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Nico Megaludis defeated Frank Perrelli to reach the NCAA finals (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)ST. LOUIS -- It was Penn State Day at the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Scottrade Center in St. Louis Friday.
No, there wasn't any official proclamation ... but it sure seemed that everything went right for the defending NCAA team titlewinners on Day 2 of the national tournament.
What's more, Penn State has wrestled as if possessed, racking up bonus points seemingly at every turn. All these factors have put head coach Cael Sanderson's crew in first place in the team title race ... and in the driver's seat to win a second consecutive championship, and third overall.
At the end of Session IV Friday, Penn State has 124 points. Minnesota was in second place with 101.5 points, and two finalists -- Dylan Ness at 149, and Tony Nelson at 285. In third place was Iowa, with 93 points, and three Hawkeyes vying for titles: Matt McDonough at 125, Montell Marion at 141, and Derek St. John at 157.
Cornell, with 86 points, is in fourth place, with three Big Red wrestlers still in the title hunt: Kyle Dake at 157, Steve Bosak at 184, and Cam Simaz at 197.
Finals will be wrestled at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday.
125:
No. 1 seed Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Nic Bedelyon (Kent State), 15-7
No. 10 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) dec. No. 6 Frank Perrelli (Cornell), 3-2 SV2
A study in contrasts -- at least in terms of seeding (No. 1 vs. No. 10), class (junior Matt McDonough of Iowa, vs. true freshman Nico Megaludis of Penn State), and NCAA finals experience (third title match for the Hawkeye, first-ever for the Nittany Lion.) McDonough, the Big Ten champ, with a 35-1 record, is taking on Megaludis, with a 28-7 mark this season, for the second time this season, at the Iowa-Penn State dual in January, where McDonough got a 3-1 overtime win.
When informed he would be facing Megaludis in an all-Big Ten final, McDonough said, "It's a chance I want back -- to wrestle him again, to improve on what I started on, but not just go off of what happened in the dual."
Megaludis said of his finals opponent, "Obviously he's pretty good. But I'm excited. He's going to wrestle hard for seven minutes. I'm going to wrestle hard for seven minutes. He's on a mission. I'm on a mission, too. It's going to be a fight."
133:
No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 B.J. Futrell (Illinois), 4-2
No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. No. 3 Tony Ramos (Iowa), 8-2
A classic match-up between No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, the sort of thing bracket engineers and wrestling fans seek. Oklahoma State's Jordan Oliver is a junior, with a 28-1 record, the 2012 Big 12 title, and the 2011 NCAA crown. Ohio State's Logan Stieber is a freshman, 32-2, with the 2012 Big Ten championship. The two finalists wrestled at the 2012 National Duals in mid-February, with Oliver getting a 7-3 win.
At the post-semifinals press conference, Oliver looked ahead to Saturday night: "I feel good. Real excited about this next match. I wrestled Logan once before. But it's a new day. It's a new match. Anything can happen."
When asked about Oliver, Stieber responded, "I've wrestled him before. I know what he's going to do, he knows what I'm going to do." The Buckeye added he would watch the film from the National Duals tonight.
141:
No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) dec. No. 5 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State), 5-2
No. 3 Montell Marion (Iowa) vs. No. 2 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma), 3-1 OT
A second Big Ten finals, featuring two seniors looking to wrap up their careers with the NCAA title. Michigan's Kellen Russell is the defending NCAA champ, 28-1 this season. He won the Big Ten title two weeks ago by beating Montell Marion, 7-2, who has a 27-3 record this year as senior at Iowa.
Russell weighed in on the man who hopes to deny him one more title: "I had a pretty big game plan (at the Big Tens). I'm sure he'll come back with something different. Just need to keep my attacks going and it should be an exciting match ... Pretty much all I want to do is be more offensive whether it's attacking at single or high crotch. The main plan is to stay offensive."
Marion was asked to compare his semifinals opponent (Oklahoma's Kendric Maple) to his finals rival Russell. "When it comes to Russell, different kind of wrestler," said the Hawkeye, who was a 2010 NCAA finalist. "Maple is more of a counter style wrestler, counter offense. Russell is a scrambler, he's talented. Got to go out there and put a hammer on him, protect my legs, getting my tie, getting my score. The mantra: get your legs, get your tie, get your score."
149:
No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) dec. unseeded Justin Accordino (Hofstra), 5-0 4:03 RT
No. 7 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) dec. No. 6 Tyler Nauman (Pittsburgh), 8-5
Yet another clash of Big Ten wrestlers. Penn State's Frank Molinaro, a senior, brings a perfect 32-0 record to the finals, along with the Big Ten title ... and the experience gained from being in the NCAA finals last year. Dylan Ness is a freshman, 28-3, at Minnesota. In three matches between the two this season, "Frank the Tank" is 3-0 on Ness, including a major decision and a technical fall.
Citing the fact Molinaro has easily handled Ness three times this year, a reporter asked if he would rather end his wrestling career with a tougher opponent. "No. I mean, whoever it is, it doesn't matter," said the Nittany Lion. "We prepare for anybody. I'm going to take Dylan like it's the first time I wrestled him. I'm not going to take him light. I'm going to go out there like it's the last match of my career, because it is."
Dylan Ness (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Ness drew some laughs when asked what makes it so hard to score upon Molinaro: "He's just stays low. I guess it doesn't help that I'm 6', 149 pounder and he's 5', and five feet wide. Yeah, he's tough to score on, stays low, gets the head position down when you shoot. He's pretty quick, too."
157:
No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) dec. No. 5 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American), 4-0
No. 2 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern), 5-1
Kyle Dake is a junior, with a flawless 34-0 record, the EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) title, and two NCAA championships. Derek St. John, a sophomore, has battled back from injuries to craft a 21-2 season, including the Big Ten crown. Dake and St. John have never faced each other on the mat.
"I just really wanted to get back on that stage and be able to show people what I'm made of, go out and win another national title," said Dake in the press conference after his semifinals win. When asked about going up against St. John, the Big Red wrestler responded, "Don't really know much about him. Just that he's an Iowa guy and he seems to win a lot of close matches, so it will be fun."
What does it mean for St. John to make it to the finals? "It wasn't ever really a doubt in my mind that it wasn't possible. But had a little bit of a setback with the knee. Just kept marching forward." When asked what it's like to go up against a wrestler of Dake's credentials, the Hawkeye put things in perspective, saying he would wrestle like it's another match, albeit "a bigger, more important match."
165:
No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) pinned No. 4 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Clarion), 4:46
No. 11 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) dec. No. 7 Josh Asper (Maryland), 5-4
This match has the biggest differential in terms of seeding -- a No. 1 going up against a No. 11 seed. David Taylor is a sophomore with 31 wins, no losses for the season, the 2012 Big Ten title, and the experience of having been in the spotlight last year as an NCAA runner-up. Brandon Hatchett is a senior, 18-3, who won the 2012 EIWA title a couple weeks ago. The two wrestled in an early December dual meet, with the Nittany Lion coming out on top, 8-5.
"He's a pretty good opponent," Taylor said of the man he'll face for the title. "Obviously he's in the national finals. I think he should have been a higher seed than 11. He obviously showed it by making it to the final."
Hatchett addressed the issue of his low seeding, the result of having a torn AC at the Midlands which forced him to sit out much of the season, saying, "It gave me a little motivation. But I understood, because I was gone for most of the season, that I was going to be seeded low. If you want to be the best, you have to beat everybody, so it doesn't matter."
When asked about his game plan for Saturday's finals, Hatchett broke up the press corps with his honest response: "I don't know. I haven't decided yet. Make weight, relax, about 10 minutes before the match I'll start panicking and figure that out."
174:
No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) tech. fall No. 4 Logan Storley (Minnesota), 16-1 (6:38)
No. 3 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) dec. No. 2 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State), 6-3
Ed Ruth (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)The two have a bit of history; Ruth was forced to injury default to Amuchastegui in the quarterfinals at the 2011 NCAAs. Amuchastegui made it to the finals, where he lost to Iowa State's Jon Reader.
Ruth pinned his first two opponents in about 90 seconds each, using the cradle. That's something that his finals opponent is already thinking about. "Figure out how you want to defend it, figure out what you want to do against it, then execute it," said Amuchastegui. "Go out there, just like every match, everybody is good at something. Whoever they are, whatever it is, you got to figure out how to beat it and do it."
Naturally, the Nittany Lion was asked about his cradle, too. "It's something I've been doing for years now," said Ruth. "The move I'm most comfortable with. Very confident in the strength of my arms. Every time I go out there, if I feel it, I'm going to shoot right for it."
184:
No. 6 Quentin Wright (Penn State) dec. No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh), 3-2
No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) dec. No. 9 Austin Trotman (Appalachian State), 4-2 SV
This will be a battle of finalists from two teams currently battling for the team title who happen to be both from Centre County, Pa. Penn State's Quentin Wright, the only individual champ from the team that won the 2011 NCAA title, is a junior with a 30-3 record. Steve Bosak from Cornell is also a junior, 32-4 this year.
The two were workout partners back in high school, from different schools, in adjacent weight classes. Wright defeated Bosak, 10-3, in the finals of the Southern Scuffle in December.
When asked about that history, Wright put it in perspective: "Next opponent, I guess. Yeah, I mean, I'm really happy for him. We worked hard growing up. We were kind of like rival school workout partners on Sunday ... But, yeah, I'm excited that he's doing real well. We get a chance to wrestle each other tomorrow."
Bosak was a bit more matter-of-fact in his response to the same line of questioning. "When it comes to wrestling, you have no friends out there. It's you and the other guy. You just got to look at it that way, with that mindset. And after the match, you can be friends."
197:
No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) dec. No. 5 Cayle Byers (Oklahoma State), 6-3
No. 2 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) dec. No. 3 Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh), 6-3, TB1
One more match-up of the top two seeds in the weight class. No. 1 seed Cornell's Cam Simaz is a senior with a 31-1 record, and the EIWA title; Edinboro's Chris Honeycutt is also a senior, 40-1, with the EWL championship.
"That's a match everybody wants to see at 197," said Simaz after winning his semifinals bout. "Hopefully it turns out to be exciting .... But as far as Honeycutt goes, (we're) two totally different wrestlers. He's all jacked up and I'm string bean. Hopefully the 'String Bean' can pull one out for the little guys. We'll see what happens tomorrow."
Honeycutt was more philosophical about the finals, saying it was his last wrestling match, as he plans to go into mixed martial arts competition after graduation. "Tomorrow is very exciting. I hope I can go out on a win. To win the National tournament as a fifth year senior, it's my last shot, my only time. I mean, it's a dream. It's a step in the right direction."
285:
No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. No. 3 Clayton Jack (Oregon State), 4-3
No. 4 Zack Rey (Lehigh) dec. No. 1 Ryan Flores (American), 7-1
Tony Nelson (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Rey was blunt in his assessment of being seeded fourth in the bracket, even as defending heavyweight champ. "I didn't care for my seed ... I mean, everybody knows the selection committee did a terrible job this season. That doesn't matter. You have to win five matches out here. Sometimes six to be a champ."
What does it mean for Nelson to go up against Rey? "I'm excited to go out there, get a chance to knock off the defending national champ. I'm just going to, like I said, be active, move, try and wear him out, see what I can do."
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