Wrestling Wreport: Penn State Travels to Utah Valley
by Galen on Feb 10, 2012 5:04 PM EST
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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.
Match-ups
| Wt. | PSU | vs | Utah Valley (class) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | #8 Nico Megaludis | Colby Christensen (R-Fr.) | |
| 133 | Frank Martellotti | Blake Mangum (R-Fr.) | |
| 141 | Bryan Pearsall | Avery Garner (So.) | |
| 149 | #1 Frank Molinaro | #14 Josh Wilson (Jr.) | |
| 157 | #6 Dylan Alton | Napoleon Aniciete (Fr.) | |
| 165 | #1 David Taylor | Ethan Smith R-(Fr) | |
| 174 | #2 Ed Ruth | Monte Schmalhaus (So.) | |
| 184 | #2 Quentin Wright | David Prieto (R-Fr. ) | |
| 197 | #12 Morgan McIntosh | Brian Chamberlain (Fr) | |
| 285 | #6 Cameron Wade | Dustin Dennison (Fr) |
History
None, this will be the first meeting between the two schools. Utah Valley is sitting at 5-7 but they just got done beating Stanford (25-10) and Cal Poly (19-17), a team that is a traditional wrestling school (UFC champ Chuck Liddell wrestled at Cal-Poly).
Predictions
While Cody might have had good intentions in scheduling his old school, he really isn’t doing them any favors on the mat. Utah Valley’s only ranked wrestler is #14 Josh Wilson who happens to fall at Frank Molinaro’s weight. I included the class of each Wolverine wrestler because, as you can see, they only have one wrestler that isn’t a sophomore or freshman. This won’t be pretty. I’m talking lock-the-kids-in-another-room kind of ugly. Bryan Pearsall and Frank Martellotti are in a losing funk right now but both of them will most-likely win and win with bonus. Quentin Wright gets a wrestler with only 5 wins all season, and Ed Ruth’s opponent is less than .500. Yeah, this is going to be a sweep.
Penn State 52 – Utah Valley 0
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If you get Fox College Sports Pacific, they will show this match next week
Wed. 2/15 6:30pm-8:30pm
Thur. 2/26 5:00pm-7:00pm
Born and raised in the shadow of Mount Nittany
Maybe
there should be a women’s folkstyle college wrestling program that could allow women to transfer to freestyle after college. The NCAA could even increase schollies above their current 9.5 level (although that didn’t work for men’s volleyball). Oh well, just imagining the . . . possibilities (no mud either).
I think this will also be available via the interwebs (live — if the UV site doesn’t crash from the volume) and on the BIG (delay).
Stop blaming Joe -- media mobs!
Vote out all nine alumni incumbents over next three years
Naturally, PSU is catching grief for this,
but not for the matchup. They’re being blasted for not participating in the National Duals Tourney as the defending NCAA Champs.
Intermat takes Penn State’s side in this. I’m including the link because it’s part of their free content.
Link at ‘the link’. Hehehe.
I crack me up.
What the hell just happened?
by Pete the Streak on Feb 10, 2012 7:25 PM EST reply actions
Any reason in particular
that they are skipping the National Duals tourney?
It is easy to go down into Hell; night and day, the gates of dark Death stand wide; but to climb back again, to retrace one's steps to the upper air - there's the rub, the task.
by Succss With Honor Always on Feb 10, 2012 9:10 PM EST up reply actions
Cael
has numerous reasons, the article linked by Pete will clarify.
Stop blaming Joe -- media mobs!
Vote out all nine alumni incumbents over next three years
by OlderBudweiser on Feb 10, 2012 9:12 PM EST up reply actions
Have to say I myself am a little disappointed we aren't in National Duals
And honestly I think it’s fair for people to question Cael many, including a lot Penn State fans questioned Brands from the same thing last year.
That being said the NWCA is doing a terrible job of running this tournament. Not telling people where the finals are until a week before, yea that’s going to draw a ton of fans.
The fact is the NCAA should run have a dual meet tournament before Nationals, where the team champion is crowned instead of doing it at the individual tournament.
If it was a true NCAA title all teams would be there, and the fans would be interested. It would also add importance to the dual meets which lets be honest are just exhibitions at this point. That will start bringing fans around when they think matches are important.
This has been my gripe for years with Wrestling and it seems were slowly moving in that direction. But it’s pretty frustrating as much as I love this sport, it does a terrible job marketing itself. I’ll get off my soap box for now.
I think next year Cael should send an all back up team. They could probably do pretty well on their own.
I hate to disagree with wresfan since his knowledge of the sport is far superior to mine but here goes:
And honestly I think it’s fair for people to question Cael many, including a lot Penn State fans questioned Brands from the same thing last year.
Brands is still bashing the tournament format: "I don’t think the format is the end-all and the save-all, but I told Mike Moyer I would give him a shot at it. I’m not sure it’s the best thing.
"You’re chopping two weeks off the dual meet season," Brands said, "and you’re jamming 16 dates into two less weeks and it gets pretty crowded in there."
Also, I believe Cael’s points are valid. The NWCA does a lot of good things but to expect all the top teams to drop everything and support their “fundraiser” is a lot to ask. I suspect Executive Director Moyer is working hard to fund his own salary.
That being said the NWCA is doing a terrible job of running this tournament. Not telling people where the finals are until a week before, yea that’s going to draw a ton of fans.
I partly agree, yes they’re doing a bad job but some of it is poor communication. They needed to be upfront and state that they want one of the big programs that advance to host the event. Until this thing catches on and they can have the championship at a neutral site, they need the guaranteed big draw of large home crowd.
As for the NCAA running it, the President’s and ADs need to get on the stick to make it happen though I don’t know how wise it is. A dual championship sounds nice in theory because we’re accustomed to the team championship format of true “Team Sports” like basketball and volleyball. Instead of trying to duplicate March Madness wrestling needs to celebrate the difference of the sport and educate the fans on tournament scoring. Hell, the clowns at BGHP were acknowledging that the sport is about winning the championship tournaments not dual meets even after they beat Minnesota a couple of weeks ago. That’s a 180 from what they were claiming last year if you’re scoring at home.
Getting all teams involved in a tournament would take at least a grinding two weekends. Hypothetically, using the current 77 teams, you’d have 26 teams wrestling on the first weekend Thursday with 51 teams receiving first round byes, then, the round of 64 on Friday, 32 on Saturday then 16 on Sunday. You could do that at 8 sites, similar to Volleyball with the top seeds hosting. Of course, half the arenas would have conflicts with basketball. The following weekend would be at a predetermined site, round of 8 Friday, semis on Saturday and championship on Sunday. That may sound feasible but then ask the question: do you want to see Matt McDonough matched up with Zach Sanders in the individual tournament 2 weeks after they meet in the dual championship, which was 2 weeks after the met in the B1G tournament? Would it reward the best wrestler or simply the last survivor?
Like I said, celebrate wrestling for what wrestling is instead of trying to duplicate a basketball playoff format.
Striving for Success with Honor
by Frank O'Brien on Feb 11, 2012 1:30 AM EST up reply actions
Instead of trying to duplicate March Madness wrestling needs to celebrate the difference of the sport and educate the fans on tournament scoring. Hell, the clowns at BGHP were acknowledging that the sport is about winning the championship tournaments not dual meets even after they beat Minnesota a couple of weeks ago.
I agree, the thing that makes wrestling so unique is the fact that it’s an individual sport AND a team sport at the same time. The dual meet and tournament formats are two different animals altogether and it makes the sport so much fun to watch.
As for BGHP, let’s lay off them a bit, they do a great job of promoting wrestling. You don’t have to agree with their posts, and I sometimes don’t, but at least they are a popular blog promoting our favorite sport. That isn’t a bad thing.
No question Wrestling is unique
But as you point out it’s a team sport and an individual sport. So why do we only have an individual championship.
The team champion should be best team, not the best group of individuals at the NCAA tournament in my opinion. There was a couple of years ago, Lehigh had probably one of the better dual teams in the country but they were strong at every weight, but didn’t have many stars. So they weren’t even in contention for a team title at NCAAs.
I also don’t think have a team championship would be all that strenuous. Take the top 12 teams and throw them in a two or 3 day tournament this time of year. And you could still have a week or two to prepare for conference championships.
College wrestling has a serious issue with the lack of emphasis on dual meets, we are mostly blinded from it because Penn State always draws a big crowd, as do many Big Ten schools. But ACC schools for instance would likely draw more attendance if a birth at the National tournament was on the line. They’ve made some attempts to correct this with the new conference automatic qualifiers procedures but it hasn’t gone far enough.
I'll take every opportunity
to whup a wolverine
Black shoes, basic blues, no names, all game.
by JIMPSU on Feb 10, 2012 9:26 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Seems we might be wrestling Utah Valley A Year to late
They had a few good guys last year highlighted by Kjar at 125, but this year nothing to get too excited about. Although it’s a wrestling match so I know I’ll be listening come friday night.
I believe you’ll be able to watch it online per the Match Notes:
Live Web Video -Live Video courtesy of Utah Valley University at http://www.uvu.edu/uvutv/
Striving for Success with Honor
by Frank O'Brien on Feb 11, 2012 12:03 AM EST up reply actions
Thanks for the link.
But…..MWAhahaha!! Go there and click on ‘UVU Athletics’.
Can you find the typo under the words ‘Please Stay Tuned’??
Freudian?
What the hell just happened?
by Pete the Streak on Feb 11, 2012 1:25 PM EST up reply actions
Captain America aka Matt Brown gets the nod at 174 back home in Utah
per @pennstatepat Ed Ruth gets the night off. McIntosh back in the lineup.
Striving for Success with Honor
Probably just rest
Nothing to gain from this match.
Confirmed by Byers
Just to put your mind at ease. Rest for Ruth plus a reward for Brown letting him wrestle in his home state at his normal weight.
Is Galen going to run a thread tonight?
Man is a freakin’ wizard on keeping up with the action!!
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
Hey, Omar, how are ya?
The link at UVU is working for me. Says match starts at 9:10 eastern time.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:02 PM EST up reply actions
Outstanding!
I probably won’t be posting much — more watching.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:05 PM EST up reply actions
More my ability to assimilate
multiple inputs. A wrestling match can change tempo in a heartbeat, so I have to watch closely to adequately catch the action.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:10 PM EST up reply actions
Wow there's going to be a JV match
Like good ole high school days.
Exhibition match with Gingrich at Heavyweight.
Also Byers mentioned Nate Morgan made the trip. He’s been out this whole year, he got hit by a car last year and was pretty badly injured. His brother just died in a car accident a few weeks ago. Not a good year for the family.
Newt looking a little heavy -
he might be a superheavy.
Oh, you meant our wrestler? Sorry!
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:06 PM EST up reply actions
Looks that way
Either gonna be him or Ruggear. Neither excites me too much at this point but we’ll see.
The way matt brown is going I wouldn’t mind seeing him weight in at 184 and wrestle heavy next year haha
Hey, Galen, glad to hear from you.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:24 PM EST up reply actions
Piece of cake. Try
rappelling out a helicopter. It hovers, but there is still a ton of turbulence and downblast. I’m small, and would spin like a top.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:23 PM EST up reply actions
That's fast-roping --
different from rappelling. You wear a Swiss seat when rappelling. Fast-roping is grabbing the rope and sliding down.
Fast-roping came into vogure after I got out of the military, so I never did that.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:28 PM EST up reply actions
That was a nice move to counter the UVU
wrestler’s move and turn it into the pin.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:32 PM EST up reply actions
Hope he does well.
He really represented State well, going up two classes and winning.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:34 PM EST up reply actions
Thought Brown had him, but good win, nonetheless.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:43 PM EST up reply actions
Mighty cool!!
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:51 PM EST up reply actions
Q had him tied up for quite awhile,
but no stalling on the UVU guy?
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 9:49 PM EST up reply actions
I have to say Wright looked sloppy in my opinion. And McIntosh looks like his knee is bothering him and that massive tape job is ominous in my opinion.
Mc didn't move as fast as the UVU kid.
Leg bothering him, or not quite in wrestling shape after sitting out for a couple matches?
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 10:02 PM EST up reply actions
Gutty win for Morgan. But I don’t like what I see in that knee. Hope that heals up the next few weeks.
Agreed.
Brown has been doing well!
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 10:06 PM EST up reply actions
True, but I'm not sure
Mc will win — just based on this match. Did not see him wrestle pre-injury.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 10:18 PM EST up reply actions
Shit happens, Omar.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 10:06 PM EST up reply actions
Timing is everything, bud.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 10:17 PM EST up reply actions
Looked like Frank ran out of gas.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 10:29 PM EST up reply actions
I think it's mental
Losing does that to you. Needs to get some confidence.
Funny how the UVU commentators
think Frank is stalling while their guy just lays there.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 10:51 PM EST up reply actions
The commentators mentioned UVU
is at 4200 feet. Wonder if that altitude made a diff for our guys’ wind. They seemed to tire in some matches.
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
Thanks, Galen!
Always enjoy your updates!
Night, all!
"Make haste to reassure us, I beg you, and tell us that our fellow citizens understand us, support us, and protect us as we ourselves are protecting the glory of the Empire.
"If it should be otherwise, if we should have to leave our bleached bones on these desert sands in vain, then beware the fury of the Legions."
by PSU_Lions_84 on Feb 11, 2012 11:06 PM EST up reply actions
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