Penn State Wrestling Wreport: Lions Beat Iowa 24-12

#1 Penn State 24, #2 Iowa 12

Random observations

During the match coverage, the Big Ten Network showed a shot of wrestling great Dan Gable--and sitting beside him were Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis wearing Iowa paraphernalia. YOU GO TO HELL, ASHTON KUTCHER AND MILA KUNIS!!! That is all.

I know Jimmy Gulibon is only a redshirt freshman, but his development at this point is beginning to look a little suspect.  He got caught and put Iowa, and ,more importantly, the Iowa crowd ,right back in it after Megaludis had silenced them.  I don't think anyone expected him to win or even keep it to a regular decision against a hammer like Ramos, but he can't get pinned in that situation.  Unfortunately, Gulibon is wrestling like a young wrestler right now.

Bonus Points

All three major decisions came after the break with the score tied.  That's how you close out a dual with your hammers finishing things.  Nick Moore didn't have a chance against Taylor and he'll need to turn up the offense if he ever wants to close the huge gap between himself and David Taylor.

If Ethan Lofthouse is the 2nd best at 184, Ed Ruth will walk through the Nationals.  Like Moore with Taylor, Lofthouse was content to just lose and not get cradled.  Ruth seemed to want to work from his feet more than his usual grinding ride.  I'm not sure if that was a match-up advantage he felt he had against Lofthouse, or if he wanted to work on his neutral position.  Either way, he looked quick and dominated Lofthouse getting 5 takedowns.

With a chance to put the dual meet away McIntosh stepped to the mat and manhandled Sam Brooks 16 to 4.  After seeing McIntosh several times this year it appears the redshirt season has helped him tremendously.

Decisions, Decisions

Matt Brown wrestled one of the better duals in his career against Evans, who beat him last season.  Brown fired from the opening whistle and converted a high double that would make Quentin Wright smile.  Brown forced the action, got a stall call and rode hard to a 4-1 decision--building up over 1:40 of riding time.

In a bit of a surprise, Iowa went with Gilman instead of Clark ,but he wrestled extremely well against Nico.  Could there possibly be a starting controversy at 125 in Iowa?  For his part, Megaludis did what a veteran does: go into a hostile environment and take control.  If he gave up the upset there, I think the dual would have been a lot closer and the crowd would have exploded.

It's really too bad there isn't a place in the lineup for Zack Beitz, he's really wrestling well even at a weight above his natural position.  Beitz opened up a close 1-1 tie with a 5-point throw as time ran out in the 3rd period to take the 6-1 win and basically take away any hope for Iowa with Murderers' Row on the horizon.

So Close

Lawson is slowly closing the gap between himself and the top heavys.  Losing to Telford by 1 point at Carver-Hawkeye is nothing to be ashamed of.  If Lawson can add a go-to shot on his feet he may be able to pull an upset or two come Nationals.

Overall

A win is a win but a win over Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye in front of a ruckus crowd is a special win.  With few exceptions, Penn State wrestled well across the board.  The big boys imposed their will against highly-ranked opponents and the toss-ups were won by the good guys.  Now the Lions trek to Chattanooga to take part in the Southern Scuffle.

Up Next: at Southern Scuffle, Chattanooga, Tenn., Jan. 1-2, 2014

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