Arguably the hottest ticket in town, wrestling will begin its 2015-16 season 26-game home sellout, while already selling out all five duals at Rec Hall for the forthcoming season. Two duals at the Bryce Jordan Center are also on the Penn State calendar.
As the wrestling program opens the season Friday against Lock Haven, it will be the second current No. 1 program housed in at Rec Hall, women’s volleyball being the other top-ranked occupant. Penn State finished atop the latest InterMat’s Dual Meet Rankings with 103.5 points, almost 30 points above both fourth place Big Ten rivals Michigan and Iowa (75.0).
In just six seasons at the helm, head coach Carl Sanderson has accumulated four national and conference championships. Sanderson will look forward to Morgan McIntosh, the California native, ranked No. 1 at 197 heading into his senior campaign. Penn State has a total of nine grapplers ranked nationally within the top 14 and two returning All-Americans, senior Nico Megaludis and Zain Retherford both of who redshirted last season. Megaludis, a three-time All-American is ranked No. 1 at 125, while Retherford is also No. 2 at 149.
Former football walk-on Jan Johnson left the football program to join the wrestling team, Penn State sports information announced last month. Johnson is a two-time PIAA champion and won Pennsylvania state titles at 195, although he was listed list at 216 on the football roster.
Penn State leads the all-time series with Lock Haven 36-4-0. See the roster for the upcoming dual, per GoPSUSports.com, on Friday, 7 p.m. at Rec Hall:
125 #2 Nico Megaludis Sr. Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional / 0-0
133 #8 Jordan Conaway Sr. Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford / 0-0
141 #2 Jimmy Gulibon Jr. Latrobe, Pa./Derry / 0-0
149 #2 Zain Retherford So. Benton, Pa./Benton / 0-0
157 #6 Jason Nolf Fr. Yatesboro, Pa./Kittanning / 0-0
165 #14 Garett Hammond So. Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg / 0-0
OR Shakur Rasheed Fr. Coram, N.Y./Longwood / 0-0
174 #14 Bo Nickal Fr. Allen, Texas/Allen / 0-0
184 #14 Matt McCutcheon So. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area / 0-0
197 #1 Morgan McIntosh Sr. Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel / 0-0
285 Jan Johnson Fr. Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin / 0-0
LOCK HAVEN BALD EAGLES (0-0, 0-0 EWL)
125 Jake Field So. South Elgin, Ill/Marmion Academy / 6-4
133 Bobby Rehm Sr. Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor / 3-1
141 #12 Dan Neff Sr. Quarryville, Pa./Solanco / 3-2
149 Cody Wheeler Sr. Towanda, Pa./Towanda / 0-0
157 Aaron McKinney Sr. McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny / 4-3
165 Dillon Gavlock Jr. Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain 1-2
174 Tyler Wood Jr. West Chester, Pa./Rustin 3-2
184 Tristan Sponseller Fr. East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs 4-0
197 Phil Sprenkle Sr. Seven Valleys, Pa./Dallastown 3-1
285 Brad Emerick Jr. Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Coughlin 2-2
