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Penn State traveled south to Chattanooga, TN, for the Southern Scuffle, and came away with its sixth-consecutive team championship, against a field of 30 other squads. The Nittany Lions put six wrestlers into the finals, and took five individual titles - that's fully half of the weight classes. Penn State wrestlers also earned medals in four of the other weights. This year's Lions' 183 team points comes up just shy of 2012 (191.5 points), and 2014 (189.0), but it clears 2011 (150.5) and 2013 (178.5). In other words, these 2015/16 Lions are in the thick of the national title hunt, and this weekend's results prove it.
Team Results
| Place | School | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penn State | 183.0 |
| 2 | Oklahoma State | 158.0 |
| 3 | Lehigh | 104.5 |
| 4 | Cornell | 98.5 |
| 5 | North Carolina | 97.5 |
| 6 | Minnesota | 79.5 |
| 7 | West Virginia | 76.5 |
| 8 | Central Michigan | 65.5 |
| 9 | Stanford | 59.5 |
| 10 | Penn | 56.5 |
125 LBS
Nico Megaludis - 1st
W, FFT Derosa (CLE)
W, MAJ (14-5) Rogaliner (MSU)
W, DEC 6-3 Cruz (LEH)
W, DEC 8-1 Klimara (OkSt)
Kenny Yanovich - DNP
W, DEC 4-2 Mason (UVA)
L, 3-11 Rossi (STAN)
L, 4-10 Elliott (WVU)
This is what we expected. Nico cruised through a realtively weak field to a Scuffle title, beating two former All-Americans along the way. Kenny got some great mat time in the blue-and-white singlet, and time away from the Lorenzo room, for a guy who works awfully hard all year long.
133 LBS
Jordan Conaway - 2nd
W, MAJ (16-2) Cheek (CLE)
W, DEC 5-1 Ziegler (GWEB)
W, INJDEF (6:23) Moore (WVU)
W, DEC 6-5 DiCamillo (UVA)
L, 4-14 Garrett (CORN)
This was a great tournament for Jordan. He knocked off past AA DiCamillo in the semis, but ran into a wall in Garrett in the final. No shame in that - Garrett looks a level above the rest of the field nationally right now.
141 LBS
Jimmy Gulibon - DNP
L, 3-4 Schuyler (LEH)
W, DEC 8-4 Shuford (AppSt)
L, 5-8 Hall (MICH)
Not a great tournament for Jimmy. Gulibon's still battling through the injury he sustained at the Nittany Lion Open - and maybe some other stuff as well. This isn't what we thought we'd see after last year's 5th place finish.
Kade Moss - 8th
W, WBF (6:07) Walker (AFA)
W, DEC 7-5 Prince (NAVY)
W, 4-3 TB1 Stewart (CAMP)
L, 5-8 Heil (OkSt)
W, DEC 3-2 Gasca (MSU)
L, 7-9 Prince (NAVY)
L, 6-9 DeAngelo (WVU)
Well hello again, Kade Moss. Kade picked up his teammate's slack here, making the semi-finals before losing to top-ranked Heil. The backside of the bracket wasn't what he wanted, but he got onto the podium. Good job.
149 LBS
Zain Retherford - 1st
W, WBF (2:26) Dekrone (WVU)
W, TF 22-7 Vassar (GWEB)
W, TF 22-6 Fox (STAN)
W, MAJ 13-3 Cimato (DREX)
W, TF 17-1 Henderson (UNC)
Five bouts, five bonus point victories. Zain's...he's looking really, really good.
157 LBS
Jason Nolf - 1st
W, TF 25-10 Dempsey (STAN)
W, TF 23-8 Dowdy (CORN)
WBF (5:45) Shakur (UTC)
WBF (2:50) Minotti (LEH)
W, DEC 7-3 Smith (OkSt)
Speaking of looking good - greetings, Mr.Nolf. Five bouts, four bonus point wins. Not too shabby.
Zach Beitz - 5th
W, TF 20-2 Grable (NCO)
W, DEC 3-1 Clark (UNC)
W, DEC 9-3 Walker (CIT)
L, 4-12 Smith (OkSt)
W, DEC 8-1 Kingsley (MINN)
WBF (3:53) Smith (CMU)
L, 3-5SV1 Minotti
W, DEC 8-6 Parsons (ARMY)
Not to be forgotten, last year's starter at 149 showed up with the squad at 157, and took 5th, beating two round-of-12 guys while he was at it (CMU's Smith, and Army's Parsons). Congrats, Zach. Great tournament, and good to see you out there again.
165 LBS
Geno Morelli - 5th
W, TF 20-5 Berridge (CalPoly)
W, 6-5 TB1 Przybysz (AppSt)
L, 1-3 SV1 Pickett (CORN)
W, DEC 8-2 Fuller (BORO)
W, 2-1, TB1 Hammond (PSU)
L, 1-2 TB1 Staudenmayer (UNC)
W, MFF Pickett (CORN)
Garett Hammond - 7th
W, MAJ 11-3 Coleman (NAVY)
L, 4-7 Preisch (LEH)
W, MAJ 8-0 Atienza (CMU)
WBF (2:45) Marinelli (UNA)
L, 1-2TB1 Morelli (PSU)
WBF (2:50) Duggan (CAMP)
Shakur Rasheed - DNP
WBF (2:14) Kinn (NCO)
L, 3-5 Massa (MICH)
WBF (0:14) Pope (WYO)
W, DEC 4-2 Faust (DUKE)
L, 1-3 Preisch (LEH)
Morelli, Hammond, and Rasheed are all neck-and-neck. Rasheed won pre-season wrestle-offs. Morelli won the Nittany Lion Open. And although Morelli placed 5th, ahead of Hammond - Hammond actually scored more team points here at the Scuffle. Three rounds of competition - three different outcomes. It's doubtful that the rotation ends any time soon. Cael has some tough decisions to make here at 165lbs - but he gets another 8 weeks or so to watch it unfold.
174 LBS
Bo Nickal - 1st
W, TF 17-1 Roden (DUKE)
W, TF 20-2 Movahedi (CalPoly)
W, MAJ 15-6 Baldwin (UVA)
W, DEC 4-3 Ottinger (CMU)
W, DEC 14-7 Realbuto (CORN)
W, DEC 11-7 Ramos (UNC)
Six bouts for Bo, who started this tournament as the 4-seed. He exits as the probable #1 ranked guy in the nation, coming up just 1-point shy of majoring Cornell's Realbuto in the semi-finals (the previous national #1). Bo can roll, folks. Please - someone post the Bo hot-foot-leap-behind takedown. It's magic.
184 LBS
Matt McCutcheon - DNP
W, WBF (2:50) Jackson (AppSt)
W, DEC 5-4 Macchiavello (UNC)
How do you go undefeated at the tournament but fail to place? You withdraw for injury. Mighty Mouse has been hurt since the Nittany Lion Open. And that sucks, because he was on fire this season. Rest up, Mouse. Take your time, and come back healthy.
197 LBS
Morgan McIntosh - 1st
W, TF 20-5 Haas (LEH)
W, MAJ 12-3 Ness (UNC)
WBF (4:25) Pickett (BORO)
WBF (5:21) Smith (WVU)
W, DEC 3-2 Pfarr (MINN)
This, believe it or not, was Morg's first Scuffle title. Congrats, Morg - though we all know this isn't the title he's after this season.
285 LBS
Jan Johnson - DNP
L, 2-3 Richards (CORN)
L, 3-5 Robinson (CMU)
Wrestling is hard. But keep fighting, Jan.