due to being live on the BTN)Radio - Full season live on WRSC (103.1 FM/1390 AM) State College; WPBZ 1230 AM Lock Haven; 1370 WWCB Corry; WLAK (103.5 FM) Huntingdon; WMRF (95.7 FM) Lewistown; WIEZ (670 AM) Lewistown. Also live at GoPSUsports.com as part of the All-Access package as are select home duals.

No. 2 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (5-0, 0-0 B1G)WT NAME EL HT/HS / REC125 #3 Nico Megaludis Jr. Murraysville, Pa./Franklin Regional / 9-1133 #15 Jimmy Gulibon Fr. Latrobe, Pa./Derry Area / 4-4OR Jordan Conaway So. Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford / 9-2141 #8 Zain Retherford Fr. Benton, Pa./Benton / 10-0149 James English Sr. York, Pa./Central York / 3-2OR Zack Beitz Fr. Mifflintown, Pa./Juniata / 5-4#7 Andrew Alton (doubtful) Jr. Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain / 0-0157 James Vollrath Sr. Richboro, Pa./Council Rock South / 7-3#5 Dylan Alton (doubtful) Jr. Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain / 0-0165 #1 David Taylor Sr. St. Paris, Ohio/St. Paris Graham / 10-0174 #3 Matt Brown Jr. West Valley City, Utah/Cyprus / 10-0184 #1 Ed Ruth Sr. Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township / 10-0Wes Phipps Fr. Grove City, Pa./Grove City / 2-1197 #3 Morgan McIntosh So. Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel / 10-0285 #12 Jimmy Lawson Jr. Tom's River, N.J./Manchester Township / 9-0Jon Gingrich Jr. Wingate, Pa./Bald Eagle Area / 13-1 

No. 6 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (4-0, 0-0 B1G) / trend it at #PSUwrOSUWT NAME EL HT/HS / REC125 #19 Nick Roberts Fr. Hooversville, Pa./North Star / 18-4133 #6 Johnni DiJulius So. Aurora, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit / 14-1141 #1 Logan Stieber Jr. Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville / 9-0149 #19 Ian Paddock Sr. Warsaw, N.Y./Warsaw / 16-5157 Randy Languis Jr. Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto / 11-6165 Joe Grandominico Jr. Westerville, Ohio/Olentangy / 7-7174 Mark Martin So Strongsville, Ohio/St. Edward / 16-6184 #12 Kenny Courts So. Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin / 17-2197 #5 Nick Heflin Sr. Massillon, Ohio/Massillon Perry / 8-0285 Nick Tavanello Fr. Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth / 15-7Individual rankings are Intermat and team rankings are Intermat TPI as of 12/10 

Last Updated December 13, 2013

Contact