Wrestling Wreport: Penn State ends season in disappointment

With a chance to end the season on a high note and possibly pull off a mild upset, Penn State traveled to No. 5 Minnesota Friday night and left with a disappointing 26-16 dual loss.
#10 Penn State 16, #5 Minnesota 26
125: #13 Brad Pataky PSU win by forfeit
133: #1 Jayson Ness MINN pinned Bryan Pearsall PSU, WBF (1:37)
141: #8 Mike Thorn MINN pinned #20 Adam Lynch PSU, WBF (2:18)
149: #4 Frank Molinaro PSU dec. #16 Mario Mason MINN, 7-3
157: #2 Dustin Schlatter MINN dec. #6 Cyler Sanderson PSU, 4-0
165: #7 Dan Vallimont PSU dec. Cody Yohn MINN, 10-3
174: #8 Scott Glasser MINN maj. dec. Justin Ortega PSU, 12-3
184: #10 David Erwin PSU maj. dec. Kaleb Young MINN, 12-3
197: #13 Sonny Yohn MINN maj. dec. David Crowell PSU, 14-5
285: Ben Berhow MINN dec. #12 Cameron Wade PSU, 4-2

As I said in my preview Friday the results at 133, 174, and 197 are not at all surprising those are very large holes in PSU's lineup, but some of the others are. Lynch was dominated and gave up the pin, granted it was too a very highly ranked wrestler but I expected more out of him. Sanderson's troubles getting out from underneath have resurfaced, if he's going to get a shot at a national championship he will most certainly have to correct that aspect of his game. Wade lost to an unranked heavyweight giving up the go-ahead takedown with 2 seconds left in the match, up until this match he had been wrestling well.

But it wasn't all bad, Molinaro outscored Minnesota's Mario Mason at 149, and showed a strong ride in the third period. David Erwin and Dan Vallimont finished off their Penn State careers with dominating victories at 165 and 184. I was looking forward to the Pataky-Sanders match at 125 but with Sanders battling some injuries Minnesota chose to forfeit at 125. Pataky's Big Ten record is now at 7-1 and should get him a good seat in the tournament.

Penn State is now off for two weeks and will head to head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the Big Ten Championships on Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7. PSU ends the dual meet season with a 13-6-1 record and were 5-3 in the Big Ten. Considering this was Cael Sanderson's first year in charge and with all the talent that was redshirted that record really isn't too shabby. Now we'll get to see how well they prepare for a run at some individual championships.

Follow LBU on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Linebacker-U.com by Email