Penn State flexes muscle at Big Ten Championships sending six to finals

Nico Megaludis (Penn State) upends Thomas Gilman (Iowa) 4-3 in crucial 125-pound semifinal bout at Big Ten Championships. Photo: Mark Lundy, Lutte Lens

VIDEO: 2016 Big Ten Wrestling Championships Interviews

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Penn State train continued to roll in front of 11,901 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday evening with six Nittany Lion wrestlers securing berths in the championship finals.

Penn State separated itself from the pack in the team standings, picking up key wins in both the championship and consolation brackets, all the while continuing the bonus points trend. They have amassed 133 team points and lead second-place Iowa by 27 after day one.

“We’ve got a lot of wrestling still to do, but overall I think we are wrestling pretty well,” said Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson. “We need to finish strong, obviously. We got a few bonus points. Our big dogs really stepped it up. I’m proud of these guys. It’s a good group of guys and they wrestled well.”

Three-time NCAA All-American Nico Megaludis provided the Penn State spark in the first semi-final bout of the evening. He topped Iowa All-American Thomas Gilman, 4-3, in the first round of overtime ride-outs.

“It was awesome to wrestle in that crowd. I always like the environment here. Gilman’s obviously a great wrestler, but I’ve beaten him before. Either way, it doesn’t matter. I’ve just got to focus on myself,” said Megaludis.

Gilman tied the match 2-2 in the second ride-out before failing on a front headlock maneuver near the edge of the mat, providing Megaludis the opportunity to counter and secure the match-winning takedown.

Megaludis will face defending NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State in the 125-pound finals. Tomasello defeated Megaludis, 3-1, in a dual-meet on Feb. 5.

“It’s going to feel great. I’m looking for that [Big Ten championship]. I’ve been through a lot in past years, and everything has made me the person I am today, so I wouldn’t change anything, but tomorrow is going to feel good,” said Megaludis.

Redshirt freshman Jason Nolf imposed his wrath on the 157-pound field today. The Penn State hammer added a 21-3 technical fall of Iowa’s Edwin Cooper, Jr. in the semifinals to his ever-growing bonus point tally.

“I thought I wrestled pretty well,” Nolf said. “Its fun coming into this arena, and the crowd gets into it so that makes it fun too. It was a pretty good day.”

The much-anticipated rematch between Nolf and defending NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois will go down tomorrow evening. Nolf pinned Martinez in a dual-meet on Jan. 23 giving Martinez his first and only collegiate loss.

NCAA All-American Zain Retherford and budding freshman star Bo Nickal both notched semifinal victories by first period fall for Penn State. Retherford took out No. 5 seed Alec Pantaleo of Michigan in 2:46 and Nickal stopped No. 4 seed Myles Martin of Ohio State in 2:28.

Retherford will face Iowa All-American Brandon Sorensen in a battle of undefeated’s in the 149-pound finals. Retherford comes in ranked No. 1 in the NCAA and Sorensen No. 2.

Penn State Senior All-American Morgan McIntosh cruised to an 8-2 win over No. 5 seed Aaron Studebaker of Nebraska in the 197-pound semifinals.

Fellow Senior All-American Jimmy Gulibon moved from the No. 8 seed at 141 pounds to the championships finals. Gulibon upset top-seed Micah Jordan of Ohio State, 3-2, in the quarterfinals before edging No. 5 seed Javier Gasca III of Michigan State, 6-5, in the semifinals. He will face Rutgers All-American Anthony Ashnault for top prize.

The hometown Iowa Hawkeyes placed four wrestlers in tomorrow’s championship finals.

“There’s a lot to digest right now,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands. “How do I feel? We’ve got another day of wrestling. That’s how we’re looking right now. We’ve got to come back strong tomorrow. It’s a lot on the line right now.”

NCAA runner-up Cory Clark won a wild 10-7 affair against last year’s Big Ten runner-up Ryan Taylor of Wisconsin in the semifinals at 133 pounds. He will look to avenge an overtime loss to No. 1 seed Zane Richards of Illinois from earlier this season in the finals.

All-American Nathan Burak finally broke through his semi-final barrier at the Big Ten Championships. The Hawkeye senior avenged his loss to Brett Pfarr of Minnesota is satisfying fashion. Burak scored an overtime takedown to book his trip to the 197-pound finals.

“I’ve been in the semifinals, this is the fourth time in a row, and every single time I lost it in overtime or really close. I told myself I’m not losing in the semifinals this time. I’m making it to the championships,” said Burak.

World champion Kyle Snyder led the Ohio State charge on Saturday without breaking a sweat. Snyder defeated No. 6 seed Collin Jensen of Nebraska 24-9 in the 285-pound semifinals. He outscored his opponents today by a combined 50-20 score. In his five matches this season Snyder has combined to score 120 technical points for an average of 24 points per match.

“I felt I wrestled good. I moved my hands and my feet well, shot early and often. With the big guys it’s a little easier to get to their legs and a little harder to finish, so it’s good for me to get in these positions and work on finishing fast, not funking around with them and I thought I wrestled well,” said Snyder.

Snyder is set to show down with NCAA runner-up Adam Coon of Michigan in the finals, in what is sure to be his toughest collegiate test at heavyweight to date.

“We’ve wrestled each other a decent amount but not recently, so I always want to see if I’ve grown or not as a wrestler. He’s a big, strong guy, but I’m very excited to get to his legs and see how heavy they are. Everyone says they are heavy, so I want to go and see,” said Snyder.

The Buckeyes currently sit in third place as a team, 33 points behind Penn State and six points behind Iowa.

All-American TJ Dudley topped off the Nebraska charge by upending defending Big Ten champion and No. 1 seed Domenic Abounader of Michigan, 4-1, in the 184-pound semifinals. Dudley will face Hawkeye Sammy Brooks for the Big Ten crown.

It will be an all-Jordan battle at 165 pounds with cousin’s Bo Jordan of Ohio State and Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin meeting for the second-straight year in the Big Ten finals. Isaac holds a 2-0 record over Bo in the collegiate series between the two.

Illinois pushed three wrestlers to the finals with No. 3 seed at 174 pounds Zach Brunson joining Richards and Martinez in the finale tomorrow evening.

Session III of the 2016 Big Ten Championships will commence at 12 p.m. (CT) tomorrow with the remaining consolation rounds streaming live on BTN2GO. The championship finals are scheduled for 3 p.m. (CT) and can be viewed live on Big Ten Network.

2016 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 5-6 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa

Team Standings
1. Penn State 133.0
2. Iowa 106.0
3. Ohio State 100.0
4. Nebraska 97.5
5. Rutgers 90.5
6. Illinois 78.5
7. Michigan 70.0
8. Wisconsin 53.0
9. Minnesota 38.0
10. Purdue 30.0
11. Indiana 26.0
12. Michigan State 10.5
13. Northwestern 8.0
14. Maryland 7.5

Finals Match-Ups
125: No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) vs. No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State)
133: No. 1 Zane Richards (Illinois) vs. No. 2 Cory Clark (Iowa)
141: No. 8 Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers)
149: No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa)
157: No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois)
165: No. 1 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) vs. No. 2 Bo Jordan (Ohio State)
174: No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs. No 3 Zach Brunson (Illinois)
184: No. 4 TJ Dudley (Nebraska) vs. No. 3 Sammy Brooks (Iowa)
197: No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Nathan Burak (Iowa)
285: No. 1 Adam Coon (Michigan) vs. No. 2 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State)

Semifinal Results
125 pounds
No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) dec. No. 4 Tim Lambert (Nebraska), 10-5
No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) dec. No. 2 Thomas Gilman (Iowa), 4-3 TB1

133 pounds
No. 1 Zane Richards (Illinois) dec. No. 5 Eric Montoya (Nebraska), 5-1
No. 2 Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. No. 6 Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin), 10-7

141 pounds
No. 8 Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State) dec. No. 5 Javier Gasca III (Michigan State), 6-5
No. 3 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. No. 7 Danny Sabatello (Purdue), 8-4

149 pounds
No. 1 Zain Retherford (Penn State) fall No. 5 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan), 2:46
No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) dec. No. 3 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska), 5-2

157 pounds
No. 1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) tech. fall No. 5 Edwin Cooper Jr. (Iowa), 21-3
No. 2 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) dec. No. 6 Brian Murphy (Michigan), 5-4

165 pounds
No. 1 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) med. for. No. 4 Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers)
No. 2 Bo Jordan (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 3 Steven Rodrigues (Illinois), 10-2

174 pounds
No. 1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) fall No. 4 Myles Martin (Ohio State), 2:28
No 3 Zach Brunson (Illinois) fall No. 2 Alex Meyer (Iowa), 2:00

184 pounds
No. 4 TJ Dudley (Nebraska) dec. No. 1 Domenic Abounader (Michigan), 4-1
No. 3 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) dec. No. 2 Matt McCutcheon (Penn State), 6-1

197 pounds
No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) dec. No. 5 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska), 8-2
No. 3 Nathan Burak (Iowa) dec. No. 2 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota), 3-1 SV1

285 pounds
No. 1 Adam Coon (Michigan) dec. No. 5 Michael Kroells (Minnesota), 3-2
No. 2 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) tech. fall No. 6 Collin Jensen (Nebraska), 24-9