Virginia Duals 2011: Penn State Finishes Fourth

The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team lost to No. 10 Oklahoma 22-15 Saturday night to take fourth at the 30^th annual Virginia Duals. PSU and OU split the bouts 5-5 but it was bonus points that killed Penn State. Both Bryan Pearsall at 133 and Clay Steadman at 197 were pinned as Oklahoma used seven bonus points (Adam Lynch was also majored) to outlast the Nittany Lions. On the positive side Brad Pataky, Cyler Sanderson, and Dan Vallimont all beat ranked wrestlers and Cameron Wade downed the 12^th ranked heavyweight.

Bout by bout scoring

125: #12 Brad Pataky PSU dec. #13 Jarrod Patterson OU, 8-6
133: Kendric Maple OU pinned Bryan Pearsall PSU, WBF (5:27)
141: #5 Zack Bailey OU maj. dec. Adam Lynch PSU, 16-4
149: #4 Kyle Terry OU dec. #5 Frank Molinaro PSU, 5-2
157: #2 Cyler Sanderson PSU dec. #11 Shane Vernon OU, 5-2
165: #8 Dan Vallimont PSU dec. #16 Tyler Caldwell OU, 6-4 (sv)
174: #8 Jeff James OU dec. Justin Ortega PSU, 2-1 (tb)
184: #14 David Erwin PSU dec. Erich Schmidtke OU, 9-3
197: #3 Eric Lapotsky OU pinned Clay Steadman PSU, WBF (2:31)
285: #18 Cameron Wade PSU dec. #12 Nathan Fernandez OU, 2-0

Penn State came into the duals seeded fourth and ends at that position. The Nittany Lions beat two teams ranked behind them in the latest polls (#24 Virginia Tech & #18 Kent State) and lost to two teams ranked ahead of them (#6 Oklahoma State & #10 Oklahoma). Not at all a bad weekend for Penn State but they could have finished a little higher had some of the key matches went their way. They were absolutely blitzed by OSU but the Oklahoma match could have gone the other way. As is the case for this Penn State team with much of its talent redshirted, the holes in the lineup could not be overcome. For this team to be competitive in the dual meet season in the Big Ten they will have to minimize damage and stay off their backs. Giving up major decisions to superior talent is acceptable, getting pinned is not.

PSU is off for a week and head back home to start the Big Ten dual meet season Friday January 22^nd against Illinois at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions then start a brutal stretch that includes trips to No. 3 Ohio State, No. 1 Iowa and No. 20 Wisconsin.

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