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Madison Square Garden's doors opened at 11am ET, and wrestlers take the mat to fight at Noon. Our No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions begin the hunt for a 5th national championship in the last 6 seasons. Join us as we live blog the action in the comments below. Also follow Cari (@NotCarlotta) and JP (@jtothemfp) on the twitter.com as they cover the action live from MSG for us.
HOW TO WATCH
Video: ESPN3 / WatchESPN (Free)
Audio: Jeff "Ironhead" Byers via GoPSUSports.com (Free)
Live Team Scoring: Penn State Wrestling Club (Free)
Brackets: Brackets (PDF)
WHAT HAPPENS IN SESSION ONE
Three hundred thirty wrestlers - 33 in each of 10 weight classes - begin fighting at Noon. First, 10 "pigtails" get wrestled, followed immediately by the opening round matches. By 4pmET, when this first session (of 6 sessions) ends, we'll have blown through the first 170 matches. No one gets eliminated in Session One. (h/t to our guy Frank for the correction).
Nine of those will be our Nittany Lions. Seven of our 9 are favored in their openers, while two are not. Here are the matchups:
| PENN STATE | WT | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| #3 Nico Megaludis (27-3) | 125 | UN Jeske (ODU, 18-11) OR Tolbert (UVU, 16-7) |
| #5 Jordan Conaway (26-5) | 133 | UN Corey Keener, CMU (18-10) |
| UN Jimmy Gulibon (12-9) | 141 | #5 Matt Manley, MIZZ (27-6) |
| #1 Zain Retherford (29-0) | 149 | UN Vassar (GW, 18-7) OR Hammond (CSUB, 21-13) |
| #3 Jason Nolf (29-1) | 157 | UN Kamaal Shakur, UTC (24-6) |
| UN Geno Morelli (19-10) | 165 | #11 JP Staudenmayer, UNC (21-10) |
| #1 Bo Nickal (29-1) | 174 | UN Josef Johnson, HARV (18-14) |
| #16 Matt McCutcheon (16-6) | 184 | UN Tom Sleigh, BUCK (26-8) |
| #1 Morgan McIntosh (30-0) | 197 | UN Ryan Wolfe, RID (27-8) |
WHOM TO HATE
You know to cheer the blue and white. But whom should you hate? The teams you should actively root against are Oklahoma State, Iowa, and Ohio State (i.e., the top 3 challengers). No excuses, no refunds, no exceptions. So get excited when they lose matches. Each loss moves PSU one step closer to the big trophy. Here are some of their first round matchups to keep an eye on.
| HATE ON | WT | CHEER FOR |
|---|---|---|
| #6 Eddie Klimara, OKST (27-5) | 125 | UN Conor Youtsey, MICH (12-13) |
| #10 Johnni DiJulius, OHST (17-7) | 133 | UN Rob Deutsch, RID (20-5) |
| UN Gary Harding, OKST (15-11) | 133 | #15 Josh Alber, UNI (26-10) |
| #11 Anthony Collica, OKST (25-7) | 141 | UN Joey Delgado, ORST (23-14) |
| #13 Edwin Cooper, IOWA (17-9) | 157 | UN Tyler Berger, NEB (21-11) |
| UN Patrick Rhoads, IOWA (13-11) | 165 | #13 Jim Wilson, STAN (24-6) |
| #11 Myles Martin, OHST (28-6) | 174 | UN Nick Wanzek, MINN (20-11) |
| UN Kenny Courts, OHST (17-10) | 184 | #6 Blake Stauffer, ASU (23-2) |
| UN Preston Weigel, OKST (16-10) | 197 | #3 Brett Pfarr, MINN (35-3) |
| #11 Sam Stoll, IOWA (22-5) | 285 | UN Boyce Cornwell, GW (22-9) |
TIER TWO CHEERING
There won't always be a Penn State wrestler on the mat. So whom do you cheer for when that happens? We have you covered. Here is a handy guide.
Tier Two Cheering Rules
- Pennsylvania high schooler OR Pennsylvania university/college OR Military Academy;
- But NOT Lehigh or Pitt. Never Lehigh or Pitt (obviously);
- Wrestler can't be wrestling against Penn State (of course);
- If possible, avoid wrestlers on contenders (sorry NC State, Virginia Tech);
- When you have more than one wrestler that fits (and despite these rules, you usually will), then give preference to PSAC schools, and special preference to PA high schoolers wrestling for PSAC schools.
| WT | TIER 2 CHEERING LIST |
|---|---|
| 125 |
UN Zach Fuentes, Drexel (22-12) Norristown #12 Paul Petrov, Edinboro (31-5) Cedar Lake, IN #10 Connor Schram, Stanford (20-5) Canon-Mac |
| 133 |
#9 Mack McGuire, Kent State (24-5) Upper St. Clair #14 Geoff Alexander, UMD (13-5) Shady Side Academy |
| 141 |
#15 Brock Zacherl, Clarion (27-1) Brookville #9 Rick Durso, F&M (37-8) Malvern Prep UN Tyler Smith, Bucknell (22-11) Franklin Regional UN Zach Horan, Central Michigan (25-11) Nazareth |
| 149 |
#4 Matt Cimato, Drexel (34-5) LaSalle College High #10 Mike DePalma, Kent State (23-7) Jeannette #15 Dan Neff, Lock Haven (26-8) Solanco |
| 157 |
UN Justin Staudenmayer, Brown (29-8) Plymouth-Whitemarsh #14 Austin Matthews, Edinboro (10-4) Reynolds |
| 165 |
UN Casey Fuller, Edinboro (26-9) Western Wayne UN Tyler Buckwalter, Kent State (24-11) Central Mountain |
| 174 |
UN Rustin Barrick, Bucknell (27-10) Mechanicsburg UN Mike Pavasko, Clarion (21-13) Steel Valley #10 Mike Ottinger, Central Michigan (29-6) Parkland |
| 184 |
#3 Vic Avery, Edinboro (13-1) Foxboro, MA #11 Lorenzo Thomas, Penn (30-6) Central Catholic |
| 197 |
UN Phil Sprenkle, Lock Haven (18-7) Dallastown #14 Zach Nye, UVA (24-10) East Pennsboro |
| 285 |
UN Ray O'Donnell, Princeton (27-11) Saucon Valley UN Joey Goodhart, Drexel (24-12) Hempfield #10 Joe Stolfi, Bucknell (20-2) Souderton |
Now - let's get out of the tunnel and go pick a fight.