Second-ranked Penn State downs No. 11 Lehigh 30-10 in BJC dual

Nick Suriano (Penn State) works for nearfall points on Darian Cruz (Lehigh) at 125 pounds. Photo: Craig Houtz, Penn State Athletics.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 15,424 fans who flooded the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday for No. 2 Penn State’s dual meet with No. 11 Lehigh were riding the emotional wave of the Nittany Lions’ Big Ten Football Championship Game win over Wisconsin late Saturday night.


The Penn State (3-0) wrestlers kept the good times rolling in their 30-10 win over Lehigh (3-1). The Nittany Lions won seven of 10 bouts, scoring bonus points in four, and amassed a 25-10 edge in takedowns.


“I think overall we wrestled pretty good. I think that's a good team. I think that's a Top 10 dual team, for sure. They're going to beat some good teams this year,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said.


“Tough all the way up and down their lineup for the most part. They were ready to wrestle. They scouted our guys really well. You could tell they were prepared, and expected nothing less. It's a good team and a good staff and an experienced team also.”


Lehigh coach Pat Santoro knew his team needed to get off to a good start to have any chance at an upset. Those hopes were dashed when precocious freshman Nick Suriano dominated third-ranked Darian Cruz in a 7-0 win.


“We knew if we had any chance, we had to win the first three,” he said.


After a scoreless first period, Cruz rode Suriano to start the second. Suriano escaped, converted a takedown and immediately turned Cruz for a four-point nearfall.


“Darian does a nice job on top and he gets out, then (Cruz) relaxes and gets doubled. Instead of getting back to his base, he stayed there for about three seconds and got turked. That was the match,” Santoro said. “You give up a six-point move and it’s hard to battle back against a kid like Suriano.”


That’s the second win over a Top 5 opponent for Suriano, a true freshman. He knocked off Stanford’s Connor Schram, who was ranked No. 4 at the time, on Nov. 13.


“That’s a big match, big for Nick. In the scheme of things, it’s just another match and we have another match on Sunday. But Cruz is a really tough guy and a guy that has a lot of experience, real savvy, great athlete, tough in all positions so I think it was a great test for Nick and Nick was Nick and he did a great job,” Sanderson said.


Suriano’s first BJC dual left an impression.


“This is the kind of atmosphere I train for. This is what Penn State offers. It's awesome. A ranked guy, it doesn't matter. Just getting out to wrestle like me is wonderful in this environment,” he said.


“I was definitely trying to pin him. It was close; I think I had him for a couple seconds but you've got to earn it. I was trying my hardest to get the pin, but it was real close. It would've been awesome to stick him in front of the big crowd. The place would've went crazy. But I did my job.”


Lehigh shook off the upset at 125 by claiming wins in the next two bouts to take a 7-3 lead.


Scott Parker dismantled Jered Cortez, 12-4, using four takedowns and a two-point tilt to fashion the win. At 141, Randy Cruz made a second-period reversal stand up for a 2-0 win.


Penn State swept the next three matches to take the lead for good, capitalizing on a combination of superior talent for the Lions and illness and injury for the Mountain Hawks.


Top-ranked 149-pounder Zain Retherford ran his pin streak to seven in a row with a second-period fall over Laike Gardner. His other win this season was a 21-3 technical fall.


Top-ranked 157-pounder Jason Nolf annihilated Mountain Hawk backup Kent Lane 26-9 in 6:38. Nolf, who has won every match this season by technical fall or fall, rolled up 10 takedowns. Lane filled in for Jordan Kutler, who Santoro said was battling flu-like symptoms.


And, at 165, Vincenzo Joseph used four takedowns to decision Drew Longo, who was subbing in for Mitch Minotti, 10-5. Santoro said his All-American, who is coming back from an injury, has only been practicing for a week. He expects to reinsert Minotti into the lineup in the week or two.


Lehigh claimed one final win at 174, where Ryan Preisch escaped and scored a winning takedown on Shakur Rasheed in the third period for a 6-3 win.


“Preisch is just a fighter. He did a good job,” Santoro said.


Penn State swept the final three matches in convincing fashion, scoring a fall, major decision and decision at 184, 197 and 285, respectively.


Bo Nickal scored three quick takedowns on Kyle Gentile before scoring a fall at the 2:35 mark of the first period. Nickal has scored a fall in all seven matches he’s wrestled this year.


Nickal said earlier in the week that he, Nolf and Retherford have a friendly competition going to see who can notch the most bonus-point wins.


“It's a motivational factor for all of us. We see each other doing well and we want our team to do well and build that reputation like Coach Cael said, just going out there and wrestling for seven minutes. If it doesn't take seven minutes … that's about it,” he said.


At 197, Matt McCutcheon continues to thrive after being forced to move up a weight after losing a preseason wrestle-off to Nickal. McCutcheon remained undefeated after a 12-2 major decision over Ben Haas.


Nittany Lion heavyweight Nick Nevills put a bow on the dual meet with an 8-4 win over Doug Vollaro, who was several inches taller and at least 20 pounds heavier than Nevills. Nevills rode Vollaro the entire second period and then exploded for eight points in the final period for an 8-4 win.


Despite a 20-point loss, Santoro seemed encouraged by most of his team’s fight and competitiveness.


“Penn State’s really good. You’ve got to give them some credit. They’re doing a really nice job. They’ve got the best kids in the country here. But, you’ve got to come here to win. You don’t come here to see how you’ll do. I thought some of our guys came out to win and some came out to see how they were going to do,” he said.


“I thought most of our guys fought. A couple of our guys turned it off late in the match. That’s really disappointing. You can always fight your best. You can’t always wrestle your best, but you can always fight. A couple guys stopped fighting and that’s unacceptable.”

No. 2 Penn State 30, No. 11 Lehigh 10

Bryce Jordan Center – University Park, Pa.

125: No. 6 Nick Suriano, PSU, dec. No. 4 Darian Cruz, 7-0.

133: No. 20 Scott Parker, L, maj. dec. No. 12 Jered Cortez, 12-4.

141: No. 3 Randy Cruz, L, dec. No. 15 Jimmy Gulibon, 2-0.

149: No. 1 Zain Retherford, PSU, pinned No. 9 Laike Gardner, 3:55.

157: No. 1 Jason Nolf, PSU, won by tech. fall over Kent Lane, 26-9 (6:38).

165: No. 10 Vincenzo Joseph, PSU, dec. Drew Longo, 10-5.

174: No. 19 Ryan Preish, L, dec. No. 12 Shakur Rasheed, 6-3.

184: No. 3 Bo Nickal, PSU, pinned Kyle Gentile, 2:35.

197: No. 13 Matt McCutcheon, PSU, maj. dec. Ben Haas, 12-2.

285: No. 7 Nick Nevills, PSU, dec. No. 11 Doug Vollaro, 8-4.

Referee: Angel Rivera; Mat Judge: Mike Millward.

Attendance: 15,424.

Ridge Riley Award winner: Nick Suriano.

Takedowns: Lehigh 10; Penn State 25.

Records: Lehigh 3-1; Penn State 3-0.

Next match: Princeton at Lehigh, 7 p.m. Friday; Binghamton at Penn State, 2 p.m. Sunday.