Lions remain No. 11 in national rankings

The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the guidance of veteran head coach Troy Sunderland, maintained its No. 11 team ranking in the latest USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll as released by Intermat. Junior

Phil Davis is ranked No. 1 at 197 to lead six Penn State individuals in the weigh-by-weight listings.

Minnesota holds down the No. 1 spot, followed by Iowa State (2), Missouri (3), Oklahoma State (4) and Central Michigan (5). Edinboro steps in at No. 6 with Illinois (7), Wisconsin (8), Hofstra (9), Iowa (10) and Penn State (11) following the Scots.

Penn State, which is 14-5 overall and 5-3 in conference duals, owns wins over No. 6 Edinboro, No. 10 Iowa, No. 12 Cornell, No. 14 Northwestern, No. 21 Ohio State, No. 22 Michigan State, No. 23 Michigan and No. 24 Lehigh. Penn State's five losses are all to teams ranked in the top ten: No. 1 Minnesota, No. 6 Edinboro, No. 7 Illinois, No. 9 Hofstra and No. 8 Wisconsin.

Senior Aaron Anspach is ranked No. 3 at heavyweight. He is 16-2 overall and 7-1 in Big Ten action. Senior All-American James Yonushonis is ranked No. 5 at 174 and sports a 27-3 overall mark. Like Davis, Yonushonis was a perfect 8-0 in Big Ten action.

Sophomore Jake Strayer checks in at No. 11 in the 133-pound weight class. Strayer is 20-4 overall and 6-2 in Big Ten action. Junior Mark McKnight is ranked No. 13 at 125 and is 18-6 overall. Red-shirt freshman Dan Vallimont rounds out Penn State's ranked grapplers with a No. 15 nod at 149. Vallimont is 16-8 overall and 5-3 in conference bouts.

PSU gymnast honored for weekend outing

For the second time in three weeks, Penn State's Tommy Ramos has been named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, the conference office announced yesterday afternoon. The junior won the award for standout performances provided in the No. 2 Nittany Lions' victory over No. 5 Illinois on Feb. 17, helping Penn State establish a new season-high team score of 220.150.

Versus the Illini, Ramos captured individual titles in the still rings and the high bar outright for the second consecutive meet and shared the parallel bars crown with teammate Derek Helsby. The No. 1-ranked still rings competitor in the nation, Ramos took first with a score of 9.650. His winning mark in the high bar, a 9.500, was a season-high and his and Helsby's score of 9.350 in the parallel bars was a team best in 2007.