Pennsylvania again leads NCAA field

Andy Elder For the CDT

ST. LOUIS — Despite false claims by fans in Iowa or Oklahoma, Pennsylvania has always truly ruled supreme in producing wrestling talent. The numbers back it up.

Once again this year, Pennsylvania led the way with 49 qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, 21 more than second-place New York’s 28.

Ohio was third with 26, New York fourth with 25 and California fifth with 21.

For the record, those supposed wrestling hot beds, Iowa and Oklahoma, only had 12 and seven, respectively.

So, Pennsylvania clearly leads in quantity. How about quality?

The Keystone State has more elite wrestlers, too. Again, the numbers tell the story.

Of the 330 wrestlers who started the tournament, only 80 earned All-American honors. Pennsylvania leads the way with 12.

The group of Pennsylvania All-Americans includes: Kent State’s Nic Bedelyon (125, Indian Valley), Maryland’s Steve Bell (133, Connellsville), Old Dominion’s Ryan Williams (141, Cumberland Valley), Maryland’s Alex Krom (141, Easton), Bloomsburg’s Matt Moley (157, Spring Ford), Edinboro’s Jarrod King (165, Connellsville), Bucknell’s Andy Rendos (165, Brock-way), Cornell’s Steve Anceravage (174, Bloomsburg), Penn State’s Quentin Wright (174, Bald Eagle Area), Virginia’s Chris Henrich (174, Germantown Academy), Northwestern’s Jake Herbert (184, North Allegheny) and Pitt’s Zach Sheaffer (285, Cumberland Valley).

The Keystone State’s neighbor to the east, New Jersey, is next with 10 All-Americans. The neighbor to the west, Ohio, is in third with six.

Take a trip across I-80, and you’re likely to be pretty close to some elite wrestlers.

Four states claimed four All- Americans each: California, Michigan, New York and Illinois.

Four states claimed three each: Indiana, Minnesota, Florida and Missouri.

Eight states have two each: Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Tennessee, Iowa, Washington, Nebraska and Idaho.

An additional seven states have one each: Massachusetts, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Colorado, Montana and Wisconsin.

One foreign born wrestler claims All-American status. He is Heinrich Barnes, a 149-pounder from Oregon State. Barnes hails from Pretoria, South Africa.

So, of the 39 states who qualified home-grown wrestlers to these championships, 26 can say they have an All-American.

But, remember, Pennsylvania is still the king.

From 12 to 7 to 5 to ...

Twelve wrestlers entered these championships with undefeated records. Seven survived with their records intact into the finals. As many as five could emerge as undefeated.

At 125, Edinboro’s Paul Donahoe and Cornell’s Troy Nickerson entered the tournament as the weight’s only undefeated wrestlers. They met in the final.

At 149, Iowa’s Brent Metcalf entered the final undefeated and with the nation’s longest active winning streak.

At 157, similar to 125, both Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska and Michael Poeta of Illinois were undefeated.

Michigan 174-pounder Steve Luke was undefeated heading into his championship final.

And, at 184, Northwestern’s Jake Herbert, who carried the second-longest active winning streak, was undefeated heading into his showdown with defending champion Mike Pucillo of Ohio State. Herbert was a champion in 2007.

Upperclassmen excel

As usual, a majority of the 80 All-Americans crowned at this year’s championships are either seniors or juniors. Here’s the breakdown by year in school:

Seniors — 26; Juniors — 34; Sophomores — 13; Freshmen—7.

And, of course, two of those seven freshmen are Penn State’s Frank Molinaro (141) and Quentin Wright (174).

Big Ten Rules As Usual

The NCAA’s new qualifying system was supposed to level the playing field for the traditionally under-represented smaller conferences. But, as usual, the cream has risen to the top.

The Big Ten leads the way with 28 All-Americans. The Big 12 has half as many, 12. The EIWA is next, with 10. The rest, in descending order: Pac- 10 8; ACC 6; EWL 5; MAC 4; CAA 3; and West Region 2.

Tough as Ever

Don’t think it’s difficult to earn All-America status? Think again.

A full 14 returning All-Americans who qualified for this year’s tournament didn’t even place this year. And that doesn’t include last year’s 133- pound runner-up, Joey Slaton of Iowa, who couldn’t even crack the Hawkeyes’ lineup.

Spreading the Wealth

The 80 wrestlers who will walk out of Scottrade Center as All-Americans represent 39 different schools.

And, the 330 wrestlers who populate the 10 weights came from 76 different schools.