TIMELINE EWL HISTORY
EWL
In 17 years (1976-82) of competition in the Eastern Wrestling League, Penn State was, by far, the most dominant member school, winning 14 tournament titles, including 11 consecutive from 1982 to 1992. Nittany Lions won 59 individual championships and 140 placed. In its final league tournament appearance, in March of 1992, Penn State, under the direction of Rich Lorenzo, romped to the EWL title, breaking its own scoring record and crowning a record seven individual champions. The seven-for-seven performance in the finals broke, by two, the EWL record for most individual champions from one team. Five Nittany Lions had won titles in 1976, 1986 and 1987. All 10 Penn State wrestlers advanced to the semi-finals. The Lions’ team total of 165.50 points eclipsed the tournament scoring record of 148.25, set by Penn State in 1987. Overall, Penn State wrestlers won 29 of 34 bouts and a record 10 by fall. Jeff Prescott won his third consecutive league title at 118 pounds and became only the sixth Nittany Lion to secure three EWL championships. Tim Wittman, who defeated top seed Scott Hovan in overtime for his second league title and first at 158 pounds, was voted Outstanding Wrestler. All-time, Penn State posted a 89–12–2 (87.4) league dual record including a 56-bout unbeaten streak. The Nittany Lions went undefeated (7–0) in their final season in the EWL.
THREE-TIME CHAMPIONS Dave Becker, ‘76–78 Chris Bevilacqua, ‘84–86 Carl DeStefanis, ‘82–84
Greg Elinsky, ‘85–87 Dan Mayo, ‘86–88 Jeff Prescott, ‘90–92
EWL TOURNAMENT OUTSTANDING WRESTLER Jeff Prescott, ‘91
Tim Wittman,‘92
Steve Sefter, ‘81
John Yankanich, ‘90
1993
2005
- Three-time Nittany Lion All-American and 1976 NCAA champion John Fritz is named Penn State’s 10th head coach. He goes on to coach six seasons and post an 87-33-2 record. - Fritz makes it back-to-back NWCA Coach-of-the-Year awards for PSU as the Lions post a school record mark of 22-0-1, reach the No. 1 ranking and take second at the NCAA Championships, their highest finish in 39 years. - Penn State joins the Big Ten, the nation’s premier wrestling conference, and posts a second place finish in its first Big Ten Tournament appearance. - Penn State wins the National Dual Team Championship for the fourth time, moves to No. 1 in the Amateur Wrestling News rankings.
- Eric Bradley wins second-straight Big Ten title. - Phil Davis earns first All-America tag
1994 - Heavyweight Kerry McCoy posts a Penn State season record 47 wins on his way to the first of his two NCAA titles. Cary Kolat (134) also posts a season record 20 falls. 1996 - NCAA champion Sanshiro Abe becomes the third four-time AllAmerican at Penn State and competes in the Olympics as he takes the mat as a member of the Japanese national team. - Penn State falls to Iowa in the first dual meet held the Bryce Jordan Center. A record crowd of 11,245 turn out to see the action, the largest ever to witness a dual meet East of the Mississippi River. 1997 - Heavyweight Kerry McCoy becomes the third Nittany Lion to claim two national titles and is named W.I.N. Magazine’s "Hodge" award winner as the most dominant collegiate wrestler of the year after posting a 41-0 mark.
- Penn State hosts the Big Ten Wrestling Championships in the Bryce Jordan Center and posts a second place finish as coach John Fritz receives conference Coach-of-the-Year honors. - Three-time Nittany Lion All-American Troy Sunderland takes over as Penn State’s 11th head coach. 1999
Rich Lorenzo, 1981–84, 87, 91
- Penn State hosts the NCAA Wrestling Championships for the fifth time, and first in the Bryce Jordan Center. A crowd of 80,654 fans, third all-time, sold-out the arena over six sessions.
Carl DeStefanis, ‘84 Scott Lynch, ‘83–84
Jim Martin, ‘88 Jeff Prescott, ‘91–92
FRESHMAN-OF-THE-YEAR Steve Sefter, ‘81 Greg Elinsky, ‘84
Ken Chertow, ‘85 Jim Martin, ‘86
2000 - Former Penn State heavyweight Kerry McCoy wins the U.S. Olympic trials and U.S. National Freestlye title and represents the U.S. in the Olympics in Sydney, Australia, placing fifth. 2001 - Heavyweight Kerry McCoy wins his second U.S. National Freestyle title.
EWL HALL-OF-FAME
2002
Coach Bill Koll Rich Lorenzo
- Former walk-on Doc Vecchio becomes Penn State’s 143rd AllAmerican. - Heavyweight Kerry McCoy wins his third U.S. National Freestyle title.
Contributor Ed Czekaj, Rich Lucas Doug McDonald
Wrestlers Dave Becker, Chris Bevilacqua, Carl DeStefanis, Greg Elinski, John Hanrahan, Scott Lynch, Jim Martin, Steve Sefter, Jerry White, Tim Wittman, Dan Mayo.
2003 - Heavyweight Kerry McCoy wins a fourth U.S. National Freestyle title and wins a silver medal at the World Championships. - Troy Sunderland named Big Ten Coach of the Year. 2004
Complete list of EWL Champions on next page.
- Phil Davis becomes national finalist, reaching NCAA finals at 197. He also earns his second All-America honor. - Eric Bradley becomes a two-time All-American with an eight place finish at 184. - Penn State earns 41st top ten team finish, scoring 53.5 points for ninth place. 2007 - Aaron Anspach earns national runner-up laurels at HWT, becoming an All-American for the first time. - Phil Davis becomes a three-time All-American with 5th place finish at 197. - Jake Strayer earns first All-America tag with 7th place finish at 133. - Penn State’s 54.0 team points is 14th highest team total in Nittany Lion history. 2008 - Phil Davis becomes Penn State’s fourth four-time All-American, 18th individual to win a national title and wins Penn State’s 21st national crown with his title at 197. - Bubba Jenkins becomes an All-American for first time with runnerup finish at 149; Dan Vallimont places third at 157 to earn first AllAmerica honor; Mark McKnight goes from unseeded at 125 to All-American with fourth place finish. - Nittany Lions claim four All-American and collect 75.00 points, the fifth most in school history, to place third at the NCAA Championships. 2009
1998
COACH-OF-THE-YEAR
WRESTLER-OF-THE-YEAR
2006
- Pat Cummins (Hwt.) and Josh Moore (133) reach the NCAA finals. - Heavyweight Kerry McCoy wins his fifth U.S. National Freestyle title, wins the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and takes 7th at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Greece becoming Penn State‘s first twotime Olympian.
PENN STATE WRESTLING 2010-2011 90
- Quentin Wright becomes first true freshman All-American for Penn State (taking sixth at 174) since 1998. - Frank Molinaro becomse second straight Nittany Lion wild card to become an All-American (taking eighth at 141 as an unseeded wild card). - National wrestling icon Cael Sanderson is named 12th head coach in Penn State history on April 17, 2009, in front of over 500 fans in a rousing open-to-the-public press event and introduction. 2010 - Dan Vallimont becomes Penn State’s 27th NCAA National Runner-Up by advancing to the national finals at 165. Vallimont became a two-time All-American with the performance. - Frank Molinaro became a two-time All-American with a fifth place finish at 149 after taking eighth at 141 the year before. - Cyler Sanderson becomes Penn State’s 166th All-American with a sixth place showing at 157. - Cael Sanderson, in his first year as Penn State’s head coach, led Penn State to a top-ten final dual meet ranking and a top ten finish at the NCAA Championships as the Lions took ninth with 49.0 points (among the top 20 point totals all-time in PSU history).