Blue White Illustrated

home Nov. 16 with a victory against Lehigh, and there are six other dual meets that will take place in Rec Hall. But for fans, finding tickets might prove to be a challenge. For the first time in the program's history, season tickets sold out before the first dual meet was even wrestled. And as of this writing, prices on the ticket resale website StubHub.com were as high as $55 for the meet against Nebraska on Jan. 27. How's that for supply and demand, considering face value for an adult ticket is just $8, and a set of season tickets, alone, were priced at $42? "Wrestling has always been popular at Penn State, [but] the last few years the interest has peaked," Sanderson said. "That is a direct result of the en- tertaining style of wrestling our stu- dent-athletes compete with. Our match- es are fun to watch, and because of that, it is difficult to get a ticket." And it doesn't appear to be getting any easier, especially since the Nittany Lions are confident that their accom- plishments will only grow. But how long can they keep this championship streak going? Iowa and Oklahoma State might have set the standard for wrestling dynasties years ago. The Hawkeyes won nine consecutive na- tional championships between 1978 and 1986, and the Cowboys won 16 titles in a 19-year period. The Lions might have a few more championships to win before they match the success of Iowa and Okla- homa State, but after the intrasquad scrimmage, Ruth was asked if he thought Penn State might be inching toward becoming a dynasty. "Dynasty. Man, that's a powerful word," the 184-pound native of Har- risburg replied. "Dynasty. Eh, I think we're really building something here. We're still in the foundation of it. I don't want to say that the dynasty ends with the guys who are here right now. Even with the guys that we have still coming in, I think it's going to continue on." If that's the case, get used to seeing wrestlers in Beaver Stadium each fall, probably receiving the loudest halftime ovation of them all. Two PSU national champs move up a weight class TAKING A LEAP I t was a sandwich that helped persuade national champion Ed Ruth to choose Penn State as a high school recruit. Yes, a sand- wich – one that came highly rec- ommended by future teammate Bryan Pearsall. But this wasn't your grandma's ham and cheese on white; this was a sandwich from RU Hun- gry, an off-cam- pus eatery known for its "Fat" sandwich- es, which usual- ly overflow with deep-fried ingre- dients, a variety of sauces and dressings and are topped with french fries. Often containing more than 1,000 calories, these sandwiches aren't typical of a wrestler's diet, but Ruth said the treat helped draw him to Penn State nearly five years ago. "[Pearsall] is actually the one who recruited me up here," he said, "so I'm proud of that." With Ruth jumping up to 184 RUTH pounds – he earned All-America laurels at 174 the past two sea- sons – maybe he'll be able to enjoy a few more RU Hungry sandwiches during his junior season. One can only wish, right? "Coming up to 184, I'm just hap- py to be a big guy now," Ruth said. "At 74 I didn't consider myself a big guy, but now I consider myself a big guy." Ruth isn't the only Nittany Lion national champion who will be moving up a weight class for the 2012-13 season. Quentin Wright, a national champion in 2011 and a runner-up last season at 184 pounds, is moving to 197. Morgan McIntosh, a true freshman na- tional qualifier at 197 a year ago, will take a redshirt this season and will likely return to the start- ing lineup after Wright's gradua- tion. Ruth and Wright both said the increase in weight feels more nat- ural to them, although the moves to new weight classes might pres- ent them with stronger chal- lengers this season. Ruth said he knows his opponents will be big- ger and sturdier, but that won't change his quick-attack wrestling style. Instead he wants to intro- duce his old 174-pound tempo to the brawnier 184-pound oppo- nents. "For the guys I wrestle against, I'd rather have them adjust to me rather than me having to adjust to them," he explained. "I'd rather keep it my match. I want to go out there and wrestle the same way I've always wrestled, the same way I did last year and the year before that." Wright is tackling a 13-pound increase with his move and said he understands there will be an adjustment period. He lost in his first competition at 197, an exhi- bition match against Pittsburgh's Matt Wilps at the NWCA All-Star classic in early November. But he said he's confident SEE LEAP NEXT PAGE

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