Blue White Illustrated

for the setback. Publicly, however, Ruth said, "I've gotten to the point where aveng- ing losses doesn't really matter to me." But when he got another shot at Dean in Oklahoma City, it was the rubber match, since Ruth had won the ,rst bout in No- vember with a ,rst-period pin. He didn't let the opportunity slip. Although it was his closest outcome of the tournament, Ruth prevailed 5-3. That January loss proved to be just another temporary defeat that caused him to adjust his approach at practice and propelled him to the top of the podium at nationals. "When I lost up to this point," the so/- spoken Ruth said a/er beating Dean in the semi,nal, "I kind of took a step back, looked at my training, kind of re-evaluated some things. I wouldn't say I changed it up as much as I'd say I backed o. of myself, because I had a lot of things on my shoul- ders. At the same time, I was training way too hard. He made me realize that you've gotta take it easy sometimes." Practice is a di.erent story, but Ruth normally does take a relaxed approach to his matches and tries to avoid putting too much pressure on himself. However, as his mother explained, he had a di.erent de- meanor when he arrived in Oklahoma City. At previous tournaments, Ruth would go out to eat with his mom and dad, Eddie, or spend time with friends or other family members who made the trip. This year, he barely le/ his hotel room. He brought his Playstation 3 and played games like Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed to help pass the time. He ate inside there and he watched movies, including a Muhammad Ali -ick that his mom bought for him before the trip. He took a lot of naps. Unless he was inside the Chesapeake Arena, preparing for his next match, Ruth was holed up in his Bricktown hotel. "I've never seen him like this," Thanayi said. "I'm not sure if it was truly just focus or if he just had a lot on his mind, or if he knew that he could make history, but his ished with 53 pins (tied with Josh Moore for the most in school histo- ry), 11 of which came during his four national tournament appearances, and 125 of his career wins came with bonus points. Blue White Illustrated asked around, and although bonus points have a limited history and not until the 1980s did the Lions regular- ly wrestle more than 35 matches in a season, we've found no wrestler in school history who has consistently dominated his opponents on a high- er-percentage basis than Taylor. In fact, the only PSU wrestler who rivals Taylor's domination is his classmate Ed Ruth. Ruth concluded his career with a 136-3 record, 46 pins (over/under on falls by cradle, anyone?) and 104 bonus victories. That's not to mention Ruth's stand- ing as Penn State's lone three-time national champ. One of the people BWI checked in with about this was William Winter- burn. Winterburn, a student manag- er on Penn State's 8rst national championship team in 1953, is re- ferred to by some as a "walking ency- clopedia" of PSU wrestling. He helped found the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and has attended the past 51 NCAA tournaments. He told us that he has seen wrestlers as natu- rally talented as Taylor and Ruth come through the program in the past 60 years, but their legacy stands out "not based on their success, but on how they have accomplished it." "We have had strong, successful wrestlers in the past, but David and Ed's styles have added entertainment and showmanship to the sport that has grown our fan base over the last four years to standing-room-only levels at Rec Hall," Winterburn added. "And in foreign gyms as well. While pinning or overwhelming their opponents, they do not embarrass them or anger them. They appear to be two young kids out there just en- joying themselves at what they do best." Winterburn found similarities be- tween Ruth and Clyde Frantz, an EIWA champion in 1969, '70 and '71 who won the Fletcher Award for the most tournament points scored in a career and was known for his superi- or strength. The 165-pound Taylor, meanwhile, reminds Winterburn of Andy Matter, a two-time NCAA champ in 1971 and '72 at 167. It's not just their hairstyles. "It looks like they don't have any muscles," laughed Winterburn, "yet they'll beat up on anybody." In the list of greatest teammate pairs in program history, Winterburn isn't sure where to rank Taylor and Ruth, because other "dynamic duos" have made lasting impacts. But the Taylor/Ruth combo reminds him of other one-two punches. Dick Lemyre/Gerry Maurey 8rst came to his mind because they both won EIWA titles on that 8rst cham- pionship team in 1953. Winterburn also listed Frantz/Matter in the 1970s, Carl DeStefanis/Scott Lynch in the early '80s, Ken Chertow/Jim- my Martin in the late '80s and San- shiro Abe/Cary Kolat in the '90s. Winterburn said they all had "dis- tinctive but crowd-pleasing styles that helped make Rec Hall the wrestling mecca that it is today." But no combination paired up for more championship success than Ruth and Taylor. "It's a good thing to make histo- ry," Ruth said. "I try not to think about that too much, though. His- tory writes itself – as long as you keep doing what you're supposed to do." – T.O.

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