PSU Heads to Big 10 Tournament

UNIVERSITY PARK – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers (11-4), ranked No. 7 nationally, will carry a string of four straight Big Ten titles with them into the 2015 Big Ten Wrestling Championships.  The two-day event takes place on Saturday and Sunday at Ohio State’s St. John Arena.
 
All ten Lion wrestlers competing at this weekend’s Big Ten Wrestling Championships earned pre-seeds as announced by the conference on Monday.  While the seeds are not finalized until after the official seeding confirmation at the coaches meeting on Friday afternoon, head coach Cael Sanderson’s squad is well represented.

Noticeable by his absence is Penn State senior Dylan Alton. The Central Mountain grad’s final season did not start until the new year as he was coming off shoulder surgery. He struggled in his return and the team had announced he and junior Luke Frey (Montoursville) would eliminate for the Big 10 tourney berth. Alton’s name was not in the lineup when the tourney pre-seeds were announced Monday and inquiries from The Record to the school’s sports information department were not returned.
 
Junior Jordan Conaway (Abbottstown, Pa.) is the No. 5 pre-seed at 125 with a 20-5 record.  Sophomore Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) is No. 3 at 133 with a 20-4 mark.  Red-shirt freshman Kade Moss (South Jordan, Utah) is No. 9 at 141 with a 17-14 record.  Sophomore Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) is No. 6 at 149 with a 15-7 record.  The junior Frey is No. 9 at 157 with a 12-5 record.
 
Red-shirt freshman Garett Hammond (Chambersburg, Pa.) is No. 6 at 165 with a 21-9 record. Senior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is No. 2 at 174 and is 22-2 on the year. Red-shirt freshman Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.) is tied for No. 7 at 184 with a 21-11 record. Junior Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.) is 23-2 at 197 and is the No. 2 pre-seed.  Senior Jimmy Lawson (Toms River, N.J.) is No. 5 at 285 with a 12-1 record.

Penn State will send a very young line-up to Columbus, one that features five underclassmen (three freshmen and two sophomores).  The Nittany Lions will have five wrestlers making their Big Ten Championship debuts: Moss at 141, Beitz at 149, Frey at 157, Hammond at 165 and McCutcheon at 184.  The Big Ten received 86 total automatic qualifiers: five at 125, twelve at 133, eight at 141, seven at 149, eight at 157, eight at 165, ten at 174, ten at 184, nine at 197 and nine at 285.
 
Nine of Penn State’s ten wrestlers are ranked in the final NCAA Coaches Poll and seven received top 33 RPI ratings in the final NCAA RPI release as well.  Conaway is ranked No. 9 in the final coaches poll and No. 8 in final RPI.  Gulibon is ranked No. 4 in the final coachs’ poll at 133 and No. 3 in RPI.  Moss is ranked No. 25 in the final coachs’ poll at 141.  Beitz is ranked No. 14 in the final coaches poll at 149 with an identical No. 14 RPI.
 
Frey gets the nod at 157 for Penn State.  Frey announced that he will forego his final year of eligibility upon graduation in May and is one of five Lions making Big Ten tourney debuts. Hammond is ranked No. 19 at 165 with a No. 15 RPI.  Brown is ranked No. 2 by the coaches at 174 with a No. 3 RPI. McCutcheon is ranked No. 20 in the final coaches poll at 184 with a No. 19 RPI. McIntosh is ranked No. 4 at 197 with a No. 3 RPI.  Lawson is ranked No. 7 in the final coaches’ poll at 285. 
 
The Nittany Lions will next prep for the 2015 NCAA Championships, seeking their fifth-straight NCAA title.  The three-day event takes place on Thursday-Saturday, March 19-21, in St. Louis, Mo., and the Scottrade Center.  
 
(7) PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (11-4, 6-3 B1G)
 
WT     NAME                           EL   HT/HS                                                         REC
125     #9 Jordan Conaway   Jr.   Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford                  20-5
           #9 final coaches / #8 final NCAA RPI — No. 5 pre-seed
 
133     #4 Jimmy Gulibon       So.  Latrobe, Pa./Derry Area                             20-4
           #4 final coaches / #3 final NCAA RPI — No. 3 pre-seed
 
141     #25 Kade Moss           Fr.   South Jordan, Utah/Bingham               17-14            
#25 final coaches / NR final NCAA RPI — No. 9 pre-seed
 
149     #14 Zack Beitz             So.  Mifflintown, Pa./Juniata                             15-7
           #14 final coaches / #14 final NCAA RPI — No. 6 pre-seed
 
157     Luke Frey                     Jr.   Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville             12-5
           NR final coaches / NR final NCAA RPI — No. 9 pre-seed
 
165     #19 Garett Hammond Fr.   Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg          21-9
           #19 final coaches / #15 final NCAA RPI — No. 6 pre-seed
 
174     #2 Matt Brown             Sr.   West Valley City, Utah/Cyprus                 22-2
           #2 final coaches / #3 final NCAA RPI — No. 2 pre-seed
 
184     #20 Matt McCutcheon Fr.   Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area                             21-11
           #20 final coaches / #19 final NCAA RPI — No. T7 pre-seed
 
197     #4 Morgan McIntosh  Jr.   Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel             23-2
           #4 final coaches / #3 final NCAA RPI — No. 2 pre-seed
 
285     #7 Jimmy Lawson       Sr.   Toms River, N.J./Manchester Township 12-1
           #7 final coaches / NR final NCAA RPI — No. 5 pre-seed