Victory Bell Rings
Fansided

Penn State Wrestling: Top 10 Nittany Lions of All-Time

By Chris Snyder

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 23: Anthony Cassar of the Penn State Nittany Lions is introduced during the championship finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 23, 2019 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 23: Anthony Cassar of the Penn State Nittany Lions is introduced during the championship finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 23, 2019 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 10
Next
Penn State Wrestling
Ed Ruth of the Penn State Nittany Lions  (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

No. 4

Ed Ruth
Career Record: 136-3
B1G Titles: 4 (2011-2014)
NCAA Titles: 3 (2012-2014)
All-American: 4 (2011-2014)

Awards
-2012 Dan Hodge Trophy Finalist
-2013 Dan Hodge Trophy Finalist
-2014 Dan Hodge Trophy Finalist

How on earth do you rank a top 5 list of wrestlers who’ve compiled total records of 633-15??

Nolf was only slotted at No. 5 due to an unlucky injury his junior season. If not for this, he could have also been a 3 time B1G Title winner and a 3 time Hodge Trophy finalist.

But Nolf did get injured his junior season and he didn’t achieve the same things as Ed Ruth.

For a wrestler as decorated as Ed Ruth, this beginning has to be one of the worst ones ever written as I’m blabbing about another wrestler and his injury. Ruth’s collegiate career can do the talking for itself.

Only two other wrestlers on this entire list won B1G Titles their freshman year (Nickal and Taylor) and Ruth was able to pull off the incredible feat as well. Ed lost an early round match in the 2011 NCAA’s but ultimately finished 3rd in his first NCAA Tournament. His Penn State career was off to a fantastic start.

Ruth then went on to go a total of 64-0 his sophomore and junior seasons in taking home both B1G Titles and NCAA Titles.

Midway through Ruth’s senior season he lost a hard fought decision against Cornell’s Gabe Dean. Anyone ever heard of him?

A staggering number of 1,021 days had past since Ed Ruth had last lost a match at Penn State. Wow.

As with some of Penn State’s other greats, Ruth also avenged the loss and beat Dean in the semi final match of the 2014 NCAA Championships. Ruth then beat Maryland’s Jimmy Sheptock to claim his 3rd straight NCAA Title. Wait, there was a Maryland grappler in an NCAA final? Huh. Who knew?

While Ruth was in the running for the Hodge Trophy 3 times, he was never handed the coveted award. But his illustrious career was enough to land him at No. 4 on the Mount Rushmore of Penn State greats.

Home/Penn State Nittany Lions