Penn State wrestling shells Terrapins en route to 45-6 victory

Do you see the very disgruntled look on the face of the young gentleman in red in the picture of above?

Yes, those faces were very familiar today as Penn State picked up nine wins, five of which came via fall, to top Maryland 45-6 on Senior Day in Rec Hall.

The dual started off with freshman Nick Suriano doing his thing as he topped Maryland’s Michael Beck, 23-8, for the tech fall.

At 133 Triston Law got caught and stuck at the 4:45 mark by the Terps’ Billy Rappo.

Jimmy Gulibon got things headed in the right direction for the Nittany Lions as he topped Maryland’s Ryan Diehl via decision, 9-4.

Then the fun started for Penn State and the Rec Hall crowd, who were treated to some slick wrestling in some even nicer throwback black and pink singlets.

Zain Retherford did his thing, pinning backup Adam Whitesell in just 3:17. At 157, Jason Nolf decided to one-up his teammate, earning the fall in 1:27. Vincenzo Joseph decided he’d get in on the action at 165, cradling up Patrick Gerish for the fall at the 3:58 mark.

Freshman Mark Hall earned his first pin in front of the home crowd at the 1:14 mark against Maryland’s Josh Ugalde. Not to be outdone, Bo Nickal attempted to brutally murder a man at 184 as he pinned Idris White with a vicious cement mixer in 2:08.

Things settled down a bit for the last two matches of the dual. Matt McCutcheon struggled early but earned a third-period takedown and a riding time point to pick up a 5-3 victory over David-Brian Whisler (pick one, kid.).

Finally, at heavyweight Nick Nevills asserted him dominance on his way to a 10-1 major decision victory over Youssif Hemida.

Penn State completes the regular season at 9-0 in conference and 13-0 overall. They will wrap up the dual schedule next Sunday in the National Championship Dual in Stillwater, Okla. against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Outstanding Wrestler: When five guys earning pins, it’s pretty tough to pick an OW. That being said, we’ll give it to the guy who was able to earn his fall in the least amount of time. Therefore, Mark Hall earns his second consecutive outstanding wrestler award from BSD, which I’m sure he will become quite accustomed to over the next four years.

Match-by-Match

125: Suriano (PSU) TF. Beck, 23-8, 6:41. / 5-0

133: Rappo (UMD) F. Law, 4:45. / 5-6

141: Gulibon (PSU) dec. Diehl, 9-4. / 8-6

149: Retherford (PSU) F. Whitesell, 3:17. / 14-6

157: Nolf (PSU) F. Alexander, 1:27. / 20-6

165: Joseph (PSU) F. Gerish, 3:58. / 26-6

174: Hall (PSU) F. Ugalde, 1:14. / 32-6

184: Nickal (PSU) F. White, 2:08. / 38-6

197: McCutcheon (PSU) dec. Whisler, 5-3. / 41-6

285: Nevills (PSU) MD. Hemida, 10-1. / 45-6.