Congrats Nico, you wrestled well enough to make the front page of the Wrestling Wreport. (photo:BSD/Galen)
The Big Ten Wrestling championships start in just over a monthbut Penn State is in peak form right now. A week after dismantling Iowa 22-12, the Lions beat Ohio State 34-9 winning 8 of the 10 bouts. It was thorough domination, in its eight victories, Penn State did not give up a single takedown. I predicted a 25-13 victory for Penn State and I thought that was being overly optimistic. The Lions were solid at almost every weight class (except for 133), even Bryan Pearsall wrestled well in his 9-5 loss to 6th-ranked Hunter Stieber.
| Wt | Winner | dec. | Loser | Bout Score | Team Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125: | # 8 Nico Megaludis | dec. | #15 Johnni Dejulius | 6-2 | 3-0 |
| 133: | #3 Logan Stieber | pinned | Frank Martellotti PSU | WBF (1:38) | 3-6 |
| 141: | #6 Hunter Stieber | dec. | Bryan Pearsall PSU | 9-5 | 3-9 |
| 149: | #1 Frank Molinaro PSU | maj. dec. | #14 Cam Tessari | 12-0 | 7-9 |
| 157: | #8 Dylan Alton | dec. | #20 Josh Demas | 4-0 | 10-9 |
| 165: | #1 David Taylor PSU | tech fall | Derek Garcia | 18-3 (6:20) | 15-9 |
| 174: | #2 Ed Ruth PSU | pinned | #8 Nick Heflin | WBF (2:05) | 21-9 |
| 184: | #3 Quentin Wright PSU | pinned | Craig Thomas | WBF (3:18) | 27-9 |
| 197: | #13 Morgan McIntosh PSU | dec. | #20 Andrew Campolattano | 5-4 | 30-9 |
| 285: | #6 Cameron Wade PSU | maj. dec. | #16 Peter Capone | 9-0 | 34-9 |
The true freshmen both wrestled well even though the score may not show it. Nico forced the action against 15th-ranked Johnni Dejuliusand built up 2:41 in riding time. Morgan McIntosh escaped with a one-point victory but the match shouldn't have been that close. An injury to McIntosh forced him to call a time out which now results in your opponent getting his choice after the bout resumes. Even though Morgan had two takedowns more than Campolattano, he started the third tied 4-4 because Campolattano got an extra point from an extra escape due to the injury.
This is why we call it Murderer’s Row, if you get to 165 and don’t have a good lead on Penn State, you are dead. Ed Ruth dismantled the 8th-ranked 174 pounder before getting the fall. That should tell you everything you need to know about Ruth, he’s a step above the wrestlers in the lower top-ten. Taylor does what Taylor does: beat people into submission. Quentin Wright actually looked like he was having fun out there. He looks quicker as the season wears on and is always looking for a pin.
What would a Wrestling Wreport be without a photo of Frank Molinaro trying to rip an opponents face off?!?!
Molinaro and Alton combined to shut out two ranked opponents. Alton built up almost a minute and a half of riding time and Molinaro had 5:20 (NOT a typo). Cameron Wade had another great match against a ranked opponent. Wade used back points and his strong ride to beat Capone but Cam is shooting more, especially in the first period.
Even in a loss, Bryan Pearsall wrestled well, he never gave up and was shooting till the end. Pearsall put together a good ride in the second period and had several quality shots in the 3rdbut could not convert any of his attempts. Bryan is going to be Penn State’s wild card come tournament time. If he can get into the NCAA’s he can do some damage for the team.
I don’t know if it’s just me but the officiating seems to get more and more spotty as the season moves on. Several Ohio State wrestlers used Russian ties to slow the better Penn State wrestlers down but never used it as an offensive move. It should have been called stalling especially if they never use it to set up a shot and use it defensively. Ohio State used the same approach against Penn State that Iowa did and got the same results.
Frank Martellotti got pinned a week after getting pinned against Iowa. I don’t expect Frank to beat a great wrestler like Stieber but it doesn’t even seem like he’s putting up a fight. Martellotti is not wrestling like he did last season at 125, maybe the jump to 133 was too much. One thing’s for sure, he’s not going to get very far in the post season if he wrestles like that.
Up next: Penn State travels to Nebraska, Friday, Feb. 3, 8 p.m. and welcomes Michigan for a 2 p.m. dual next Sunday.
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1 recs | 34 comments
I love your pictures of Tank
jtothep - January 30, 2012
Tank makes it easy
I wait for a takedown and focus on the opponents face.
Galen - January 30, 2012
Galen
Can you look a bit forward. How does this victory combined with the one against Iowa, set up the Big Ten’s? Are we looking like the favorite or was our loss to Minny at the beginning of the season a sign that we are towards the tops but not the clear favorite to win it all.
AriesGD - January 30, 2012
We're the clear favorite.
In a tournament format we’re deadly with 4 probable champs and possibly 8 in the finals.
Pete the Streak - January 30, 2012
What he said.
Like last season, PSU is a better tournament team than a Dual meet team which is scary if you think about it. I would LOVE to see this team wrestler Minnesota again.
Galen - January 30, 2012
I agree, Ruth and Q are miles ahead of where they were in december
BMAN13 - January 30, 2012
2nd on the Love to wrestle Minnesota again
I watched most of the Iowa/Minn dual yesterday. As you said, PSU is peaking right now as opposed to December. No way DA and Q lose if they face the Gopher team that wrestled yesterday.
Frank O'Brien - January 30, 2012
Well in Dylan's case
Diechtler not being there makes a huge difference. Clearly their backup isn’t very good.
psuwresfan - January 31, 2012
that's for sure
What’s Diechtler’s status? Is he expected back this season?
Frank O'Brien - January 31, 2012
He's done for good
It’s a real shame he had a promising future. But unfortunately he’s had way to many concussions, smart decision in my opinion that’s not something that should be messed with.
psuwresfan - January 31, 2012
Agree Penn State is the favorite
Not sure about 8 finalists, but we should have a lot. Also worth pointing out the other teams in the Big Ten aren’t as top heavy as normal. Iowa only has a few finalists at this point, Minnesota may have 1 or 2.
But honestly I don’t think it should be as close as last year, as long as Penn State doesn’t fall apart they’re in the driver’s seat.
psuwresfan - January 31, 2012
Honestly, what is the probability that Martelotti qualifies for the NCAAs?
OmarLittle - January 30, 2012
Hey, since he's come back
He’s beaten who he should and lost to who he should. Getting pinned sucks, no two ways about it. But we’ll learn more about him these next couple weeks.
As for qualifying, it may depend on how many spots the B1G gets at this weight. There should be at least 6, and he may still prove he can fit inside that number. The BIG is top-heavy:
OSU’s Stieber
Iowa’s Ramos
Ill’s Futrell
Minny’s Dardanes
Purdue’s Quiroga
But after that, there’s Nebraska’s Ridge Kiley (#17 on GAH’s Wrestling Report), Michigan’s #18 Zac Stevens & Frankie (#29). Also on that list is #21 Shelton Mack of Pitt, who Frank will also see before B1Gs. If he ends up showing that he can hang with and defeat those three, then he’s probably a good bet to qualify for nationals.
Shake off those pins. Ramos & Stieber are tough, and he shouldn’t be giving them those arm bars, but there are still a few wrestlers he hasn’t yet seen who may be more in his league.
jtothep - January 30, 2012
Thanks
I haven’t given up hope about him yet. Plenty of time for him to round into form before the Big Ten tourney. I keep trying to remind myself about Wright last year.
OmarLittle - January 30, 2012
Just to be the negative argument, I’m not optimistic. Honestly he hasn’t looked that great even in the matches he’s won. I think he’s struggled to shake off that long layoff.
There is still a month to go so maybe he can get a few win and get some momentum heading into the tournament. But right now I don’t see him getting us more than a point or two at Big Tens and nothing at NCAAs.
psuwresfan - January 31, 2012
I’m a tad leery and I am waiting to see him turn it around. Agree about matches he has won. He was really sucking wind at the end of some. He just walked into two takedowns this past week, something you wouldn’t expect from someone as experienced as him. I think he is wrestling like he is used to being the strongest dog and now finds himself getting pushed around at the 133 class and has not adjusted.
BMAN13 - January 31, 2012
We'll get a good look against Nebraska
Kiley is ranked 18th should be a good measuring stick for where he’s at.
Actually a lot of good matchups against Nebraska. This match could be much closer than our last two top 5 matchups.
psuwresfan - January 31, 2012
Do you know if there are any videos of this, or other, matches available online?
NJ lion - January 30, 2012
The Big Ten Network will broadcast this match on Tuesday at 2:00 pm.
If you have a DVR or are home at the time….
Elihu - January 30, 2012
It is 4:00 - 6:00 pm. I was wrong above.
Elihu - January 31, 2012
NJ
The best place to browse vids of matches, after they’ve been wrestled, is flowrestling.org. They don’t send a videographer to every meet around the country, but they show up at big ones pretty regularly. They’re posted in individual matches and hardly ever as a single video of an entire dual, but that’s the best place to start. There are plenty of David Taylor & Ed Ruth matches on there to start with ;)
Otherwise, in real time, we’re at the mercy of any number of broadcasting influences. BTN is only very sloooowwly getting better, but most of their broadcasts are tape-delayed and aired later (like Elihu notes above). Sometimes only audio is available on internet streams, sometimes audio & video, sometimes only live threads. It’s kinda funny actually.
jtothep - January 30, 2012
I can't believe the BTN doesn't realize what it could do with wrestling but then all the announcer guys are football and basketball.
wrestlers become doctors and business owners while football players and BB players become sports journalists That is why coverage sucks..
BMAN13 - January 30, 2012
The Student U announcers for this match were painful. Word of warning to anyone watching the replay. I ended up muting it and listening to Jeff Byers while watching unfortunately they were having a lot of technical issues so that didn’t go to well.
I realize the Student U stuff on BTN is done by students so I shouldn’t be too harsh, but getting people at Penn State who have been to a wrestling match before shouldn’t be too difficult.
psuwresfan - January 31, 2012
It doesn't suprise me
Just check out how many local newspapers have anyone that knows anything about wrestling. there are some spots around the state that have good writers that know the sport but most areas have really crappy coverage.
BMAN13 - January 31, 2012
Galen, Great write up.
Using the Iowa match as an example I love reading the opposition’s write up (in this case BHGP). You mention stalling etc on the Iowa wrestlers, while BHGP faults some PSU guys. I’m sure you try to be as fair in your match synopsis, but what would you peg you homerism guage at?
rahpsu92 - January 30, 2012
Good question.
Actually, I tone it down WAY more than when I’m at the match. I try to be neutral as a fan can be when I write things up and I try to keep it to the letter of the law (I don’t bitch about stalling unless it’s really, really obvious). That being said, Penn State fan or not, I’m the type of guy that likes action in wrestling and I see stalling all the time. I just got done watching Minnesota and Michigan and who won didn’t matter to me but I still saw what I thought was stalling on both sides.
Galen - January 30, 2012
The ref called it early this week and made OSU wrestle, hence the bonus for murder alley.
I wish the refs would call the guys for stalling that are constantly backing up and heading for the edge. Ed Ruth did a great job of moving back to the middle and making Heflin engage. Heflin ran for the edge in neutral. The stalls should be called in neutral and that would make the action on the mat better, see Frank Molinaro. I don’t mind not seeing stalling called when Frank has legs in but guys really stall in neutral because Frank is so short and they can keep him away by grabbing the left arm and stepping back. Hopefully the refs are better at the ncaas.
BMAN13 - January 30, 2012
Ed is fast becoming my favorite
He’s forcing the refs to make the call. Last week he sits on the Lofthouse turtle, throws his hands in the air and looks at the ref as if to ask “What do we need to do to get this guy to wrestle?”
Frank O'Brien - January 30, 2012
loved that
some refs don’t seem to care for it when he does it but he makes it so obvious that the guy is doing nothing to improve. He did it a lot against Iowa and couldn’t get a call. I said earlier that I thought OSU wrestled more than Iowa and they did, because they were forced to by the ref. He still let them run to edge a lot. Ed kept coming back to the middle and Heflin was reluctant to come back. Should have got hit with stalling as soon as he paused when Ed headed to the middle.
BMAN13 - January 31, 2012
I wouldn’t hold my breath. haha
psuwresfan - January 31, 2012
Stalling
I asked this question of Cody S. before the Minny match — he saw the officials’ calls being inconsistent in early tournaments but he thought it would be called more at tournament time by the officials that are selected for nationals.
At any rate, I strongly believe more “correct” stall calls are essential to bring new fans on board (and, yes, to increase TV audience.) It was the right thing to do to change the rules on stalling this year to make all wrestlers wrestle for at least 7 minutes. The old disqualification hammer was probably too severe and may have resulted in keeping officials from making the call even under the old rules. How long it will take to change the mindset among officials who seem resistent to embrace the new rules is anyone’s guess. Unfortunately for me, my expectations have not been met and it is more frustrating than previous years to watch the non-aggressive styles being allowed to go unpenalized — a rule that is not enforced is not a rule, it’s only a wish!
As for Frank, his punishing style doesn’t help the team score as much as he could because those ridiculous riding times only account for 1 bout point.
OlderBudweiser - January 30, 2012
Frank's doing what Frank does best
As BMAN said above, the taller guys have found success holding off his shots. Still, they can’t beat him. Now that Dake’s moved to 156 there doesn’t appear to be anyone to keep Frank from the top spot and those advancement points are worth more than the bonus points come tournament time.
Frank O'Brien - January 30, 2012
I agree that they aren't calling the new rules for stalling
which is sad because I love the new rules, if you’re using the edge of the mat to escape from your opponents shots you should get dinged. Unfortunately, it’s not getting called; yet. My hope is that come tournament time they start calling it by the book.
Galen - January 31, 2012
Watching the replay on BTN
I’m almost certain Taylor had the pin. Oh well
OmarLittle - January 31, 2012
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