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Penn State travels to Thomas Field house to take on longtime neighborhood rival Lock Haven, Sunday at 2PM. It will be the last dual meet of 2011 and a tune-up for the Southern Scuffle beginning January 1st in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 30-team, two-day event will be a team scored tournament which will include powerhouses Cornell, Minnesota, and Missouri. Penn State does not wrestle a home match until January 22nd when Iowa comes to town.
Match-ups
| Wt. | Penn State | vs | Lock Haven |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125: | #15 Nico Megaludis PSU | Bobby Rehm | |
| 133: | Derek Reber PSU, | John Trumbetti | |
| 141: | Bryan Pearsall PSU | #14 Matt Bonson | |
| 149: | #1 Frank Molinaro PSU | Owen Wilkenson | |
| 157: | #10 Dylan Alton PSU | Aaron Fry | |
| 165: | #1 David Taylor PSU | Seth Creasy | |
| 174: | #2 Ed Ruth PSU | Aaron McKinney | |
| 184: | #5 Quentin Wright PSU, | Zach Heffner | |
| 197: | #10 Morgan McIntosh | Matt Parlier | |
| 285: | #8 Cameron Wade PSU, | Harry Turner |
Past Results
Last Year Penn State destroyed Lock Haven, shutting out the Bald Eagles 48-0. Penn State leads the all-time series 33-4.
Tough Match-ups
LHU's best wrestlers are Bobby Rehm at 125 and Matt Bonson at 141. While Bonson is the only ranked Bald Eagle, Rehm is no slouch. Both of them finished 3rd recently in the Body Bar Invitational hosted by Cornell. Rehm is a 2011 PSAC Champ and will be a good match for Megaludis. Outside of those two, the prospects don't look very good for Lock Haven.
Absolute Locks
Last season Molinaro had a tech fall over Owen Wilkenson at 149, I don't expect anything different this year. Taylor did the same thing to Seth Creasy except they were both at 157. Both move up a weight but other than that, nothing has changed, Taylor will dominate. Cameron Wade pinned Harry Turner in just over 2 minutes last season and Wade has a way of dominating unranked wrestlers. Six of LHU's wrestlers have a .500 or worse record including 3 out of the last 4 weights, right in Penn State's wheelhouse. This won't be close.
Predictions
I'm not sure if Sam Sherlock will be back for the Nittany Lions so it's possible Bryan Pearsall will have to wrestle for him again. I don't think it matters, whoever wrestles for Penn State will probably lose to Bonson. Rehm is decent but he's not at Nico's level. Look for Bonson to be the only win for Lock Haven and there will be plenty of bonus points for the Lions.
Penn State 42 - Loch Haven 3
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