UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers (11-4) will head to St. Louis, Mo., for the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The three day event runs March 19-21 in the Scottrade Center. Head coach Cael Sanderson's squad is riding a streak of four straight NCAA titles, including the last one contested in the Scottrade Center.
Penn State will send seven wrestlers to Nationals, each of whom will be seeded. Penn State has two No. 2 seeds, senior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) and junior Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.).
Brown heads to St. Louis with the No. 2 nod at 174. Brown sports a 24-3 overall record and was the Big Ten Runner-Up this year. He is a two-time All-American, having been the NCAA finalist in 2013. Brown will meet Pete Renda of North Carolina State in the opening round on Thursday.
McIntosh, the 2015 Big Ten Champion at 197, is the No. 2 seed at 197. McIntosh is 26-2 overall and was an All-American last season. McIntosh will take on the University of Virginia's Zach Nye on Thursday.
Sophomore Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) is the No. 7 seed at 133. Gulibon is making his second straight trip to NCAAs having qualified last year at 133 as well. The Lion sophomore is 22-7 overall and will face Scott Delvecchio of Rutgers on Thursday.
Senior Jimmy Lawson (Toms River, N.J.) is the No. 8 seed at 285. Lawson is now a two-time NCAA qualifier as well, having earned a trip at 285 in 2013. Lawson sports a 15-3 overall record and will take on Jacob Aiken-Phillips of Cornell in the opening round.
Junior Jordan Conaway (Abbottstown, Pa.) is the No. 11 seed at 125. Conaway is now a two-time NCAA qualifier, having finished one win shy of All-America status at 133 in 2013. Conaway is 23-6 overall having finished third at the Big Ten Championships on March 7-8. Conaway battles Joaquin Marquez of The Citadel in the opening round.
Sophomore Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) is the No. 12 seed at 149. Beitz had a strong Big Ten Championship, finishing fifth as the six-seed. This will be the Lion sophomore's first trip to NCAAs. He has an 18-9 overall record and will meet Chattanooga's Shawn Greevy on Thursday.
Red-shirt freshman Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.) is the No. 14 seed at 184 after a strong run at Big Tens. McCutcheon, now a freshman national qualifier, placed fourth at Big Tens as the No. 8 seed and is 24-12 overall. McCutcheon takes on Nick Fiegener of Cal Poly in the first round.
Penn State has won the last four NCAA titles, the longest streak since Oklahoma State won four straight from 2003 through 2006. The last time the event was held in the Scottrade Center, Penn State dominated the field, wrapping up a dominant season by outdistancing the field in St. Louis by nearly 30 points. Penn State won the title (its second straight at the time) with 143.5 points, far ahead of the second place total of 117.5. Penn State also crowned three NCAA Champions with Frank Molinaro, David Taylor and Ed Ruth all completing undefeated seasons with NCAA crowns. Penn State's dominant performance included three other All-Americans (all in the top three. Nico Megaludis was national runner-up, Dylan Alton placed third and Quentin Wright was NCAA runner-up.
The 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships take place on March 19-21 in St. Louis, Mo. The three-day event will take place in the Scottrade Center and begins Thursday, March 19 at 12 p.m. Penn State has won the last four NCAA titles. Penn State 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 2014-15 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (11-4, 6-3 B1G)WT NAME EL HT/HS REC125 #9 Jordan Conaway Jr. Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford / 23-6#9 final coaches / #8 final NCAA RPI133 #4 Jimmy Gulibon So. Latrobe, Pa./Derry Area / 22-7#4 final coaches / #3 final NCAA RPI149 #14 Zack Beitz So. Mifflintown, Pa./Juniata / 18-9#14 final coaches / #14 final NCAA RPI174 #2 Matt Brown Sr. West Valley City, Utah/Cyprus / 24-3#2 final coaches / #3 final NCAA RPI184 #20 Matt McCutcheon Fr. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area / 24-12#20 final coaches / #19 final NCAA RPI197 #4 Morgan McIntosh Jr. Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel / 26-2#4 final coaches / #3 final NCAA RPI / 2015 BIG TEN CHAMPION285 #7 Jimmy Lawson Sr. Toms River, N.J./Manchester Township / 15-3#7 final coaches / NR final NCAA RPIIndividual rankings are FINAL NCAA COACHES RANKINGS 2/24/15