Penn State Wrestling: Ranking all 10 NCAA Championship Teams
By Chris Snyder
Ranking all 10 NCAA Championship teams in Penn State Wrestling’s program history
With Penn State Wrestling’s obliteration of the field in this year’s NCAA Wrestling Championships, the Nittany Lions claimed their 10th NCAA title in program history earlier this month.
And since “10” is a nice round number, how about we at Victory Bell Rings rank these NCAA title-winning teams in order from “really darn good” to “Thanos crushers”.
Because everyone knows I’m so good at bold predictions and accurately ranking completely subjective items in the perfect order, right?
I’ll give you an example of my expertise.
Top 5 condiments to dip fries in:
5. Spicy mustard
4. BBQ sauce
3. Mayo
2. Ketchup
1. Chick-fil-A sauce
#changemymind
Now that I’ve proved my worthiness, let’s take a look at all 10 Nittany Lion NCAA Championship teams and how they stack up against each other.
Onto the list!
Ranking Penn State Wrestling’s 10 National Championship-winning teams
No. 10 – 2011
Dual Record: 17-1-1
Conference Champions: 5
133 Andrew Long
149 Frank Molinaro
157 David Taylor
174 Ed Ruth
184 Quentin Wright
All-Americans: 5
133 Andrew Long
149 Frank Molinaro
157 David Taylor
174 Ed Ruth
184 Quentin Wright
NCAA Champions: 1
184 Quentin Wright
NCAA Final Team Standings
1. Penn State 107.5
2. Cornell 93.5
3. Iowa 86.5
The 2010-2011 Nittany Lion squad was the first NCAA Championship team for head coach Cael Sanderson.
Two weeks prior to claiming their first NCAA Wrestling Championship since 1953 (foreshadowing alert), this team took home their first conference championship since 1992 and their first-ever Big Ten Championship.
So, with it being the first of now nine NCAA title teams for Sanderson, it’s no surprise this team isn’t the strongest when compared to the others.
But, they were still able to qualify eight participants into the 2011 NCAA Championships, with five of them going on to become All-Americans.
If you knew anything about college wrestling, then you could certainly tell this team was destined for greatness with the likes of David Taylor and Ed Ruth finishing in second and third respectively as freshmen. The phenomenal duo ended up compiling a ridiculous combined record of 76-3 on the year.
Oh, and they had Quentin Wright, who took home his first individual title as a sophomore, and the experience of Frank Molinaro who finished second.
Unfortunately, one of the Penn State Championship teams had to come in 10th place, and this is where I’m putting the 2011 squad.