Blue White Illustrated

it should be enough for him to run away with the Hodge Trophy, which is wrestling's equivalent of the Heisman. It would be his second in three years. It would also bode well for Penn State's quest for a four-peat. Despite a No. 1 tournament team ranking from FloWrestling entering the postseason, when it comes to Penn State's fourth con- secutive team championship, questions remain. Before the season, it was expected that the Nittany Lions would 9eld the most potent starting lineup of Sanderson's 9ve-year tenure. But nagging injury issues, late lineup changes at the 149- and 285- pound weight classes and high preseason expectations have clouded the national championship horizon. Mirroring the performance of the coun- try's top individual wrestlers – save for the undefeated Taylor – no team except for Northern Iowa went unbeaten in the dual-meet season, and no team is expected to run away with the national title. Although Penn State will be the favorite to win its fourth in a row, Minnesota, Oklahoma State and Iowa cannot be counted out. "Absolutely, there are some high-pow- ered wrestlers on Penn State's team, but those rankings go out the window," said Iowa head coach Tom Brands. "I mean, Cael Sanderson isn't worried whether or not he's got David Taylor ranked No. 1 right now. That's an automatic. They're getting ready and we're getting ready, and that's what's great about it." Brands also said that the 9eld is just as even this year as it was last year, when Penn State squeaked by Oklahoma State, 123.5-119.5, in the 9nal round, which aired live on ESPN. (As well as this year. ESPN will air the semi9nals Friday night, too, giving the sport the most prime-time air it's ever seen.) Brands' Hawkeyes made it an interesting team battle at Big Tens, and it should be a similar nail-biter at nationals. "It seems like every year we're talking about the parity and then someone seems to emerge," Brands said. "Last year was certainly an exciting 9nish to the nationals with Oklahoma State throwing their hat into the ring very strongly, putting together a string of matches to put themselves in competition for the title. But [this year] the cream will rise." If Penn State is to 9nish on top, it will need more than an outstanding perform- ance from its top guns – Taylor and Ruth. It will additionally need signi9cant con- tributions (possibly even 9nal appearances) from Nico Megaludis (125), Matt Brown (174) and Morgan McIntosh (197). And a dark horse in Penn State's race will be Zain Retherford (141). Like the Ruth-beater Gabe Dean, Retherford has burst onto the scene as a freshman, and his early success is another reason why the preseason rank- ings have been shaken like a snow globe this winter. Just four short years ago, Taylor and Ruth burst on the scene as dominating freshmen and had a similar impact. Now the next wave is making its run. Retherford maintains that "I'm just going to approach every match the same and look forward to every one." The true fresh- man entered NCAAs with a 29-1 record and placed second at Big Tens. Taylor, a 9

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