Penn State wrestling is number one, at least for now. The squad was named the best team in the country in InterMat’s pre-season rankings released yesterday.

Last year’s national champion and three-time All-American David Taylor along with three-time National Champion Ed Ruth were both ranked as the top wrestlers in their respective weight class. Penn State has a ranked wrestler in every weight class except 141-pound, which was vacated by Bryan Pearsall who graduated after this past season.

Taylor and Ruth will both participate in the NWCA All-Star Classic on November 2 at George Mason. Taylor faces Michael Moreno of Iowa State, who placed sixth in last year’s NCAA Championship. Ruth faces Jimmy Sheptock of the University of Maryland, who is ranked third in their weight class and placed sixth in last year’s NCAA Championship.

Nico Megaludis — who was the NCAA runner up in the 125 weight class — is ranked behind Jesse Delgado of Illinois. Megaludis lost to Delgado in the national finals, but earlier in the season he pinned Delgado. Megaludis was invited to participate in this year’s NWCA All-Star Classic but declined due to family obligations.

Matt Brown — who was the NCAA runner up in the 174 weight class — is ranked third in his division. Brown lost to Chris Perry, the second ranked in the division, in the NCAA finals. Brown is set to face Wisconsin’s Andrew Howe at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Howe is ranked the top wrestler in the weight class and will compete in collegiate wrestling for the first time since the 2010-2011 season.

Redshirt sophomore Morgan McIntosh, ranked fourth, will make his return at 197 this season after redshirting last year. As a true freshman, McIntosh qualified for the NCAA Championships and placed fifth in the Big Ten. McIntosh will replace NCAA Champion and four-time All-American Quentin Wright.

Redshirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon is ranked 11th in the 133 weight class. He is the second-ranked freshman in the weight class. After neither of the Alton brothers placed in last year’s NCAA Championship, Andrew Alton is ranked eighth at 149 and Dylan Alton is ranked sixth at 157. Junior heavyweight Jimmy Lawson is ranked tenth after placing eighth in the Big Ten and qualifying for the NCAA championship last season.

The Penn State wrestling season officially begins tomorrow with the first practice. The team opens the season against Rider on November 16 before facing Lehigh the following day.