Penn State is coming off a thrilling close-out to its home season this past weekend. The Nittany Lions thumped No. 18 Michigan State 27-12 on Friday night and the dropped a hard-fought upset bid to No. 1 Minnesota on Sunday, falling 25-16. Nearly 10,000 fans watched the final two home duals of the season, including a season high 5,417 on Sunday. The standing-room only crowd for the battle with Minnesota pushed Penn State's season home attendance average to a seven-year high 2,757.
Head coach Troy Sunderland's team features nine wrestlers ranked in the top 20, including four in the top ten. Senior 184-pounder Eric Bradley is 5-0 this season and ranked No. 1 while sophomore Phil Davis is No. 6 at 197. Freshman Jake Strayer, 15-2 at 133, is ranked No. 9. Senior DeWitt Driscoll is ranked No. 10 at 141 with an 11-5 mark.
Iowa enters its weekend with a 9-4 mark, 3-1 in Big Ten action. The Hawkeyes are led by five ranked wrestlers, including four ranked among the nation's top seven. Senior Ty Eustice is 15-1 at 149 and ranked No. 2 while sophomore Cole Perry is 10-2 at 174 and ranked No. 3. Iowa State comes in with four ranked grapplers, all of whom are in the top ten. Senior Nate Gallick is undefeated, 25-0, at 141 and ranked No. 1 while junior Trent Paulson is 18-1 at 157 and ranked No. 3.
Perhaps the weekend's biggest test lies in front of Nittany Lion Bradley. The returning All-American and top-ranked 184-pounder will face the seventh- and ninth-ranked wrestlers in the country (Iowa's Paul Bradley and Iowa State's Kurt Backes). Other weight classes featuring three ranked grapplers prepping to do battle are 141, 157 and 165.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS -- as of 1/31
#9 Penn State Nittany Lions (9-3, 1-3 Big ten)
Wt. Name Yr. Hometown/HS 2005-06 Rec.
125 Tim Haas So. Camp Hill, Pa./Cedar Cliff 13-6
OR Brad Pataky Fr. Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield 12-6
133 #9 Jake Strayer Fr. South Fork, Pa./Forest Hills 15-2 141 #10 DeWitt Driscoll Sr. Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville 11-5
149 #11 James Woodall Sr. Dupont, Pa./Pittston 6-3
157 #14 Nathan Galloway Jr. State College, Pa./State College 10-8
165 #12 David Erwin Fr. Urbana, Ohio/St. Paris Graham 19-5
174 #11 James Yonushonis Jr. Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola 14-4
184 #1 Eric Bradley Sr. Plaistow, N.H./Timberlane 5-0
197 #6 Philip Davis So. Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg 12-3
HWT #18 Joel Edwards Sr. Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby 11-3
OR Aaron Anspach Jr. Columbia, Pa./Columbia 13-8
#7 IOWA HAWKEYES (9-4, 3-1 Big ten)
Wt. Name Yr. Hometown 2005-06 Rec.
125 Lucas Magnani Jr. Long Island, N.Y. 9-9
133 Daniel Dennis Fr. Ingleside, Ill. 13-10
141 #15 Alex Tsirtsis So. Griffith, Ind. 12-8
149 #2 Ty Eustice Sr. Blue Earth, Minn. 15-1
157 #7 Joe Johnston Sr. Prairie Village, Kan. 16-5
165 Eric Luedke Jr. Colby, Kan. 13-9
OR Cole Pape Sr. Maquoketa, Iowa 7-7
174 #3 Mark Perry So. Stillwater, Okla. 10-2
OR Ben Stedman Jr. Souix City, Iowa 8-9
184 #7 Paul Bradley Sr. Tama, Iowa 7-3
197 Dan Erekson Fr. Eagle, Idaho 13-7
HWT Ryan Fuller Jr. Lisbon, Iowa 5-4
#8 IOWA STATE CYCLONES (10-5, 1-1 Big 12)
Wt. Name Yr. Hometown 2005-06 Rec.
125 Ben Hanisch So. Waterloo, Iowa 11-16
133 Jesse Sundell Sr. Ogden, Iowa 14-12
141 #1 Nate Gallick Sr. Tucson, Ariz. 25-0
149 Aron Scott So. Oskaloosa, Iowa 12-9
OR Jason Knipp Jr. Waterloo, Iowa 14-7
157 #3 Trent Paulson Jr. Council Bluffs, Iowa 18-1
165 #9 Travis Paulson Jr. Council Bluffs, Iowa 23-3
174 David Bertolino So. Mt. Pleasant, Ohio 14-10
OR Grant Turner Jr. Johnston, Iowa 6-6
184 #9 Kurt Backes Jr. Neshanic Station, N.J. 15-5
197 Joe Curran Fr. Elk Point, S.D. 10-14
HWT Richard Schopf Jr. Bondurant, Iowa 3-11
(#) All rankings listed are USA Today/NWCA as of 1/31
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