Davis, who finished seventh last year as a freshman, entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed while his opponent, Jacob Rosholt, entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed and was the defending national champion at 197 having won the title a year ago. Rosholt got the first takedown of the match with 2:01 left in the first period and turned Davis quickly to pick up three back points. The first period ended with Rosholt leading 5-1 and holding over a minute's worth of riding time. Davis chose down to begin the second period and escaped to cut the lead to 5-2, but Rosholt added another takedown to lead 7-3 after two period. Rosholt began the final period in the down position and escaped to lead 8-3. Davis applied plenty of offensive pressure for the remaining minutes, but Rosholt held him off and went on to post a 10-3 win. Rosholt claimed his third national title at 197 with the win.
Davis became Penn State's first-ever national runner-up at 197. He went 4-1 on the tournament and ends his sophomore year with a 25-4 record. In two years, he is a two time All-American (7th last year, 2nd this year), the 2006 Big Ten Champion and has a 62-14 record. Davis is also 8-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, the 20th best NCAA tournament winning percentage (.727) in Penn State history. He is the 24th national runner-up in school history as well.
Davis became Penn State's first national runner-up since Josh Moore and Pat Cummins finished 2nd in 2004. Davis and Eric Bradley (Plaistow, N.H.) became the fifth and sixth repeat All-Americans under Sunderland. Junior James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) became the 13th different individual to earn All-America laurels under Sunderland as well. Both Bradley and Yonushonis took eighth place in their respective weight classes (184 and 174). In all, the veteran Nittany Lion mentor has now coached 18 All-Americans (including multiple winners who earned their second titles in Sunderland's first year).
Penn State finished the 2006 NCAA Championships in ninth place with 53.5 points. Oklahoma State won the team title with 122.5 points, far in front of runner-up Minnesota's 84.0. Oklahoma was third with 80.5. Iowa finished fourth with 70.0, followed by Cornell (62.0), Arizona State (61.5), Michigan (57.5), Edinboro (56.0), Penn State (53.5) and Lehigh (53.5). Penn State's ninth place finish is its best since placing sixth in 2003. The 53.5 total points is the 14th most ever scored by the Nittany Lions in the NCAA Championships.
The Nittany Lions ended the tournament with a 22-17 overall record (0-3 today, 12-7 Friday and 10-7 Thursday). Penn State's three All-Americans are the most for the school since it had four in 2003.
Sunderland's Nittany Lions received a bulk of its scoring from bonus points. During the course of the tournament, the Nittany Lions had seven pins (worth two bonus points each) and three majors (worth one bonus point each) for 17 bonus points.
Penn State concluded an outstanding 2005-06 season with its ninth place finish with three All-Americans at nationals. Sunderland's Nittany Lions went 13-4 in dual matches, including a 5-3 mark in Big Ten action. The Lions crowned one Big Ten Champion and placed fourth at the Big Ten Championships.
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