Penn State overpowers Nebraska in top-10 clash, 27-14

No. 2 Bo Nickal (Penn State) cruises to 10-5 win over No. 3 TJ Dudley (Nebraska). Photo: Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com.

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (6-0, 2-0 B1G) hammered home-standing No. 6 Nebraska (7-1, 1-1 B1G) for its second Big Ten road victory of the weekend. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s squad won seven of ten bouts to roll to the 27-14 win.


The dual meet featured a Nittany Lion line-up with six underclassmen and a Husker line-up with six seniors in it. Penn State’s seven wins included three majors and a pin as well as sophomore Bo Nickal’s dominant win over TJ Dudley at 184.


The dual began at 125. True freshman Nick Suriano (Paramus, N.J.), ranked No. 3, used a second period takedown to beat No. 5 Tim Lambert, giving Penn State an early 3-0 lead. At 133, sophomore George Carpenter took to the mat for No. 13 Jered Cortez (Carol Stream, Ill.) and suffered a 17-1 technical fall to No. 3 Eric Montoya. Nebraska’s Colton McCrystal, ranked No. 13, used a first period flurry to down senior Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), ranked No. 12 at 141, 12-5 and put the Huskers up 8-3.


Junior Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 149, dominated Collin Purinton, posting a 19-6 major and staying unbeaten on the year. Sophomore Jason Nolf (Yatesboro, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 157, majored No. 3 Tyler Berger, dominating action from start to finish on his way to a 15-7 major and putting Penn State up 11-8 at the midway point. Nolf tallied a 6-1 takedown edge in the match.


Red-shirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 5 at 165, majored Nebraska’s Dustin Williams 20-7, for the Lions’ third straight bonus point win. Senior Geno Morelli (DuBois, Pa.) once again got the call at 174 and continued to impress with a 2-1 victory over Nebraska senior Micah Barnes. Morelli’s win gave Penn State an 18-8 lead. 


Sophomore Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas), ranked No. 2 at 184, then downed No. 3 TJ Dudley 10-5, rolling up four takedowns to none for the Husker senior. Nebraska got a win at 197 where No. 7 Aaron Studebaker pinned Lion junior Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.), ranked No. 11, at the 6:01 mark. Sophomore Nick Nevills (Clovis, Calif.), ranked No. 5 at 285, put an exclamation point on the road win by pinning No. 15 Collin Jensen at the 6:01 mark to give the Nittany Lions the final 27-14 victory.


The Nittany Lions dominated the dual from start to finish, rolling up a 24-8 takedown advantage in winning seven of ten bouts. Penn State picked up six bonus points off a pin (Nevills) and three majors (Retherford, Nolf, Joseph). Penn State’s Big Ten road weekend was successful with the Nittany Lions winning 15 of 20 bouts and outscoring the No. 9 (Minnesota) and No. 6 (Nebraska) teams in the country 60-20.


Retherford has now won 46 straight matches dating back to the end of the 13-14 season. He is 11-0 with nine pins, a tech and a major. Nolf is 10-1dfdfd with seven pins, a major and three techs. Nickal is 10-0 with eight pins and a major this season. Nevills and Suriano both remain unbeaten with 10-0 records as well. Nevills now has four pins and a tech fall this year.


The Nittany Lions are now 6-0 on the year, 2-0 in the Big Ten, and have won 23 straight duals dating back to the end of the 2014-15 campaign. Nebraska falls to 7-1, 1-1 B1G.


Penn State returns to Rec Hall for the first time in over a month on Friday, Jan. 13, when Rutgers invades Rec Hall for a 7 p.m. Big Ten dual. All Rec Hall dual meets are sold out, but a very limited number of Standing Room Only tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The 2016-17 Penn State wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here. 


#2 Penn State 27, #6 Nebraska 14

January 8, 2017 – Lincoln, Neb.

125: #3 Nick Suriano PSU dec. #5 Tim Lambert NEB, 3-2 / 3-0 

133: #3 Eric Montoya tech fall George Carpenter PSU, 17-1 (TF; 5:56) / 3-5

141: #13 Colton McCrystal NEB dec. #12 Jimmy Gulibon PSU, 12-5 / 3-8

149: #1 Zain Retherford PSU maj. dec. Collin Purinton NEB, 19-6 / 7-8

157: #1 Jason Nolf PSU maj. dec. #3 Tyler Berger NEB, 15-7 / 11-8

165: #5 Vincenzo Joseph PSU maj. dec. Dustin Williams NEB, 20-7 / 15-8

174: Geno Morelli PSU dec. Michal Barnes NEB, 2-1 / 18-8

184: #2 Bo Nickal PSU dec. #3 TJ Dudley NEB, 10-5 / 21-8

197: #7 Aaron Studebaker NEB pinned #11 Matt McCutcheon PSU, WBF (6:01) / 21-14

285: #5 Nick Nevills PSU pinned #15 Collin Jensen NEB, WBF (6:01) / 27-14


Attendance: 2,373

Records: Penn State 6-0, 2-0 B1G; Nebraska 7-1, 1-1 B1G

Up Next for Penn State: home vs. Rutgers, Friday, Jan. 13, 7 p.m., in Rec Hall