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.

Scores
Michigan State

Weight	Winner		Loser		Bout Score	Team Score
184	#6 Quentin Wright	PSU	Ian Hinton	MSU	13-1	4-0
197	Tyler Dickenson	MSU	Nick Ruggear	PSU	5-2	4-3
285	Joe Rizqallah	MSU	#5 Cameron Wade	PSU	8-2	4-6
125	Eric Olanowski	MSU	Nate Morgan	PSU	8-5	4-9
133	#9 Andrew Long	PSU	Chris Lyon	MSU	16-5	8-9
141	#7 Andrew Alton	PSU	win by forfeit			14-9
149	#5 Frank Molinaro	PSU	Dan Osterman	MSU	12-5	17-9
157	#3 David Taylor	PSU	Sean McMurray	MSU	(TF; 6:23)	22-9
165	Nick Fischer	PSU	Bobby Nash	MSU	9-1	26-9
174	#2 Ed Ruth	PSU	Curran Jacobs	MSU	18-6	30-9

Michigan

Weight	Winner		Loser		Bout Score	Team Score
133	#9 Andrew Long	PSU	#18 Zac Stevens	UM	16-6	4-0
141	#1 Kellen Russell	UM	#5 Andrew Alton	PSU	3-1	4-3
149	#5 Frank Molinaro	PSU	Eric Grajales	UM	8-3	7-3
157	#3 David Taylor	PSU	#20 Brandon Zeerip	UM	WBF (1:01)	13-3
165	#19 Dan Yates	UM	Nick Fischer	PSU	5-2	13-6
174	#2 Ed Ruth	PSU	Justin Zeerip	UM	13-6	16-6
184	#6 Quentin Wright	PSU	Hunter Collins	UM	WBF (0:24)	22-6
197	#10 Anthony Biondo	UM	Nick Ruggear	PSU	12-3	12-3
285	#5 Cameron Wade	PSU	#10 Ben Apland	UM	WBF (5:32)	28-10
125	Sean Boyle	UM	Nate Morgan	PSU	6-2	28-13

Thoughts

Quentin Wright had a good weekend getting a major and a fast pin (24 seconds). Granted, that came against two unranked wrestlers but it was nice to see Wright back on track. The beat goes on for Ed Ruth, Frank Molinaro, and David Taylor. The trio seems to be Penn State's most polished and consistent wrestlers at this point in the season and look to be in post-season form. Pick your superlative adjective to describe Taylor the kid is just a freak. He had a technical fall and a first period pin over the 20th ranked wrestler in the country. Taylor is just on a different level and is easily one of the top 3 wrestlers at his weight.

But it wasn't all good news, Cameron Wade continues in an offensive slump. He lost to unranked Joe Rizqallah of Michigan State and then needed a third period pin to beat #10 Ben Apland. Apland was beating Wade 6-2 at the time of the pin. The story for both bouts was the same, Wade was beat on his feet. Wade has the riding skills to be an All-American, he chose top in the third period pin of Apland, but his neutral position needs work if he wants to make if deep into nationals. He's so close to getting to that next level but he's just not there yet.

Up Next

Penn State takes on #19 Illinois, Friday, Feb. 11, 7 p.m. in Rec Hall. The Lions have three dual meets left before the post season and they should be good tests. After Illinois PSU travels to #4 Minnesota on Sunday and then hosts #6 Wisconsin next Friday to finish out the dual schedule. Considering that all three teams are ranked and the last two in the top ten, it's going to be a good tune-up for the Big Tens.

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