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Another Rec Hall standing room only crowd watched #1 Penn State cap an unbeaten dual season with a win over #3 Oklahoma State in the inaugural Dual Championship Series. It was the Lions' first unbeaten season since Coach John Fritz's 1992/1993 squad, which also won the National Duals Championship.
As always, Nico Megaludis put PSU on the board first. Leading 3-1 early in the second period, Nico got to 6th ranked Eddie Klimara's right ankle. Klimara dove over Nico's back to grab an ankle, but Nico knew where he was, maintained control, and stacked Klimara for the pin. The crowd erupted, and the rout was on. By halftime, Penn State held a dominating 18-3 lead that it wouldn't relinquish. The final score: PSU 29, OSU 18.
Box Score
| WT | #1 Penn State | Result | #3 Okie State | Team Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | #4 Megaludis | WBF 3:58 | #6 Klimara | PSU 6, OSU 0 |
| 133 | #5 Conaway | DEC 8-4 | Harding | PSU 9, OSU 0 |
| 141 | Gulibon | L, 9-5 | #1 Heil | PSU 9, OSU 3 |
| 149 | #1 Retherford | DEC 4-1 | #12 Collica | PSU 12, OSU 3 |
| 157 | #1 Nolf | WBF 6:32 | Blees | PSU 18, OSU 3 |
| 165 | #16 Morelli | L, TF 17-2 | #1 Dieringer | PSU 18, OSU 8 |
| 174 | #1 Nickal | W, TF 17-2 | Lamons | PSU 23, OSU 8 |
| 184 | #6 McCutcheon | L, MED FFT | #13 Boyd | PSU 23, OSU 14 |
| 197 | #1 McIntosh | WBF 1:59 | Marsden | PSU 29, OSU 14 |
| 285 | Johnson | L, MAJ 6-18 | #5 Marsden | PSU 29, OSU 18 |
Total Takedowns
| PSU | WT | OSU |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 125 | 0 |
| 3 | 133 | 1 |
| 0 | 141 | 4 |
| 1 | 149 | 0 |
| 10 | 157 | 0 |
| 0 | 165 | 3 |
| 4 | 174 | 0 |
| 1 | 184 | 1 |
| 2 | 197 | 0 |
| 1 | 285 | 5 |
| 24 | TOTAL | 14 |
BSD Wrestler of the Meet
Nolf scored 9 takedowns in the first 5 minutes, and had his opponent locked up in a cradle for the pin at the end of the second period - but time expired. Leading by 13 points at the start of the 3rd period, Nolf knew that he needed to take his opponent directly to his back from neutral. So...that's what he did. He played around, ignored a few simple takedowns, and then pounced. His 10th takedown was another cradle, and he scored the pin.
Wrestling is a lot harder than he makes it look.
Three Completely Unrelated, Probably Useless Thoughts
1) Our thoughts go out to the Okie State wrestling family. The Rogers brothers lost their father unexpectedly this weekend. John Smith and the entire squad were at the Rogers' home on Saturday, and didn't fly into State College until Sunday. Another classy move from Coach Smith.
2) This format for the National Duals - basically Big Ten vs. the World - is far from ideal, particularly because fans didn't get to see the one dual that we all wanted to see: #1 Penn State vs #2 Iowa. But that's an easy fix - and the rest of the aspects to this format are pretty great. A lot more fans, watching some great duals, and wrestlers aren't wrestling 4 times in a weekend right before conference and national championships.
3) Where were Nick Nevills and Shakur Rasheed? In Colorado. Nick traveled west to get some more matches under his belt, and Rasheed was sent to test out his gas tank after a flight and two-day tournament weigh-in. Nevills went 4-0 for the title. Rasheed got reversed and ridden out in the 3rd to lose the final 4-5, to Franklin Regional's Josh Shields.