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.

The Good
Cameron Wade did what he usually does against overmatched opponents grind them into a pulp. His opponent Harry Turner had to move up from 197 to Heavyweight and was overmatched and outweighed. The match ended in a pin in just 2:15. Bryan Pearsall who seems to get better as the season moves on gave

Bryan Pearsall pins Evan Kolb of LHU

up one of Lock Haven's 3 takedowns but then adroitly reversed Evan Kolb of LHU and turned him to his back for a pin. Ed Ruth moved up a weight because of the injury to Quentin Wright and still managed to pin his opponent. Frank Molinaro and David Taylor buzzed through their respective opponents both ending in tech falls.

The Bad
Really, what can you say bad about a match you win 48-0? I guess one could argue that Andrew Alton underperformed with only a 13-4 major decision given the ridiculous amount of pins he has in his early career but really that would just be a little too picky. It was all good Sunday.

Match by match scoring

Wt.	Bout Score	Team score
125	#18 Frank Martellotti PSU maj. dec. Nick Hyatt LHU, 15-6	4-0
133	Bryan Pearsall PSU pinned Evan Kolb LHU, WBF (1:40)	10-0
141	#10 Andrew Alton PSU maj. dec. Justin Loudon LHU, 13-4	14-0
149	#6 Frank Molinaro PSU tech. fall Owen Wilkinson LHU, 17-1 (3:52)	19-0
157	#3 David Taylor PSU tech. fall Seth Creasy LHU, 19-4 (6:27)	24-0
165	James Vollrath PSU win by forfeit	30-0
174	Nick Fischer PSU dec. Michael Khoury LHU, 7-5	33-0
184	#12 Ed Ruth PSU pinned Jacob Bachman LHU, WBF (2:53)	39-0
197	Nick Ruggear PSU dec. Derrick Caldwell LHU, 8-6	42-0
285	#6 Cameron Wade PSU pinned Harry Turner LHU, WBF (2:15)	48-0

Next up
Penn State welcomes Ohio State (currently ranked No. 22) to the friendly confines of Rec Hall Sunday for a 2 o'clock dual. It will be the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Predictions
125: #18 Frank Martelleti vs. Bo Touris
133: Bryan Pearsall vs. #12 Ian Paddock
141: #10 Andrew Alton vs. Randy Languis Randy
149: #6 Frank Molinaro vs. Sean Nemec
157: #3 David Taylor vs. #14 Colt Sponseller
165: Jake Kemerer/Nick Fischer vs. Jared Kusar
174: #12 Ed Ruth vs. #14 Nick Heflin
184: Andrew Church vs. Peter Capone
197: Nick Ruggear vs. CJ Mangrum
Hwt. #6 Cameron Wade vs. Jonathan Hiles

The matchups of the day will be at 157 & 174. Taylor should handle Sponseller by at least a regular decision but I think Taylor is wrestling well enough right now that he'll pull out at least a major. Ruth and Heflin should be a good match and I think could go either way with the slight nod to Ruth.

Ed Ruth gets a good test Sunday

Pearsall has been wrestling well lately and needs to keep his match with Paddock to a regular decision. Alton and Wade will need serious bonus points and both could end it on a pin. If Kemerer is back he'll have the edge if not it goes to Kusar. I think Mangrum and Capone have the edges at 184 and 197 so it will be up to Martelleti, Alton, Molinaro, and Wade to get bonus points or this could be closer than it should. I think the way Penn State is wrestling though, they come out winning comfortably.

Penn State 24 Ohio State 13