Penn State, saddled with six first round byes and an injury default, still sits atop the conference in the team race. Penn State is in first with 70.0 points, Ohio State is a close second at 68.0 and Iowa is in third with 55.5. Missing out on the chance for first round bonus points, the Nittany Lions responded with five pins in the quarterfinals and seven overall.
True freshman Nick Suriano (Paramus, N.J.), the No. 2 seed at 125, stepped on the mat against Purdue's Ben Thornton for one second and then took an injury default loss. Suriano will medically forfeit out of the tournament and leaves Bloomington with a 16-3 overall record (having lost his last two matches with injury defaults). Suriano will be in the pool for an at-large bid at 125 when the NCAA announces the full field (including at-large bids) for the 2017 NCAA Championships. The announcement takes place on Wednesday, March 8, at 6 p.m. Eastern on NCAA.com. Red-shirt freshman Triston Law (Windber, Pa.) went 0-2 at 133 and did not place.
Senior Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), the No. 2 seed at 141, received a bye and then was upset by Michigan State's Javier Gasca in the quarterfinals. Gulibon's loss moves him into tonight's consolation action, needing one more win to secure a bid to the NCAA Championships and still holding the ability to finish as high as third. Junior Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), the No. 1 seed at 149, rolled through his first two opponents. Retherford picked up two pins, getting a the fall at the 6:12 mark over Purdue's Nate Limmex and then pinning Michigan State's Nick Trimble at the 4:45 mark in the quarterfinals. Retherford moves into tonight's semifinals and has secured a spot in the NCAA Championships. The pins were his 14th and 15th of the year.
Sophomore Jason Nolf (Yatesboro, Pa.), the No. 1 seed at 157, received a first round bye and then pinned Wisconsin's TJ Ruschell at the 5:58 mark to move into tonight's semifinals and earn a trip to NCAAs. The fall was Nolf's 12th of the year. Red-shirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), the No. 4 seed at 165, notched an important 8-3 decision over No. 16 Joey Gunther of Iowa, picking up three takedowns, advancing to the semifinals and earning a trip to the NCAA Championships.
True freshman Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), the No. 2 seed at 174, received one of Penn State's six first round byes and then made short work of Purdue's Jacob Morrissey in the quarters. Hall pinned Morrissey in just :29 to move into the semifinals and earn a trip to NCAAs. It was his 12th pin of the year. Sophomore Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas), the No. 1 seed at 184, continued Penn State's quarterfinal pin parade. Nickal pinned No. 22 Hunter Ritter of Wisconsin at the 3:41 mark. The fall, Nickal's 14th of the year, moved the Texas native into the semifinals and secured a spot in the NCAA Championships.
Junior Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.), the No. 4 seed at 197, received Penn State's sixth first round bye. He then posted a hard-fought 3-2 win over Rutgers' Matt Correnti in the quarterfinals. The win moved McCutcheon into the semifinals and punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis. Sophomore Nick Nevills (Clovis, Calif.), the No. 3 seed at 285, picked up a first round fall, pinning Michigan's Dan Perry at the 4:25 mark. He then posted Penn State's sixth quarterfinal fall, pinning Brooks Black of Illinois at the 4:45 mark and advancing to the Big Ten semis.
Six of Penn State's seven semifinalists have earned spots in the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships two weeks from now in St. Louis' Scottrade Center on March 16-18. With 285 only qualifying five automatically, Nevills needs one more win. Gulibon is still alive at 141, needing one more victory in consolation action to get a bid at 141 and can still finish as high as third. Penn State posted a 9-5 overall record and picked up 14.0 bonus point off the seven pins.
Penn State will continue the event tonight with session two, set to begin at 6 p.m. Eastern session . The championship, serving as the NCAA qualifier for the conference, concludes on Sunday with 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Eastern sessions. The Nittany Lions, now Big Ten Regular Season (dual meet) Champions and NWCA National Dual Meet Champions, are the defending Big Ten Champion and have won five of the last six Big Ten crowns.
Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The 2016-17 Penn State wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
2017 Big Ten Championships - Team Standings (top four) after Session 1:
March 4, 2017 - Assembly Hall - Bloomington, Ind.
1: PENN STATE - 70.0
2: Ohio State - 68.0
3: Iowa - 55.5
4: Minnesota - 52.0
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