Junior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.), ranked No. 11, got Penn State off to a hot and fast start with a 14-6 major over Edinboro's Eric Morrill at 125. McKnight grabbed an early takedown to go up 2-1 with :35 riding time a minute in. Three more takedowns, including a fourth as the period ended, put the Penn State 125-pounder up 8-3. Morrill chose down to start the second and quickly escaped, only to be taken down again by McKnight. The two-time national qualifier continued to dominate the bout and worked up a 12-6 lead after two. McKnight chose down to start the final period and quickly escaped to a 13-6 lead with a 2:02 riding time edge. He would carry that lead until the end and, with the riding time point, post an important 14-6 win to put Penn State up 4-0 to start the dual.
At 133, No. 8 Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) met Edinboro's Ricky Deubel. Strayer came away with a solid 8-2 win. The sophomore Nittany Lion got the first takedown just twenty seconds in and proceeded to ride Deubel out for the rest of the period, working hard on top to the tune of a 2:40 riding time edge. Strayer, up 2-0, chose down to begin the second and quickly escaped to a 3-0 lead. Strayer got a second takedown a minute into the second to go up 5-0. Strong again on top, Strayer rode Deubel out to lead 5-0 with a 3:38 riding time edge into the final period. Deubel chose down to start the third and finally posted his escape to cut Strayer's lead to 5-1. With bonus points promising to be at a premium in the evenly matched dual, Strayer notched another takedown and quickly cut Deubel loose to lead 7-2 with :40 left. Deubel managed to hold off Strayer's late shots to negate any major victory. Still, Strayer's 8-2 win gave Penn State an early 7-0 lead.
Senior Bryan Heller (Fair Haven, N.J.) met Fighting Scot freshman Daryl Cocozzo at 141 in one of the dual's key bouts. Heller got the first takedown of the bout to lead 2-1 with a minute gone (after a Cocozzo escape). He would take that lead into the second period. Cocozzo chose down to begin the second, a decision that did not work out in his favor. Heller was strong on top, riding the ‘Boro freshman for the entire period to carry a 2-1 lead into the final period with a 2:10 riding time edge. Heller chose down to being the third period and escaped to a 3-1 lead. Heller notched the decisive takedown with just :52 seconds left, jumping up 5-1 and cementing his riding time point. He would ride Cocozzo out until the bout's end to post a 6-1 decision. The win moved Penn State up 10-0.
At 149, Nittany Lion red-shirt freshman Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) took the mat against No. 3 Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro, a returning sophomore All-American. Gillespie got the first takedown to lead 2-0 at the 2:09 mark and rode Vallimont out. Up 2-0, Gillespie chose top to start the second period. Vallimont, already facing a 2:09 riding time deficit, could not break free of Gillespie as the Fighting Scot All-American rode him out once again. Vallimont, down 2-0 and already giving up a riding time point, chose neutral to start the third. The talented Lion freshmen nearly tied it with a takedown, but Gillespie held firm and held Vallimont at bay. Gillespie quickly answered with a takedown to go up 4-0. The Scot would ride Vallimont out and post an impressive and hard fought 5-0 win over Vallimont. The loss cut PSU's lead to 10-3.
At 157, senior Nathan Galloway (State College, Pa.), ranked No. 11 at 157, looked to rebound from a tough Wrestle-Offs against No. 17 Matt Hill of Edinboro. Galloway, who was coming off a third place performance at the ESU Open the night before, dropped a heart-breaking sudden victory decision in the only bout featuring two ranked grapplers. Neither wrestle could muster any points with Hill posting the best chance late, only to be countered by a stellar move by Galloway as time wound down. Tied 0-0 after one, Hill chose down to begin the second. Galloway rode Hill for :39 second but did pick up one stall warning in the process. Hill's escape gave the Fighting Scot a 1-0 lead. The escape was the only scoring of the second. Galloway chose down to start the third escaped to a tie with 1:03 left to wrestle. Once again, neither wrestler scored on the other and the key bout went to a sudden victory period tied 1-1. Hill, however, would quickly grab the win with a takedown and two back points to win 5-1 SV. With the loss, Penn State led only 10-6.
Edinboro sent No. 4 Penn to the mat at 165 against Nittany Lion sophomore Friend. Penn, another returning All-American for Edinboro, got the first take down of the match at the 2:34 mark to post an early 2-0 lead. Penn rode Friend out for the remainder of the first to lead 2-0 with a 2:33 riding time edge. Penn chose down to begin the second and reversed Friend to go up 4-0 with a minute left in the second. The score would hold through the rest of the period and Friend, down 4-0 and facing a 2:38 riding time deficit, chose down to start the final period. Penn, trying to get a major in the books, worked hard to turn Friend to his back but in the process, Friend shifted his weight, reached back and recorded a stunning touch fall at the 6:00 mark. The major upset put Penn State up 16-6.
At 174, No. 3 James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) faced talented Edinboro sophomore Phil Moricone at 174. Moricone entered the bout with a 9-2 mark. Yonushonis got the first takedown of the bout, going up 2-0 as the period ended. The Nittany Lion All-American chose down to start the second and quickly escaped to a 3-0 lead. He carried that lead into the third, where Moricone chose down to start and quickly escaped to cut the lead to 3-1. Yonushonis, the aggressor in the bout, continued to push the tempo and added another takedown with :25 left to ice yet another workmanlike victory. The 5-1 win gave the Nittany Lions a 19-6 victory.
Sophomore Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) met No. 3 Alex Clemsen of Edinboro at 184. Clemson the third Fighting Scot to carry a top four ranking with him, found the early footing tough against the talented Nittany Lion sophomore. Bomberger battled the Fighting Scot senior tough through the first period, battling to a 0-0 tie. Clemsen chose down to begin the third period and was nearly turned to his back before escaping to a 1-0 lead. Clemsen scored the first takedown at the 1:34 mark to up his lead to 3-0. Bomberger escaped to a 3-1 deficit, which is how the second period ended. Bomberger chose down to start the third period and escaped to a 3-2 deficit with 1:52 to wrestle. Clemson notched a decisive takedown with :33 left to lead 5-2 and cement a hard fought 6-2 victory. The EU win cut Penn State's lead to 19-9.
At 197, top-ranked Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) clinched the dual match victory with a technical fall of senior Jim Gibson of Edinboro. Davis got the first takedown at the 1:37 mark and turned it into back points to take a 5-0 lead into the second period. Davis also held a 1:43 riding time edge and chose down to begin the second period. After a quick escape to a 6-0 lead, Davis quickly notched another takedown to lead 8-0. The Nittany Lion All-American added a total of five more back points to lead 13-0 with under a minute left. With a technical fall in the offing, Davis continued his clinic from the top position and controlled the action through the end of the period. Gibson chose neutral to start the third, trailing 13-0. A final takedown gave Davis a 15-0 technical fall at the 5:32 mark and clinched the team win, putting Penn State up 24-9.
Senior Aaron Anspach (Columbia, Md.) met Edinboro's Joe Fendone at heavyweight in the final bout of the dual. Anspach opened up an early lead with a solid takedown on the edge of the mat. After a Fendone escape cut the lead to 2-1, the duo battled evenly throughout the remainder of the period. Fendone chose down to start the second and escaped to tie the score at 2-2. But Anspach answered with another takedown on the edge of the mat to take a 4-3 lead after another Fendone escape. Yet another takedown on the edge put the Nittany Lion co-captain up 6-3 with 1:07 left. This time, Anspach rode the Fighting Scot out to carry an impressive 6-3 lead with 1:58 in riding time into the final period. Anspach chose neutral to start the final period and quickly took Fendone to the mat for an 8-3 lead. A locked hands call against Anspach gave Fendone a point, but Anspach still led 8-4 with a riding time edge. Fendone, however reversed out and cut the lead to 8-6 with 1:33 to wrestle. Fendone continued to ride Anspach and work for back points but the Nittany Lion senior would hold strong to claim an impressive and hard-fought 8-6 win. The victory gave Penn State a superb 27-9 win.
Penn State moves to 3-0 with the win while Edinboro falls to 5-1. The Lions won seven of the ten bouts and grabbed six bonus points to none for Edinboro.
With the duals over, head coach Troy Sunderland will take Davis and Yonushonis to Dallas, Tex., for Monday night's NWCA All-Star Classic. Action in the all-star exhibition can be heard live on TakedownRadio.com beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Penn State will host the Nittany Lion Open on Sunday, Dec. 3, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tickets for the event can be purchased at the Rec Hall door the day of the event and season ticket holders get in for free. Penn State's next dual will be a home battle with No. 21 Lehigh on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall. Season tickets are on sale now. This year's season ticket prices are $24 for adults and $18 for students. Single dual prices are $5 per event for adults and $3 per event for youth. Contact the Penn State ticket office at 814-863-1000 or 800-833-5533 for more information or visit GoPSUsports.com.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now