| Philip Davis won his bout and the Lions put up a noble effort against No. 1 Minnesota on Sunday at Rec Hall, but fell short of an upset bid, 25-16. The Lions take to the road to face off with Iowa on Friday. To see photos from today's match, click here. |
State College, Pa. - January 29, 2006 - The tenth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the guidance of veteran head coach Troy Sunderland, nearly pulled off a major upset but fell just shy as the No. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers escaped a jam-packed Rec Hall with a 25-16 win. Over 5,400 fans witnessed the exciting dual as Penn State won four bouts, including a thrilling pin by senior DeWitt Driscoll (Connellsville, Pa.) at 141.
The dual began at 157, where State College native Nathan Galloway (State College, Pa.) faced Minnesota's C.P. Schlatter in one of the eight bouts featuring two ranked wrestlers. Galloway entered ranked No. 14 and coming off a dual clinching pin in Penn State's win over Michigan State Friday night while Schlatter entered ranked No. 4.
The first period began slowly, with no real offensive chances through the first two minutes. Galloway got hit with an early stall call during that stretch but immediately scored a quick take down to take an early lead with 1:00 left. Schlatter would score a reversal to tie the score at 2-2, which is how the heated bout would enter the second period. Galloway chose down to begin the second period. Schlatter rode Galloway for the entire two minutes without much offensive pressure while Galloway was called for a second stall and found himself down 3-2 with a 1:50 riding time deficit heading into the third period. Schlatter would go up 5-2 with a take down early in the third. Galloway would close to within two, 5-3, with an escape with :50 left. Schlatter would turn a late Galloway shot into a take down as time expired and posted a hard fought 8-3 win. Minnesota took an early 3-0 lead, Schlatter improved to 27-4 and Galloway fell to 10-8.
Nittany Lion true freshman David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio), ranked No. 11, took on No. 10 Matt Nagel at 165. Looking to turn the upset, Erwin was quickly turned and pinned. The Golden Gophers posted an early 9-0 lead with Nagel's pin at 0:50. The senior improved to 23-6 while Penn State's true freshman, Erwin, fell to 19-5.
At 174, Penn State junior James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) put his No. 13 national ranking on the line against No. 15 Gabriel Dretsch of Minnesota. Both wrestlers were coming off tough losses on Friday night and were looking to turn things around. Yonushonis got the first take down of the bout with :20 left and worked hard to hold Dretsch down to close out the period, taking a 2-0 lead into the second. Dretsch chose down to begin the second and quickly escaped to a 2-1 deficit. Dretsch would score a late takedown to take a 3-2 lead into the final period. Yonushonis chose down to begin the final period, looking to tie the match with an escape, which he got with 1:34 left. Yonushonis regained the lead with a quick take down but Dretsch escaped quickly, tightening the gap to a 5-4 Yonushonis lead. With riding time a non-factor, Yonushonis fought off two late Dretsch charges to grab a thrilling 5-4 win that energized the crowd and sent Penn State's top-ranked 184-pounder to the mat, looking to eat in to a 9-3 Gopher lead. Yonushonis improved to 14-4 with the win while Dretsch fell to 21-10.
Top-ranked Eric Bradley (Plaistow, N.H) faced his stiffest test of the season to date in Minnesota's Roger Kish, ranked No. 10 at 184. One of Penn State's two returning All-Americans, Bradley fought off two early Kish shots in a first period that was scoreless throughout. Bradley chose down to begin the second period and escaped :18 in to a 1-0 lead. Bradley got hit with his first stall warning and then had to fight off yet another solid Kish scoring opportunity. Kish would nearly score but Bradley would turn the Gopher chance into a take down of his own with :02 left in the period and led 3-0 heading into the final two minutes. Kish chose down to begin the third and escaped early. Up 3-1, Bradley got hit with a second stall warning, giving up the point, but grabbed an important 3-2 win. The Bradley victory cut the Minnesota lead to 9-6 and improved the senior All-American to 5-0 on the year. Kish fell to 25-4.
Penn State's other returning All-American, sophomore Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.), ranked no. 7 in the country, faced Minnesota's Mitch Kuhlman at 197. The duo managed no real scoring threats throughout the first three minutes. Scoreless entering the second, Davis took down to begin the period and escaped to a 1-0 lead with 1:30 to go in the period. Davis upped his lead to 3-0 with a take down shortly thereafter and began working for back points on top. Kuhlman got called for a stall while Davis rode him out. Kuhlman, trailing 3-0, chose neutral to begin the final period, but Davis scored a take down again. Kuhlman got gave up a stall point, was let up and immediately taken down again. Yet another Gopher stall and Davis finally got three back points to post an important 13-1 major victory. Davis' bonus point put Penn State up 10-9 and improved his record to 12-3 while Kuhlman fell to 6-7.
Nittany Lion senior Joel Edwards (Upper Darby, Pa.), ranked No. 20 nationally, took on the country's top-ranked heavyweight in Minnesota's Cole Konrad. Konrad got the bout's first take down quickly and turned it into a pin at the 1:44 mark to put the Gophers back up on top by a 15-10 edge. Konrad stayed undefeated at 28-0 while Edwards fell to 11-3.
Six bouts in, each team had three wins but the Gophers had a 6-1 edge in bonus points. Trailing by five with four bouts remaining, the Nittany Lions headed to the top of the line-up, where sophomore Tim Haas (Camp Hill, Pa.) faced Minnesota's Travis Lang. Haas got things started by nearly giving up a take down and turning it into a take down of his own. Lang reversed him to tie the score at 2-2 but Haas escaped to a 3-2 lead with 1:42 left in the first. Lang took a 4-3 lead with a take down with 1:00 left and worked his riding time advantage to over a minute but Haas would reverse out with :08 left and had a 5-4 lead heading into the second. Lang chose down to begin the second and reversed himself to a 6-5 lead. Haas tied the hotly contested bout at 6-6 with an escape with 1:00 left in the second. Haas chose down to begin the final period. Lang already had a 1:23 riding time edge and looked to add to it. Lang would clinch a riding time point and rode Haas out to a 7-6 win, putting Minnesota up 18-10 with three bouts left. Haas fell to 13-6 while Lang improved to 23-10.
Three bouts left and down by eight, Penn State needed to run the table to post the upset victory over the nation's top-ranked team. Penn State freshman Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) was put to the test at 133 in a match up with No. 3 Mack Reiter of Minnesota. The two top ten grapplers fought evenly throughout much of the first period with no one managing a score. Reiter chose down to begin the second. Strayer, working for back points, got reversed, however, and Reiter was up 2-0 with 1:30 in the period. Strayer escaped, but not until Reiter had a 1:08 riding time edge. Trailing 2-1 heading into the third, Strayer chose down to begin the third. Reiter got called for a stall and then Strayer escaped to tie the score at 2-2 with 1:20 to wrestle. Reiter, however, had a solid 1:48 riding time edge already in the bank. Strayer nearly scored a take down, but Reiter would turn it into two points of his down and a 4-2 lead with :40 left. Strayer escaped, but could not tally the tying take down and fell 5-3. The win upped Minnesota's lead to 21-10. Strayer suffered only his second loss of the year with a 15-2 mark while Reiter improved to 23-2.
Senior DeWitt Driscoll (Connellsville, Pa.), ranked No. 9 nationally and making his final appearance in Rec Hall, battled No. 14 Manuel Rivera of Minnesota 141. Rivera got the first take down of the bout with 1:04 left before Driscoll reversed him and quickly turned it into a pin at the 2:19 mark. The victory thrilled the capacity crowd and gave the Nittany Lions hope heading into the final dual as the fall cut the Gopher lead to 21-16. Driscoll improved to 11-5 while Rivera fell to 21-10.
In the day's final bout, another Nittany Lion senior made his farewell to Rec Hall as James Woodall (Dupont, Pa.), ranked No. 10, took on No. 1 Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota at 149. Woodall, needed to pin the nation's top-ranked wrestler to give the Nittany Lions the upset win, their first over a top-ranked team since a win over Iowa in the 1986-87 season.
Schlatter got the first take down with just over a minute left in the first to take an early 2-0 lead. The talented freshman rode Woodall out and carried that lead, plus 1:08 in riding time, into the second. Schlatter chose down to begin the second and quickly escaped to a 3-0 lead. The Gopher would up his lead to 5-0 with another take down and add three back points while riding Woodall out. Woodall was down 8-0 heading into the third and chose neutral to begin the day's final bout. Schlatter quickly took him down to up his lead to 10-0. Schlatter would not let Woodall up and posted a convincing 11-0 major decision, giving the Gophers a hard fought 25-16 win. Woodall fell to 6-3 while Schlatter improved to 29-1.
Penn State is now 9-3 overall and 1-3 in Big Ten action. Minnesota stays undefeated at 16-0, 4-0 Big Ten. The loss snapped a streak of six straight dual meet wins for Penn State. The dual was Penn State's final home event of the year, with seniors Bradley, Driscoll, Edwards, Jeremy Hart (State College, Pa.) and Woodall honored prior to the match. The Nittany Lions will hit the road this coming weekend, traveling to No. 7 Iowa on Friday for an 8 p.m. Big Ten dual and then heading to No. 9 Iowa State on Sunday for a 1 p.m. match-up.
Attendance: 5,419
Records: Penn State 9-3, 1-3 Big Ten;
Minnesota: 16-0, 4-0 Big Ten
Up Next for PSU:
At No. 7 Iowa, Friday, Feb. 3, 8 p.m. (Eastern)
At No. 9 Iowa State, Sunday, Feb. 5, 1 p.m. (Eastern)
#10 Penn State 16, #1 Minnesota 25 January 29, 2006 - Rec Hall - State College, Pa. 157: #4 C.P. Schlatter UM dec. #14 Nathan Galloway PSU, 9-3 0-3 165: #10 Matt Nagel UM pinned #11 David Erwin PSU, WBF 0:50 0-9 174: #13 James Yonushonis PSU dec. #15 Gabriel Dretsch UM, 5-4 3-9 184: #1 Eric Bradley PSU dec. #10 Roger Kish UM, 3-2 6-9 197: #7 Phil Davis PSU maj. dec. Mitch Kuhlman UM, 13-1 10-9 HWT: #1 Cole Konrad UM pinned #20 Joel Edwards PSU, WBF 1:44 10-15 125: Travis Lang UM dec. Tim Haas PSU, 7-6 10-18 133: #3 Mack Reiter UM dec. #9 Jake Strayer PSU, 5-3 10-21 141: #9 DeWitt Driscoll PSU pinned # 14 Manuel Rivera UM, WBF 2:19 16-21 149: #1 Dustin Schlatter UM maj. dec. #10 James Woodall PSU, 11-0 16-25