PARK RIDGE, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference office announced April 3 honorees from each of its 11 wrestling squads for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Penn State senior All-American James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) was the Nittany Lion recipient of the honor. Yonushonis, an All-American at 174 in 2006, went 30-6 this year and leaves Penn State with an 83-50 career record. Honorees for wrestling are Illinois' Cassio Pero, Indiana's Angel Escobedo, Iowa's Eric Luedke, Michigan's Casey White, Michigan State's Franklin Gomez, Minnesota's Jayson Ness, Northwestern's Eric Metzler, Ohio State's Chris Vondruska, Penn State's James Yonushonis, Purdue's Jake Patacsil and Wisconsin's Tyler Turner.

These 11 student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.

2006-07 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees (Wrestling)
Cassio Pero, ILLINOIS, Angel Escobedo, INDIANA, Eric Luedke, IOWA, Casey White, MICHIGAN, Franklin Gomez, MICHIGAN STATE, Jayson Ness, MINNESOTA, Eric Metzler, NORTHWESTERN, Chris Vondruska, OHIO STATE, James Yonushonis, PENN STATE, Jake Patacsil, PURDUE, Tyler Turner, WISCONSIN.