Wrestling Wreport: the National Championship edition

Your 2011 NCAA Wrestling Champs!

Cael Sanderson left Iowa State to come to Penn State believing that the Nittany Lions were close to winning a National Title and, with his help, they could achieve top honors. Coming into this season many long-time followers of Penn State wrestling believed that the Lions were a year away from winning it all but few thought it would happen this season. Oh there was an outside shot that if things went Penn State's way they may be able to pull it off but very few thought it would end like this. Well thanks to a lot of hard work and long hours of practice, Penn State has won the 2011 NCAA Wrestling national championship!

Wrestling Wreport: the NCAA edition

One last chance to post this pic again!!

The Big Ten wrestling champs Penn State Nittany Lions take a short bus trip to Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center to compete in the 2011 NCAA wrestling championships starting tomorrow. Coach Cael Sanderson came to Penn State to win the Big Ten and NCAA championships. Half of that goal has been achieved, can he make Penn State a national champ for the first time in 50 years? We're about to find out.

Wrestling Wreport: the Big Ten Championship edition

The Penn State wrestling team heads to Evanston, Ill this weekend to take part in the Big Ten Championships. The two day event starts Saturday at 11 a.m. and ends with the championship round on Sunday at 4 p.m. The championship round will air live on the Big Ten Network. We'll take a quick look after the jump.

Wrestling Wreport: Weekend Wrap-up

Penn State beat #20 Illinois 23-13 Friday night and then battled back to salvage a tie (18-18) against #5 Minnesota on Sunday. The Minnesota dual saw the return of Brad Pataky as the 125 pounder saw his first action in weeks. Results and thoughts after the break.

Wrestling Wreport: PSU takes on two ranked teams

Penn State host No. 20 Illinois tonight at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall and then travels to Minneapolis to take on No. 5 Minnesota Sunday at 3 p.m. The Lions will then host No. 12 Wisconsin on Friday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall which will be the final dual of the season and senior night. But before that let's take a look at the potential match-ups after the jump.

Wrestling Wreport: PSU sweeps the state of Michigan

Penn State traveled to Michigan to take on the Spartans Friday night and then took a short trip to Ann Arbor to take on the Wolverines. The Lions rebounded nicely going 13-7 in bouts between the two duals beating MSU 30-9 and UM 28-13. There were a couple changes to the lineup as Nate Morgan wrestled for a still injured Brad Pataky and the coaching staff went with Nick Fischer at 165 instead of Jake Kemerer and it worked out, Fisher had a major and lost a tough 5-2 decision to 19th ranked Dan Yates of Michigan.

Wrestling Wreport: redemption weekend

True freshman Nate Morgan will probably get the call this weekend at 125

After a deflating loss to Iowa, Penn State looks to rebound this weekend taking on Michigan State tonight and Michigan on Sunday. The team is saying they have put the loss in the past but the question on everyone's mind is how well will they rebound? Tonight's dual probably won't give us the answer but Sunday's most definitely will. Michigan State has only 1 ranked wrestler while Michigan has 6. MSU is coming off an upset victory of top-20 Illinois this past weekend but they just don't stack up well against Penn State. Probable matchups after the break.

Wrestling Wreport: that’s what I call a disaster

Pic from my crappy iPhone camera

For most of the season the Penn State wrestling team has been far exceeding expectations to the point that they've climbed all the way to #1 in the polls. With a few small exceptions the lineup from top to bottom has been getting better and better all year and although they are very young they've got 7 wrestlers ranked. Going into Sunday's sold-out dual, Penn State had a pretty clear cut path to beating defending champ Iowa: win the matches where they were ranked higher, limit the damage where they were not, and get some bonus from their big guns. None of that happened and in fact the exact opposite did. Penn State could manage only one major while giving up a pin and a major of their own. They also lost three duals where they were ranked higher. In a word Sunday was a disaster.

Wrestling Wreport: Penn State new #1

Cameron Wade beats Pitt's Ryan Tomei

With Penn State's 30-7 domination of Pitt and the subsequent 36-8 dismantling of Indiana the Lions remain undefeated at 13-0. More importantly though, last week then No. 17 Lehigh came up with this season's biggest upset defeating then No. 1 Cornell 17-15.

In a season where these Penn State Nittany Lions have exceeded even the craziest of lofty expectations, this young team lead by 3 freshmen all ranked in the top 5, is now sitting on top of the rankings in first place. Granted, rankings mean even less in wrestling then they do in football but still, the blue and white Kool-Aid sippers out there weren't even predicting a season like this. It's truly remarkable how far this team has come in just two short seasons.

Let's take a quick look back at last weekend's action after the break.

Wrestling Wreport: weekend preview

Welcome to Penn State, Pitt your stay will not be a pleasant one

Penn State will travel to Indiana for a road dual at 2PM Sunday, but before that they get to host old-time rival Pitt for a nationally televised dual tonight at 6PM on the Big Ten Network. Since it's big enough to broadcast live on the BTN we might as well take a look at what is in store for our 2nd-ranked Lions.

Wrestling Wreport: PSU wins Virginia Duals

Penn State entered last weekend's Virginia Duals as the top ranked team in the tournament and did what a top ranked team does: cruise to a fairly easy win. The Lions hammered VMI 42 -3, then beat Edinboro 37- 12, #23 Kent State 27 -15 and #15 Michigan 24-12 in the championship. The team seemed to walk through the Kent State match but other than that, they wrestled very well.

Wrestling Wreport: The ‘everybody wants to rule the world’ edition

*Cue mid-80's nostalgia*

Wrestling Wreport: Penn State destroys OSU

Ed Ruth enjoys stomping on guys bigger than him

What looked like a close match on paper, although I was predicting a comfortable 11 point win, turned out to be complete domination by the men in Blue @ White. Penn State amassed 3 pins and 3 majors while winning the takedown battle 23-4. One of the more anticipated bouts of the night did not happen. At 174, No. 13 Nick Heflin of OSU and No.11 Ed Ruth never occurred because Heflin was unable to pass a skin check before the match so Ohio State was forced to forfeit and Ruth moved up a weight to wrestle for an injured Quentin Wright at 184. The other matchup of ranked wrestlers occurred at 157 where David Taylor ranked 3^rd took on No. 13 Curt Sponseller of OSU.

Wrestling Wreport: Penn State opens up Big Ten play

Penn State will welcome Big Ten wrestling foe Ohio State to Rec Hall this Sunday December 19^th for a 2 PM dual. Before we look ahead though we have to look back at the utter ass-whipping the Lions put on old rival Lock Haven to the tune of a 48-0 shutout. It was a day of complete domination from start to finish. Penn State rolled up three pins, two technical falls and two majors to shutout the second opponent this season (45-0 over Harvard in November). Lock Haven could only manage 3 takedowns in the entire match.

Wrestling Wreport: the Nittany Lion Open edition

Penn State sent 29 wrestlers into the Nittany Lion Open Sunday night and for the most part it was a dominant performance yet again. The Lions sent 16 wrestlers into the quarterfinals, 11 into semifinals, and 8 in the finals. The finals in two weights (141 & 157) were matchups of Penn State teammates as Penn State crowned 4 champs.

Wrestling Wreport: Penn State sweeps Sprawl and Brawl Duals

Cael Sanderson's team continues their torrid start to the season sweeping the Sprawl and Brawl duals in Binghamton, N.Y. last Sunday. Penn State defeated West Virginia, Harvard and No. 24 Rutgers by a combined score of 105-13. It was complete dominance as the individual wrestlers won 26 duals and lost only 4 while amassing 7 pins.

Wrestling Wreport: the inaugural 2010-11 edition

The Penn State wrestling team started the season off with a bang beating outmanned Bloomsburg 41-3 (Friday night) and slipping by fifteenth-ranked Lehigh 21-17 (Sunday afternoon). All five freshmen (2 true, 3 redshirt) went undefeated on the weekend. Frank Martellotti, filling in for injured Brad Pataky, went undefeated and James English, filling in for injured Frank Molinaro (No. 3), went 1-1.

Wrestling Wreport: Penn State finishes 9th

The Penn State Wrestling team ended the season in 9^th place at the NCAA Wrestling championships this weekend. The Nittany Lions had three All-Americans lead by 165-pounder Dan Vallimont who lost in the finals to Andrew Howe of Wisconsin. Frank Molinaro took 5^th at 149 and Cyler Sanderson took 6^th at 157 both finishing as All-Americans. In four years head coach Cael Sanderson has always finished in the top ten, while Penn State had placed out of the top ten in seven of the last ten years.

Vallimont came up just short finishing 2nd

TEAM STANDINGS, TOP TEN:
1: Iowa - 134.5
2: Cornell - 90.0
3: Iowa State - 75.0
4: Wisconsin - 70.5
5: Oklahoma - 69.0
6: Oklahoma State - 65.0
7: Minnesota - 63.0
8: Ohio State - 62.0
9: PENN STATE - 49.0
10: Missouri - 48.0

As expected Iowa ran away with the championship getting 3 individual champions while getting 5 in the championship finals. Cornell had a surprising run to finish 2^nd in the team race. As is usually the case, 5 of the top 10 were schools out of the Big Ten. The Big Ten lead all conferences with 25 All-Americans followed by the Big 12 with 15.

125: Brad Pataky (28-10) 2-2 in NCAA championships
Rd. 1: W, 6-4 dec. #9 Jarrod Patterson, Oklahoma
Rd. 2: W, 3-2 dec. #8 Matt Steintrager, Central Michigan
Qtrs: L, 0-15 tech. fall #1 Angel Escobedo, Indiana (TF; 6:27)
Round of 12: L, 5-9 dec. #2 Troy Nickerson, Cornell

Out of all the Penn State wrestlers, Pataky got a serious screwing by the bracket. He proved the seeding wrong by beating two ranked wrestlers in the first two rounds. When a wrestler has to wrestle four wrestlers in the top 10 including both No. 1 and No. 2 something is screwed up. In the quarterfinals not only did Pataky have to wrestle Escobedo but on his side of the bracket the only unseeded wrestler left was Pataky himself, on the other side out of the four wrestlers left only one was seeded. Pataky's season ends like it did last season: one win away from All-American status. Brad has one year left to get the elusive finish that all wrestler dream of, hopefully this will drive him. It sounds like it will.
"I've never had a feeling like this before," Pataky said, "coming so close to something that you prepare for all your life and falling short of it. Coming away from the tournament, I think I grew mentally as a wrestler," Pataky said. "It will fuel my fire for next year."

149: Frank Molinaro (33-7) 4-2 in NCAA championships
ALL-AMERICAN - 5th PLACE
Rd. 1: W, 9-4 dec. Donald Vinson, Binghamton
Rd. 2: W, 8-0 maj. dec. Eric Albright, Pittsburgh
Qtrs: W, 8-0 maj. dec. Torsten Gillespie, Edinboro
Semis: L, 0-2 dec. Lance Palmer, Ohio State
Cans Semis: L, 1-7 dec. #4 Kyle Ruschell, Wisconsin
5th Place: W, 10-1 maj. dec. Torsten Gillespie, Edinboro

Frank the Tank ended to his seed finishing 5^th. In the semis Molinaro lost a heart breaking 2-0 decision to Lance Palmer of Ohio State getting rode out the entire third period after giving up and escape in the second. The good news for Frank is that Metcalf, Palmer, and Ruschell, wrestlers that finished ahead of Molinaro, are all seniors.

157: Cyler Sanderson (32-7) 4-3 in NCAA championships
ALL-AMERICAN - 6th PLACE
Rd. 1: W, 16-12 dec. Bryan Deutsch, Northern Illinois
Rd. 2: W, 4-2 dec. Dan Gonsor, Virginia
Qtrs: L, 4-9 dec. #5 Steve Fittery, American
Rd. of 12: W, 6-3 dec. Anthony Jones, Michigan State
Cns Qtr: W, 9-6 dec. Justin Gaethje, Northern Colorado
Cns Semis: LBF Justin Lister, Binghamton (4:04)
5th Place: L, 6-15 maj. dec. #5 Steve Fittery, American

Although he finished an All-American in 6^th place, I think Cyler had bigger plans that fell through. Not to make a pun (ok, yeah I'm making a pun) but American's Steve Fittery gave Sanderson fits. In fact in his three losses the same thing that haunted Sanderson all season long hurt him in the Nationals: getting out from the bottom position. Sanderson got caught in a cradle for the pin against Lister and got caught on his back several times in the 5^th place bout. Sanderson actually built up a 6-3 lead against Fittery before back points turned the bout into a major.

165: Dan Vallimont (30-8) 4-1 in NCAA championships
ALL-AMERICAN - NATIONAL RUNNER-UP
Rd. 1: W, 8-3 dec. Matt Epperly, Virginia Tech
Rd. 2: W, 9-0 maj. dec. #11 Rick Schmelyun, Bloomsburg
Qtrs: W, 5-2 dec. Nick Amuchastegui, Stanford
Semis: W, 3-1 (sv) #2 Jarrod King, Edinboro
Finals: L, 9-3 dec. #1 Andrew Howe, Wisconsin

Dan finished his career wrestling well, ending the national runner-up. Really, beating an undefeated Howe was a tough chore and Vallimont never gave up, but it was a tough match that didn't go his way. All in all though, Dan had a great tournament dominating his first three opponents and getting the take down in sudden victory against second seeded King of Edinboro to send him to the finals. Dan finishes his Penn State career a two time All-American with a 3^rd and a 2^nd place finish.

184: David Erwin (31-10) 2-2 in NCAA championships
Rd. 1: W, 4-0 dec. Erich Schmidtke, Oklahoma
Rd. 2: LBF #6 Max Askren, Missouri (3:51)
Cn Rd. 3: W, 8-3 dec. Jerome Ward, Iowa State
Cn Rd. 4: L, 2-6 dec. #10 Mike Pucillo, Ohio State

Like I said in my preview, it was a tough first outing for Erwin at the championships. The nationals can be intimidating, everyone is wrestling hard. Erwin did lose to the eventual 184 pound champ, Max Askren but the loss to Pucillo is tough.

HWT: Cameron Wade (22-11)
Rd. 1: L, 1-3 (SV) #3 Zach Rey, Lehigh
Cns. Rd. 2: W, 1-0 dec. David Wade, Eastern Michigan
Cns. Rd. 3: W, 8-3 dec. #8 Ryan Tomei, Pittsburgh
Cns. Rd. 4: L, 0-7 dec. #11 Mitchell Montiero, CS-Bakersfield

Cameron actually wrestled well, coming within a sudden victory takedown of #3 Zach Rey in the opening round. Wade bounced back with two solid wins in a row including an 8-3 decision over Ryan Tomei, a wrestler Wade lost to earlier in the year. If anything, Wade got a lot of good experience from the nationals. Hopefully he can get back next season.

Final Thoughts
So ends the inaugural season for Cael Sanderson directing the Nittany Lions. It wasn't a great finish but considering PSU finished 17^th last season it is improvement. The season had mixed results with some highlights and some not-so-great moments, but not a bad start. I think Molinaro had about the most consistent year of all the Penn State wrestlers and of course Dan Vallimont finished out peaking at the right time. It was great to see Cyler Sanderson finish out his career in a Penn State singlet. The Nittany Lions will return next season with two All-Americans in Molinaro and Quentin Wright (after a redshirt year). With Pataky and Wade at either end of the lineup, Penn State will have a decent foundation. With all the big recruits currently redshirted and the ones coming in after this season Penn State should be poised to put together a decent dual team.