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#1 Penn State 36, #19 Indiana 6
Full write-up at GoPSUSports.com
wt. | Winner | dec. | Loser | Bout Score | Team Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
197: | #7 Morgan McIntosh PSU | maj. dec. | Garret Goldman IU, | 14-4 | 4-0 |
285: | #8 Adam Chalfant | dec. | #12 Jimmy Lawson PSU, | 9-4 | 4-3 |
125: | #2 Nico Megaludis PSU | win by forfeit | 10-3 | ||
133: | #15 Jimmy Gulibon PSU | tech fall | Chris Caton IU, | 15-0 (TF; 2:57) | 15-3 |
141: | #2 Zain Retherford PSU | maj. dec. | Trevor Moody IU, | 15-5 | 19-3 |
149: | Zack Beitz PSU | dec. | Eric Roach IU, | 2-0 | 22-3 |
157: | #5 Taylor Walsh IU | dec. | James Vollrath PSU, | 5-4 | 22-6 |
165: | #1 David Taylor PSU | tech fall | Ryan LeBlanc IU, | 15-0 (TF; 7:00) | 27-6 |
174: | #3 Matt Brown PSU | maj. dec. | Matt Irick IU, | 12-3 | 31-6 |
184: | #2 Ed Ruth PSU | tech fall | #18 Luke Sheridan IU, | 18-3 (TF; 5:12) | 36-6 |
Bonus Points
Jimmy Gulibon recorded one of the fastest tech falls I've ever seen. He took Caton down and rolled him over 5 different times in a span of 2:57. That shows the offensive potential Gulibon has. Was the plan to work on his riding offense? We'll let Jimmy tell you himself:
Penn State Wrestling: Post-Indiana Viddy w/ Jimmy Gulibon (via GoPSUTV)
It's odd to see one 15-0 tech fall, but Penn State did one better, getting a 15-0 tech fall from David Taylor as well. Taylor's lazy, though; it took him 7 minutes to get his. Come on, David! Ed Ruth did Ed Ruth things, getting his tech fall over the 18th ranked wrestler in just over 5 minutes. Morgan McIntosh, Zain Retherford, and Matt Brown all recorded dominating major decisions. Z-Pain was almost surgical-like, getting a takedown and riding time early; cutting him and getting another takedown and ride out of the 1st. He then went on to add 4 takedowns in the 2nd to take a 12-5 lead heading into the 3rd. He started the final period with a reversal and then tried to turn Moody for back points. He couldn't but ended up with a 15-5 major with over 4 minutes of riding time.
Nico Megaludis was given a forfeit at 125. I mention that only because I hate forfeits. A quick look at Indiana's roster shows that they have 4 wrestlers at that weight and two of them have already redshirted. Why not let one of them at least take a shot? Perhaps Duane Goldman, the head coach of Indiana, didn't want to injure one of his backups against a tough wrestler like Nico and that's fine, but those guys are working their butts of in the wrestling room and sacrificing just like everyone else, why not give one of them a shot?
Decisions, Decisions
The only regular decision came by way of Zack Beitz's 2-0 victory over Eric Roach of IU. Beitz recorded a second period escape and rode Roach for the entire third period to build up 1:34 seconds of riding time for the extra point. The lack of takedowns was not for lack of effort; Beitz was aggressive and took lots of shots but was never able to finish them. I'm not entirely sure why Roach was never hit with a stall call but I can't bemoan the official; I was only listening to the match and had no video feed.
So Close
If it were not for the 3 nearfall points Jimmy gave up early in the 1st the Chalfant match would have had a great finish. Jimmy kept his offense up from the start and was coming on late getting a takedown in the 3rd and nearly getting one as time expired. If Jimmy keeps that kind of aggressiveness up it will serve him well. Chalfant is no slouch but I think Lawson can close the gap if they wrestle again.
I thought Alton's job at 157 was secured but after the fight Vollrath put up I'm not so sure. Vollrath's neutral offense is solid and he nearly tied the match late. After getting reversed 30 seconds into the 3rd Vollrath got a reversal of his own late but could not get any backpoints and ran out of time. Vollrath came close on several shots but could not finish.
Overall
With 3 tech falls, 3 major decisions and only 1 bout that wasn't bonus I can't complain at all. Throw in the fact that the Alton's were not in the lineup and you have to be happy with the outcome. Lawson was a bit of a disappointment but as I stated, I think if he keeps his neutral offense up he'll keep getting closer to the top heavies. It would have been nice for Vollrath to finish off the upset but, I've said this before, I'm perfectly happy if he has to be Penn State's representative at 157.
Next Up: Sunday Jan. 19th home vs. Northwestern