No. 1 Penn State wins eight matches to dominate No. 8 Michigan, 35-7
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by Andy Elder, Special to TheMat.com
Jimmy Gulibon of Penn State controls George Foster of Michigan at 141 pounds. Photo courtesy of gopsusports.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Among the preseason favorites to challenge for an NCAA team title, Michigan had been cruising through its 2015-16 schedule, a November hiccup against Oklahoma the only blemish on its record.
The Wolverines’ undefeated Big Ten record and its seven-match winning streak came to a screeching halt Sunday in front of a standing-room-only White Out crowd of 6,557 in Penn State’s Rec Hall.
The top-ranked Nittany Lions (12-0, 7-0 Big Ten) won eight of 10 bouts and amassed a 22-13 edge in takedowns to rough up the Wolverines (10-2, 5-1), 35-7.
“We didn’t bring enough fight and intensity to some of these bouts. I thought we would have handled that pressure a little bit better, but we didn’t. We didn’t go punch for punch with these guys. That’s the thing that was the difference in the dual,” Michigan coach Joe McFarland said.
“Penn State’s great at that. They’ve obviously got a great team and a great program. That’s why they’re ranked No. 1. They bring a lot of fight when they step on the mat and we weren’t able to match that. That really was the difference. They were focused on scoring and in a lot of matches we were caught defending.”
Michigan was caught short-handed when sixth-ranked Max Huntley developed a skin condition and had to forfeit to top-ranked Morgan McIntosh at 197 pounds. It was also hampered when promising 174-pounder Davonte Mahomes was injured giving up a first-period takedown to No. 1 Bo Nickal. Mahomes had to default the match and hobbled off the mat favoring his right knee.
That didn’t help the Wolverines’ cause, but in the final examination, the Nittany Lions brought way too much firepower to the dual. Penn State added a fall, technical fall and four decisions and won every bout between pairs of ranked wrestlers.
“I think our team wrestled really well today. There were a lot of potentially real good matches at every weight. Just overall I think our team wrestled well,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said.
“I thought our energy level was good. It looked like they were having fun and they were enjoying that atmosphere. That’s what they came to Penn State for.”
Penn State roared out to a 29-0 lead after the first seven bouts, recording three decisions, a fall, an injury default, a technical fall and a decision.
Fourth-ranked 125-pounder Nico Megaludis used four takedowns to fashion a 10-4 win over Conor Youtsey.
The Penn State senior three-time All-American’s younger sister, Alexa, sang the National Anthem prior to the dual.
“I told the guys to wait (to walk out to the gym floor) until she was done singing. I didn’t want to get nervous listening to her sing. I don’t have those vocal chords. I’m lacking in that department,” Megaludis said with a smile.
Penn State 149-pounder Zain Retherford disputed Megaludis’ claim.
“I lived with him last year,” Retherford said, smiling sheepishly. “He can sing.”
Megaludis said he’s begun to savor the atmosphere of each match in his final season.
“I’ve tried, this year, to just look around at the crowd. I kind of like to look around and think, ‘Wow. This is pretty cool,” he said. “It’s awesome to start off a team with all of these guys who just wrestle hard. It’s got to be the hardest-working team that’s ever been in college. We get everyone tired. We all have the same focus, just wear guys out and make them hate wrestling us.”
Fifth-ranked Nittany Lion 133-pounder Jordan Conaway used that same attitude to decision No. 17 Rossi Bruno, 9-4.
“This is my last time, my last season. I’m just using the opportunity to get better. It’s no different than any other season but I’m just trying to be grateful for having the experience I’ve had here. I think I’m still getting better, which is good,” he said.
Jimmy Gulibon, ranked No. 14 at 141, shook off an early takedown by George Fisher and turned in a 9-4 decision to expand Penn State’s lead to 9-0.
That set up back-to-back bouts between pairs of highly ranked wrestlers. What promised to be two hotly contested matches turned into routs.
Top-ranked Retherford led No. 6 Alex Pantaleo 15-3 in the third period when the Nittany Lion hooked up a bow and arrow, torqueing Pantaleo over to his back and tightening the hold to score a fall in 6:36. Pantaleo scored a takedown early in the second to close to within 3-2 but it was all Retherford after that.
“Before the match I was thinking if I got taken down, ‘So what?’ I do the same stuff I always do, get off the bottom, get on my feet and get back to doing what I do,” Retherford said, countering a contention that being taken down gave him extra motivation.
At 157, newly minted No. 1 Jason Nolf used six takedowns and two sets of four-point nearfalls to roll up a 22-6 technical fall over No. 9 Brian Murphy in 6:15.
Penn State added a 6-5 decision from Shakur Rasheed over Garrett Sutton at 165 and Nickal’s injury default win to expand its lead to 29-0.
Michigan won the last two contested bouts of the match. No. 8 Domenic Abounader decisioned backup Brian Brill, 9-2, at 184. And, at heavyweight, No. 4 Adam Coon majored Jan Johnson, 15-5.
Sanderson said he was pleased not only with his team’s fight, but its ability to work through adverse conditions.
“Our guys generally wrestle pretty hard, and their guys wrestle hard. I don’t know if we took it out of them. We just have some guys who are going to keep wrestling,” he said.
“Zane gives up a takedown, but he keeps wrestling. Nolf gave up a takedown, but he just kept wrestling That’s what we want. Conaway gave up a takedown but he kept wrestling. Jimmy gave up the first takedown but he kept wrestling. That’s what we want to see. There are seven minutes for a reason and we want to use every second of those seven minutes.”
No. 1 Penn State 35
No. 8 Michigan 7
(Sunday at University Park, Pa.)
125: No. 4 Nico Megaludis, PSU, dec. Conor Youtsey, 10-4.
133: No. 5 Jordan Conaway, PSU, dec. No. 17 Rossi Bruno, 9-4.
141: No. 14 Jimmy Gulibon, PSU, dec. George Fisher, 9-4.
149: No. 1 Zain Retherford, PSU, pinned No. 6 Alex Pantaleo, 6:36.
157: No. 1 Jason Nolf, PSU, won by tech. fall over No. 9 Brian Murphy, 22-6 (6:15).
165: No. 17 Shakur Rasheed, PSU, dec. Garrett Sutton, 6-5.
174: No. 1 Bo Nickal, PSU, won by inj. def. over No. 13 Davonte Mahomes, 1:24.
184: No. 8 Domenic Abounader, UM, dec. Brian Brill, 9-2.
197: No. 1 Morgan McIntosh, PSU, won by forfeit.
285: No. 4 Adam Coon, UM, maj. dec. Jan Johnson, 15-5.
Ridge Riley Award winner: Zain Retherford, 149 pounds.
Referees: Mike McCormick, Gary Kessell.
Attendance: 6,557.
Takedowns: Michigan 22; Penn State 13.
Records: Michigan 10-2, 5-1 Big Ten; Penn State 12-0, 7-0.
Next match: Michigan at Maryland, 7 p.m. Friday; Ohio State at Penn State, 6 p.m. Friday.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Among the preseason favorites to challenge for an NCAA team title, Michigan had been cruising through its 2015-16 schedule, a November hiccup against Oklahoma the only blemish on its record.
The Wolverines’ undefeated Big Ten record and its seven-match winning streak came to a screeching halt Sunday in front of a standing-room-only White Out crowd of 6,557 in Penn State’s Rec Hall.
The top-ranked Nittany Lions (12-0, 7-0 Big Ten) won eight of 10 bouts and amassed a 22-13 edge in takedowns to rough up the Wolverines (10-2, 5-1), 35-7.
“We didn’t bring enough fight and intensity to some of these bouts. I thought we would have handled that pressure a little bit better, but we didn’t. We didn’t go punch for punch with these guys. That’s the thing that was the difference in the dual,” Michigan coach Joe McFarland said.
“Penn State’s great at that. They’ve obviously got a great team and a great program. That’s why they’re ranked No. 1. They bring a lot of fight when they step on the mat and we weren’t able to match that. That really was the difference. They were focused on scoring and in a lot of matches we were caught defending.”
Michigan was caught short-handed when sixth-ranked Max Huntley developed a skin condition and had to forfeit to top-ranked Morgan McIntosh at 197 pounds. It was also hampered when promising 174-pounder Davonte Mahomes was injured giving up a first-period takedown to No. 1 Bo Nickal. Mahomes had to default the match and hobbled off the mat favoring his right knee.
That didn’t help the Wolverines’ cause, but in the final examination, the Nittany Lions brought way too much firepower to the dual. Penn State added a fall, technical fall and four decisions and won every bout between pairs of ranked wrestlers.
“I think our team wrestled really well today. There were a lot of potentially real good matches at every weight. Just overall I think our team wrestled well,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said.
“I thought our energy level was good. It looked like they were having fun and they were enjoying that atmosphere. That’s what they came to Penn State for.”
Penn State roared out to a 29-0 lead after the first seven bouts, recording three decisions, a fall, an injury default, a technical fall and a decision.
Fourth-ranked 125-pounder Nico Megaludis used four takedowns to fashion a 10-4 win over Conor Youtsey.
The Penn State senior three-time All-American’s younger sister, Alexa, sang the National Anthem prior to the dual.
“I told the guys to wait (to walk out to the gym floor) until she was done singing. I didn’t want to get nervous listening to her sing. I don’t have those vocal chords. I’m lacking in that department,” Megaludis said with a smile.
Penn State 149-pounder Zain Retherford disputed Megaludis’ claim.
“I lived with him last year,” Retherford said, smiling sheepishly. “He can sing.”
Megaludis said he’s begun to savor the atmosphere of each match in his final season.
“I’ve tried, this year, to just look around at the crowd. I kind of like to look around and think, ‘Wow. This is pretty cool,” he said. “It’s awesome to start off a team with all of these guys who just wrestle hard. It’s got to be the hardest-working team that’s ever been in college. We get everyone tired. We all have the same focus, just wear guys out and make them hate wrestling us.”
Fifth-ranked Nittany Lion 133-pounder Jordan Conaway used that same attitude to decision No. 17 Rossi Bruno, 9-4.
“This is my last time, my last season. I’m just using the opportunity to get better. It’s no different than any other season but I’m just trying to be grateful for having the experience I’ve had here. I think I’m still getting better, which is good,” he said.
Jimmy Gulibon, ranked No. 14 at 141, shook off an early takedown by George Fisher and turned in a 9-4 decision to expand Penn State’s lead to 9-0.
That set up back-to-back bouts between pairs of highly ranked wrestlers. What promised to be two hotly contested matches turned into routs.
Top-ranked Retherford led No. 6 Alex Pantaleo 15-3 in the third period when the Nittany Lion hooked up a bow and arrow, torqueing Pantaleo over to his back and tightening the hold to score a fall in 6:36. Pantaleo scored a takedown early in the second to close to within 3-2 but it was all Retherford after that.
“Before the match I was thinking if I got taken down, ‘So what?’ I do the same stuff I always do, get off the bottom, get on my feet and get back to doing what I do,” Retherford said, countering a contention that being taken down gave him extra motivation.
At 157, newly minted No. 1 Jason Nolf used six takedowns and two sets of four-point nearfalls to roll up a 22-6 technical fall over No. 9 Brian Murphy in 6:15.
Penn State added a 6-5 decision from Shakur Rasheed over Garrett Sutton at 165 and Nickal’s injury default win to expand its lead to 29-0.
Michigan won the last two contested bouts of the match. No. 8 Domenic Abounader decisioned backup Brian Brill, 9-2, at 184. And, at heavyweight, No. 4 Adam Coon majored Jan Johnson, 15-5.
Sanderson said he was pleased not only with his team’s fight, but its ability to work through adverse conditions.
“Our guys generally wrestle pretty hard, and their guys wrestle hard. I don’t know if we took it out of them. We just have some guys who are going to keep wrestling,” he said.
“Zane gives up a takedown, but he keeps wrestling. Nolf gave up a takedown, but he just kept wrestling That’s what we want. Conaway gave up a takedown but he kept wrestling. Jimmy gave up the first takedown but he kept wrestling. That’s what we want to see. There are seven minutes for a reason and we want to use every second of those seven minutes.”
No. 1 Penn State 35
No. 8 Michigan 7
(Sunday at University Park, Pa.)
125: No. 4 Nico Megaludis, PSU, dec. Conor Youtsey, 10-4.
133: No. 5 Jordan Conaway, PSU, dec. No. 17 Rossi Bruno, 9-4.
141: No. 14 Jimmy Gulibon, PSU, dec. George Fisher, 9-4.
149: No. 1 Zain Retherford, PSU, pinned No. 6 Alex Pantaleo, 6:36.
157: No. 1 Jason Nolf, PSU, won by tech. fall over No. 9 Brian Murphy, 22-6 (6:15).
165: No. 17 Shakur Rasheed, PSU, dec. Garrett Sutton, 6-5.
174: No. 1 Bo Nickal, PSU, won by inj. def. over No. 13 Davonte Mahomes, 1:24.
184: No. 8 Domenic Abounader, UM, dec. Brian Brill, 9-2.
197: No. 1 Morgan McIntosh, PSU, won by forfeit.
285: No. 4 Adam Coon, UM, maj. dec. Jan Johnson, 15-5.
Ridge Riley Award winner: Zain Retherford, 149 pounds.
Referees: Mike McCormick, Gary Kessell.
Attendance: 6,557.
Takedowns: Michigan 22; Penn State 13.
Records: Michigan 10-2, 5-1 Big Ten; Penn State 12-0, 7-0.
Next match: Michigan at Maryland, 7 p.m. Friday; Ohio State at Penn State, 6 p.m. Friday.
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