Wrestling Wreport: #1 Penn State upset by #3 Minnesota 18-17

#1 Penn State 17 - #3 Minnesota 18

wt.	Winner	dec.	Loser	Bout Score	Team Score
125:	#2 Nico Megaludis PSU	maj. dec.	Jordan Kingsley MINN,	19-5	4-0
133:	#8 David Thorn MINN	dec.	#16 Jimmy Gulibon PSU,	2-0	4-3
141:	#2 Zain Retherford PSU	dec.	#6 Chris Dardanes MINN,	4-0	7-3
149:	#3 Nick Dardanes MINN	dec.	(SV2) Zack Beitz PSU,	6-4 (SV2)	7-6
157:	#8 Dylan Ness MINN	pinned	#4 Dylan Alton PSU,	WBF (5:57)	7-12
165:	#1 David Taylor PSU	maj. dec.	Danny Zilverberg MINN,	13-3	11-12
174:	#6 Logan Storley MINN	dec.	#3 Matt Brown PSU,	8-4	11-15
184:	#2 Ed Ruth PSU	dec.	#8 Kevin Steinhaus MINN,	7-1	14-15
197:	#5 Morgan McIntosh PSU	dec.	#1 Scott Schiller MINN,	8-4	17-15
285:	#5 Tony Nelson MINN	dec.	Jon Gingrich PSU,	6-0	17-18

There's no denying it this dual sucked in almost every way possible from unfinished shots that get turned into bad throws to close matches going almost entirely Minnesota's way. Penn State's efforts can be summed up in one meme:

An epic fail of this magnitude deserves a match by match breakdown, so here we go.

125:

#2 Nico Megaludis PSU

maj. dec.

Jordan Kingsley MINN,

19-5

Nico wasted little time, shooting early and often and getting his first takedown less than a minute in. He then cut Kingsley took him down and worked on his riding time.  The 1st ended with a 4-1 Megatron lead. Kingsley chose bottom to start the second and Nico cut him and began looking for bonus.  He added 3 more takedowns before the period ended upping his lead to 10-4 with over 2 minutes of riding time.  Nico chose bottom and quickly escaped and took Kingsley down. He cut him and took him down 2 more times and turned him for near fall points but ran out of time and couldn't quite finish the tech fall and settled for a major.  Good start, no problems here; Nico did what he was supposed to do.

133:

#8 David Thorn MINN

dec.

#16 Jimmy Gulibon PSU,

2-0

The last time Jimmy met David Thorn he beat him with a strong ride; this time around, Thorn turned the tide and used a strong 3rd period ride for the victory.  The bout was scoreless through 1 both wrestlers had good shots but neither could finish. Thorn chose down to start the 2nd and quickly escaped.  The two traded shots again and Gulibon got hit with a terrible stall call but there would be no more scoring in the period.  Gulibon chose down for the start of the 3rd but could not get out for the entire period.  The ride out gave Thorn the 2-0 victory.  Sure this was a disappointing end for Jimmy, but he kept it close and this wasn't a big surprise.

141:

#2 Zain Retherford PSU

dec.

#6 Chris Dardanes MINN,

4-0

7-3

Back to the winning side of things: Pain took care of business and beat a top -10 wrestler 4-0.  Retherford pushed the action early but couldn't finish a takedown until 43 seconds left when he used a high ankle shot and finished after a scramble.  Doing what he does best, Zain rode out the end of the period to take a 2-0 lead.  Retherford chose down to start the second and quickly escaped.  Zain pushed the action for the remainder of the 2nd but couldn't finish any shots or get a stall call.  Dardanes, who must not have watched any video on Retherford at any point this season, chose down and Pain rode him for the entire period.  The 2:35 in riding time advantage gave Zain a 4-0 lead.

149:

#3 Nick Dardanes MINN

dec.

(SV2) Zack Beitz PSU,

6-4 (SV2)

We were all wondering who would go for Penn State at 149 and Sanderson went with Beitz and he didn't disappoint.   Beitz quickly shot in on a low single and got the takedown just 30 seconds in.  Dardanes quickly escaped but Beitz was quickly in again but couldn't finish.  The two traded shots but there was no further scoring in the 1st. Beitz chose down and quickly escaped for a 3-1 lead.  Zack continued to stay low with his shots and Dardanes continued to try and set up off of the collar tie but neither wrestler scored.  Dardanes chose down and quickly escaped to a 3-2 deficit. Things got really bad for Beitz when Dardanes shot in, had Zack's leg but Beitz was able to scoot out of bounds.  Unfortunately, the ref called Beitz for fleeing the mat.  Sanderson argued, and the refs replayed the call but did not overturn it.  Now the reason for the call was the new "mule kick" rule that if a wrestler under a leg attack turns away from the aggressor and tries to kick out of the leg attack out of bonds it's a penalty point for fleeing the mat.  Was it technically fleeing?  I don't think so, because Beitz wasn't heading out of bounds he was circling back in when they both went out.  But Dardanes was awarded the point and it tied the bout at 3.  The bout moved to sudden victory but no one scored.  Beitz chose down first but couldn't escape but Dardanes was called for locked hands giving Beitz the lead.  Beitz could not escape but still had the lead.  Dardanes chose down and quickly escaped and the bout moved to the second sudden victory.  Dardanes shot in low, got the single and finished the move for the sudden victory with 4 seconds left.  Tough loss for Beitz but I think Alton's job is in jeopardy.

157:

#8 Dylan Ness MINN

pinned

#4 Dylan Alton PSU,

WBF (5:57)

Here's where things go south in a hurry.  Alton shot in quickly but Ness countered and rode Alton for the entire period building up 2 minutes of riding time.  Ness chose down and quickly escaped but neither wrestler scored in the second and the bout moved to the final period.  Alton chose neutral and nearly connected on a shot but Ness got away.  Ness then countered an Alton shot by throwing him on his back and pinning him.  Every person in the building new Ness was a funky wrestler who likes the throws yet Alton walked right into one. Losing to a lesser ranked opponent you've beaten in the past is one thing; getting caught and pinned in a dual where every point counts is unacceptable.

165:

#1 David Taylor PSU

maj. dec.

Danny Zilverberg MINN,

13-3

All was not lost, though; Penn State's hammer David Taylor was up and he was wrestling an unranked wrestler so all he had to do was get a pin or a tech fall, I mean they guy scores points faster than Oprah eats donuts, right?  Wrong.  Taylor got taken down on a counter shot by Zilverberg and didn't look like he was too concerned about getting out.  Taylor eventually tied the match with a reversal but not until Zilverberg pilled up over a minute of riding time and salted away most of the 1st period.  All Zilverberg had to do was stall the rest of the match and he did a fine job staying off his back and held Taylor to only a major.

174:

#6 Logan Storley MINN

dec.

#3 Matt Brown PSU,

8-4

But again, all was not lost if Matt Brown can just beat Logan Storley, which he's done 4 out of 5 times; Penn State is still in good shape.  Not a big thing to expect right? Wrong.  Brown pushed the action early and nearly scored but ran out of time at the end of the 1st.  Brown chose down to start the 2nd and quickly escaped. Like Alton, Storley countered a Brown shot, threw him to his back and got 2 backpoints.  The 4-point move gave Storley the lead.  Brown escaped and the period ended 4-2.  Brown cut Storley to start the third and got sloppy on a shot and got taken down for a 7-2 deficit. That was all she wrote for Brown and Penn State as Matt went on to lose 8-4 and Penn State had no chance of recovering with Ness taking on Penn State's backup at heavyweight.

184:

#2 Ed Ruth PSU

dec.

#8 Kevin Steinhaus MINN,

7-1

Ruth's match was no big surprise; he's met Steinhaus before and we knew this was going to be a regular decision to maybe a major.  Ruth did catch Steinhaus in a cradle and turned him but could not finish the pin. Steinhaus spent the rest of the bout trying to not get pinned and there's your result.

197:

#5 Morgan McIntosh PSU

dec.

#1 Scott Schiller MINN,

8-4

The only bright spot for Penn State was Morgan McIntosh, who signaled to the wrestling world that he will be a player in the national title hunt at 197.  That 8-4 score wasn't even as close as the 4 point win looks; Morgan controlled the entire match.  The two battled to an even score with no one really close to finishing a shot in the 1st. Schiller chose bottom to start the 2nd and quickly escaped.  McIntosh shot in and was close to getting countered but kept his hips up fought off the Schiller counter attempt and turned it into points of his own with the takedown.  Schiller quickly escaped and McIntosh was in deep again but time ran out and the bout moved to the final period. McIntosh chose down and quickly reversed Schiller for a 4-2 lead.  After a Schiller escape Morgan shot in low again, but this time finished for a 6-3 lead.  Schiller escaped but McIntosh wasn't done, he rolled through another low shot for the takedown with 15 seconds left and finished off the 8-4 upset victory.  Morgan kept the pressure on from beginning to end and beat the top-ranked wrestler with what looked like ease.

285:

#5 Tony Nelson MINN

dec.

Jon Gingrich PSU,

6-0

Penn State's last hope came in the form of Jon Gingrich but he wasn't able to pull the upset getting beat soundly by the defending national champ and the home crowd goes home happy.

Overall

If you would wrestle these two teams 9 more times Penn State would probably win all 9 of them but the one that counts is the outcome we saw yesterday.  Minnesota was fired up, the crowd was loud and many Penn State wrestlers looked disinterested with no sense of urgency--especially when they were behind the 8-ball.  Penn State receives a share of the Big Ten dual title but that's a hollow accomplishment considering the team they share it with just beat them.  I honestly thought this Penn State team was heads above the rest of the competition as a dual team but in this year of the upset anything and everything will happen.  It took the perfect storm of upsets and mistakes for Minnesota to win and it happened, my hat goes off to them.  Now Penn State better regroup fast because Oklahoma State comes to town this Sunday.

Next Up: Oklahoma State, Sunday Feb. 16th, 2 PM