The Penn State wrestling team finished the dual meet season strong, winning 8 of 10 bouts and beating Pitt by a 33-6 score. Frank Martellotti and Morgan McIntosh were the only losses on the afternoon and both were by slim 1-point margins and both had shots at pulling out the upset but couldn't finish. Penn State got 9 bonus points off of two pins and three major decisions and won the takedown battle by a 22-5 edge. Frank Molinaro and Cameron Wade ended their Penn State dual meet careers on a positive note, each getting a win in front of the home crowd. Molinaro outlasted Pitt’s Tyler Nauman, the 12th ranked wrestler in the country 5-2 and Wade pinned freshman Joel Yahner in just under 4 minutes.
The Penn State wrestling team will finish off the 2011-2012 dual meet season Sunday at 2 p.m. against cross-state rival Pittsburgh. The Panthers will make the 2 ½ hour bus ride to take on the Lions in a sold out Rec Hall. Sunday’s dual is senior day and will be the last time Frank Molinaro and Cameron Wade take the mat in front of the home crowd. Both wrestlers have had good dual meet careers and get one more chance to thrill the home crowd.
Cael Sanderson returned to his home-state Saturday night to take on Utah Valley in a rare Saturday night dual. Penn State won 9 of 10 bouts beating the Wolverines 39-3 drawing in almost 5,500 fans for the meet. Frank Martellotti was the only Lion to lose, giving up a tough 3-1 decision to Blake Mangum of Utah Valley. Penn State closed out the road portion of their dual season going undefeated away from Rec Hall. Penn State returns home to take on Pitt next Sunday at 2 p.m. the last dual meet of the season.
Utah Valley?!? Yes, Penn State will head across the country to Salt Lake City to battle the Wolverines of Utah Valley Saturday night at 9:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. local time). It marks the final road dual of the year for Penn State with only a home dual with Pitt left on the regular season schedule.
It may sound like a strange team to schedule but it’s not. Penn State associate head coach Cody Sanderson started the Wolverine program back in 2003 and was the head coach for 3 seasons before joining brother Cael at Iowa State. Scheduling them was most likely a move by the coaching staff to help out a fledgling program. Unlike the world of football where schools never drop the sport, wrestling is always on the chopping block in administrators’ minds thanks to Title IX. There is no women’s wrestling program and wrestling teams don’t make any money so they often fall victim to budget cuts. A major wrestling program like Penn State can help out young programs by bringing them some national attention even if it’s in a small way. Every little bit helps the sport, so good for Penn State.
Match-ups, predictions, and more below.
Thanks to a weekend sweep of No. 7 Nebraska on Friday night and Michigan at Rec Hall on Sunday, the Penn State Wrestling team earned the inaugural Big Ten regular season dual meet title. Unfortunately, thanks to a win over Nebraska Sunday, Minnesota earned a share of that title with Penn State. Both teams finished with identical 7-1 conference records. Penn State hammered Nebraska 31-6 and beat up Michigan with a similar 34-7 score. Penn State lost only 4 matches all weekend and owned a lopsided 49-13 advantage in takedowns. Penn State still has two duals left before the conference tournament in early March but both the Lions and the Gophers are done in conference.
Penn State will travel to Nebraska tonight at 8 p.m. and then return home to Rec Hall to welcome the Michigan Wolverines Sunday at 2 p.m. Both teams are ranked - NU is 7th and UM is 12th - so it will be a tough test for the Lions. It’s a big weekend for PSU because these are the last two duals with Big Ten teams and, this season, the Big Ten is officially recognizing the regular season dual meet champion(s), in trophy form. If Penn State wins both duals they will be guaranteed at least a share of that sweet, sweet trophy. This post will also serve as the open thread for the match tonight; I’ll be posting updates throughout the Nebraska dual.
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.
After a tough match against a top-5 opponent in Iowa, Penn State welcomes another top-5 opponent in the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes to Rec Hall Sunday for a 2 p.m. Big Ten dual. Penn State and Ohio State are similar in that they both beat Iowa bad. Ohio State won 21-9 a week ago and Penn State won 22-12 last Sunday. Both teams have moved up, Penn State took Iowa’s No 2 ranking and OSU moves to 5. It will be a familiar opponent for Penn State because Ohio State matches up very similar to the way Iowa did. OSU’s meat & potatoes are in their lighter weights, although they are a little more evenly matched than Iowa was. Penn State could be in for a letdown after the emotional win last weekend, hopefully they are ready, the Buckeyes will be a tough test.
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