BTN.com staff, June 20, 2012
It was all about the wrestling team when it came to the 2011-12 athletic year at Penn State. The Nittany Lions won their second consecutive national crown in dominating fashion, beating Big Ten rival and runner-up Minnesota by 25.5 points. What's more, a trio of Penn State stars won the national title in his respective weight class — Frank Molinaro (149), David Taylor (165) and Ed Ruth (174). Taylor, a sophomore, also claimed the Dan Hodge Trophy, awarded to the National Wrestler of the Year.
Catch Penn State Day on BTN all day Wednesday. View our programming schedule for the list of shows, games and features to be shown on Penn State Day. Future Penn State Days include: July 11 and August 2.
Other Penn State highlights from the 2011-12 athletic year:
- Football tied for the Leaders Division crown, with a 6-2 Big Ten clip, but lost the tiebreaker to Wisconsin because it fell to the Badgers in the regular season.
- Women's soccer won its 14th consecutive Big Ten title, made the Big Ten tourney title game, which it lost to Illinois, and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tourney, where it lost to Wake Forest; Maya Hayes was named Big Ten Forward of the Year after finishing second in the nation in goals per game.
- Volleyball players Katie Slay (Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year) and Micha Hancock (Freshman of the Year) won Big Ten individual honors.
- Cross country star Caitlin Lane took first at the Big Ten Championships and won Big Ten Athlete of the Year.
- Field hockey won the Big Ten tournament crown, its fifth and first since 1998; Laura Gebhart won Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
- Women's basketball went 13-3 en route to winning the Big Ten regular-season crown for the first time since 2004; it also made the NCAA tourney for a second straight season, the first time it had done that since 1999-2005.
- Gymnast Sharaya Musser won a record six Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors on her way to winning Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
- Men's swimmer Nate Savoy won Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Shows/games featured on BTN during Penn State Day:
Big Ten Icons: John Cappelletti
The Big Ten's Greatest Games – Football: Ohio State at Penn State – 2005
The Big Ten's Greatest Games – Football: Penn State at Wisconsin – 2002
Big Ten Football Replay: 2010 Capital One Bowl – Penn State vs. LSU
The Big Ten's Greatest Games – Basketball: Penn State at Michigan State – 3/9/01
The Big Ten's Greatest Games – Basketball: Michigan State at Penn State – 2/2/08
2012 Big Ten Wrestling Championships
Big Ten Men's Basketball '10-11: Michigan State at Penn State
[View our programming schedule for the official list of shows on each Penn State Day]
