WIN’s 184-pound NCAA Preview: Foes will need Ruthian effort to upset Nittany Lion champ

Others will need Ruthian effort to unseat Penn State’s two-time defending champ

No disrespect to Penn State’s David Taylor — the 2012 national champion, Hodge Trophy winner and three-time NCAA finalist — but Ed Ruth gives Taylor a run for his money as the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the talented Nittany Lion wrestling room. Over the past three years, the former Blair Academy star has lost just twice, including once in the 2011 NCAAs and has dominated his championship foes the past two years.

Penn State’s Ed Ruth (top) scored a major decision against Lehigh’s Robert Hamlin last March. The Nittany Lion is 16-1 in three NCAAs.

The more logical question is who will also reach the 184-pounds finals in Oklahoma City in March, considering Ruth’s 2013 finals victim, Robert Hamlin of Lehigh, has graduated … as have the No. 3- and 4^th-place finishers — Steve Bosak of Cornell and Ben Bennett of Central Michigan — have graduated. There are three returning AAs — Ethen Lofthouse of Iowa, Jimmy Sheptock of Maryland and Ryan Loder of Northern Iowa — from last season’s Nationals.

But don’t forget Minnesota’s Kevin Steinhaus, who has a pair of AA honors on his resume, but failed to place in last year’s NCAAs, despite entering the tournament with a No. 5 seed.

Welcome to Mr. Rogers Neighborhood

Among the newcomers at this weight class will be Oklahoma State’s redshirt freshman Jordan Rogers, the 2012 Junior Hodge Trophy winner from Mead High School in Spokane, Wash., where he compiled a 144-8 career record and won three state championships. Last year, the then true-freshman compiled a 10-4 record with eight falls in open tournaments.

Breaking down the 184-pound weight class

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS

Rk.            Name            School            Year            ’13 record            ’13 ncaa

1.             Ed Ruth            Penn State            Senior            33-0            Champion

The native of Harrisburg, Pa., enters his final year with the Nittany Lions with a 69-match winning streak, which includes NCAA championships the past two years — at 174 pounds in 2012 and 184 last March in Des Moines — in addition to a third-place finish at 174 in 2011. In compiling a career mark of 102-2 — his last loss was in the 2011 quarterfinals against Stanford’s Nick Amuchastegui — Ruth has also compiled 35 pins (many with his strong cradle) and 16 technical falls. In his three NCAAs, Ruth is 16-1 with six pins. In his two championships matches, Ruth avenged his only NCAA loss with a 13-2 major decision against Amuchastegui in 2012 and 12-4 over Lehigh’s Robert Hamlin last March.

2.             Ethen Lofthouse            Iowa            Senior            23-9            5^th

The native of Avon, Utah, has earned two All-American honors for the Hawkeyes, but it also has been a bumpy road, including last season when Lofthouse appeared to lose his spot in the line-up to another former AA in Grant Gambrall. But Lofthouse (70-28 in his career) turned things around in the post-season when — seeded No. 12 — he won his first two NCAA matches (including a 3-2 win over No. 5 Kevin Steinhaus) and eventually finished fifth. After losing to 2012 NCAA champion Steve Bosak of Cornell in the quarterfinals, Lofthouse came back to win three of four wrestlebacks, including a 6-2 win over Maryland’s Jimmy Sheptock. One year earlier, Lofthouse also reached the quarters at 174 pounds and eventually claimed seventh place with a 3-1 win over Ryan DesRoches of Cal Poly.

3.             Jimmy Sheptock            Maryland            Senior            40-6            6^th

The Terp’s second shot at the NCAAs paid off for the native of Northampton, Pa., last March when he earned his first All-American honor in Des Moines as the No. 7 seed. Sheptock also reached the quarterfinals after beating Wyoming’s Shane Woods and Boise State’s Jacob Swartz, before losing 1-0 to Central Michigan’s Ben Bennett. Once in the wrestlebacks, the Terp upset Minnesota’s two-time All-American Kevin Steinhaus, 6-4 in overtime, in the Round of 12 to clinch his AA medal and then finished in the top six with a 3-2 tiebreaker win over Northern Iowa’s Ryan Loder. One year earlier, Sheptock won the first of two ACC championships to qualify for the NCAAs in St. Louis, where he also wrestled at 174 pounds, when he lost in the second round to Iowa’s Lofthouse and was eventually eliminated in the Round of 12 by Cal Poly’s Ryan DesRoches.

4.             Ryan Loder            Northern Iowa            Senior            34-6            7^th

The third trip to the NCAAs was the ticket for this native of Granite City, Calif., after the Panther, seeded 6^th, reached the quarterfinals before losing 2-1 to Lehigh’s Robert Hamlin and eventually beat Nebraska’s Josh Ihnen, 5-2, in the Round of 12, then added an 8-0 victory over Missouri’s Mike Larson in the seventh-place match. In his two previous trips to the NCAAs, Loder lost in the Round of 12 each tournament: first to Travis Rutt (then of Wisconsin) in 2011 and to Nebraska’s Ihnen in 2012.

5.             Kevin Steinhaus            Minnesota            Senior            29-4            NQ

The two-time All-American from Pennock, Minn., actually took Penn State’s Ed Ruth into overtime before losing the 2013 Big Ten final. That effort also earned Steinhaus a No. 5 seed in Des Moines, where he was upset in the second round by Iowa’s Ethen Lofthouse. Once in the wrestlebacks, the Gopher won his first two matches, but was eliminated in the Round of 12 by Northern Iowa’s Ryan Loder. Competing as a redshirt freshman in 2011, Steinhaus upset Oklahoma State’s Chris Perry in the Round of 12 and eventually finished seventh. One year earlier as the No. 5 seed, the Gopher reached the quarterfinals where he was upset by eventual champ Steve Bosak of Cornell, but came back to finish fifth with a 3-1 win over Central Michigan’s Ben Bennett.

OTHER TOP-20 WRESTLERS

6.             Max Thomusseit            Pittsburgh            Junior            17-6            NQ/Round of 12

7.             Jake Swartz            Boise State            Senior            33-5            NQ/Round of 12

8.             Boaz Beard            Iowa State            Senior            17-10            NQ/Round of 24

9.             John Rizqallah            Michigan State            Junior            23-12            NQ/Round of 32

10.             Kevin Radford            Arizona State            Junior            22-15            NQ/Round of 24

11.             Kenny Courts            Ohio State            Sophomore            Reserve

12.             Fred Garcia            Lock Haven            Senior            28-12            NQ/Round of 16

13.             Alex Utley            North Carolina            Junior            27-15            NQ/Round of 24

14.             Stephen Doty            Virginia            Senior            19-12            NQ/Round of 24

15.             Canaan Bethea            Penn            Senior            25-13            NQ/Round of 32

16.             Ophir Bernstein            Brown            Junior            25-11            NQ/Round of 24

17.             Luke Sheridan            Indiana            Junior            22-16            NQ/Round of 32

18.             Duke Pickett            Cornell            Sophomore            18-15

19.             Patrick Kissell            Purdue            Junior            21-9

20.            Bryce Hammond            CSU Bakersfield            Sophomore            34-10            NQ