Penn State Takes Second in 2018 Big Ten Wrestling Tournament

After Carson Kuhn finished in 11th place (with a beautiful spladle pin) and Corey Keener in 7th and Jason Nolf defaulted to 6th, Penn State had seven wrestlers competing in the final session, five in the finals and two going for 3rd. It had 38 points available: 16 in bonus and 22 in placement. Advancement points were over.

Ohio State led 145.5 to 133, with nine wrestlers competing, seven in the finals. They had a potential 48 points available: 18 in bonus (unlikely) and 30 in placement.

Nathan Tomasello joined David Taylor & Ed Ruth on the list of rare 4x Big Ten Champions (he became the 15th) with a 10-7 decision over Ethan Lizak. He gave Ohio State a 149.5 to 133 lead.

At 133, Luke Pletcher wrestled hard but lost a close one to Stevan Micic 6-4, and the team score remained the same.

At 141, Nick Lee majored Nate Limmex of Purdue 15-5, earning two points, but then Joey McKenna extended the lead even further with a Major Decision of his own, 13-0. The score was then 154.5 to 135.

At 149, Ke-Shawn Hayes won his 3rd Place bout earning one point, but Zain Retherford beat Brandon Sorensen for the 6th time and earned four. The score was then 155.5 to 139, Ohio State.

At 157, Micah Jordan lost and Nolf didn’t earn any more points, so the score remained the same.

At 165, Vincenzo Joseph couldn’t repeat his stunning defeat of the great Isaiah Martinez (falling 4-1) and Te’Shan Campbell had already been eliminated, so the team score remained the same.

At 174, Mark Hall gritted out a tough 4-3 win over Myles Amine, including a stall warning in the last 30 seconds, and Bo Jordan placed 3rd with a 9-5 decision over Johnny Sebastian, bringing Penn State within 13.5 points: 156.5 to 143.

Bo Nickal won his second Big Ten Championship with a 7-4 win over Myles Martin, but the regular decision aspect of it secured the team title for Ohio State:

Shakur Rasheed wrestled in his first Big Ten Tourney and made it to the finals, but fell to the 1-seed, Kollin Moore, 8-4.

At 285, Nick Nevills finished 3rd, with a 5-2 decision over Sam Stoll. Then Kyle Snyder finished the tournament with a dramatic sudden victory takedown of 1-seed Adam Coon, to win 4-2 and provide the final team points to Ohio State.