Dec. 20, 2009
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The 15th-ranked Penn State wrestling team, under the guidance of head coach Cael Sanderson, crowned two champions at the 2009 Reno Tournament of Champions held at the Downtown Convention Center in Reno, Nev. All-Americans Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.) and Cyler Sanderson (Heber City, Utah) each won titles for Penn State. Wrestling without two starters and scoring only nine wrestlers instead of ten, the Nittany Lions still managed to take third place.
Penn State's three active All-Americans advanced to the championship finals. Molinaro, ranked No. 6 at 149 and the top-seed at the tournament, used a second period takedown to secure a 3-1 win over No. 7 Jason Chamberlain of Boise State. Molinaro went 5-0 on the day to take the title. Sanderson, ranked No. 3 at 157 and the top seed as well, also used a second period takedown and solid offense throughout to post a 3-2 win over No. 5 Adam Hall of Boise State. Sanderson claimed the crown with a 5-0 mark. Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.), ranked No. 9 at 165 and the two-seed, lost a hard-fought 2-1 decision to defending national champion and top-rated Jarrod King of Edinboro in the finals. Vallimont went 3-1 for second place.
The Nittany Lions sent six wrestlers into the quarterfinals, five of whom were scoring points in the team standings. Junior Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.), ranked No. 10 at 125 and the tournament's two-seed; Molinaro; Sanderson; Vallimont; senior David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio), ranked No. 14 at 184 and the two-seed; and sophomore David Crowell (Easton, Pa.) all moved through the first two rounds into the quarterfinals.
Penn State's starters were a perfect 5-0 in the quarterfinals while Crowell was beaten by the top seed. Pataky met Stanford's Ryan Mango in his quarterfinal bout and turned a near-defeat into a win by pinning the Cardinal grappler at the 6:28 mark. Molinaro took on Oklahoma State's Luke Silver, the 8th-seed, in his quarterfinal bout, hard-fought 4-2 win. Sanderson met West Virginia's Ryan Goodman in his quarterfinal bout.
Sanderson, who pinned Goodman in a dual meet last weekend, rolled to a 21-6 technical fall over the Mountaineer. Vallimont met 7th-seeded Joey Granata of CS-Bakersfield in his quarterfinal bout and walked away with a convincing 10-4 decision. Erwin met Arizona State's Jake Meredith, the 7th-seed, in the quarters and majored the Sun Devil 10-1 while Crowell was pinned by top-seeded Joe LeBlanc of Wyoming, ranked No. 5 nationally, in his quarterfinal bout.
With five semifinalists, Penn State sent Pataky into action first at 125. The Lion junior not awarded a takedown on a late textbook cement mixer, giving No. 7 Eric Morrill of Edinboro a 10-8 win. Molinaro faced Oklahoma State's Quinton Fuentes at 149 and hammered the Cowboy 6-2 with 3:01 in riding time to move to the finals. Sanderson notched a 6-5 win over No. 14 Bryce Saddoris in his semifinal bout while Dan Vallimont needed overtime to post an 8-4 (OT) win over No. 8 Alex Meade of Oklahoma State. Erwin lost a heart-breaking 10-8 (SV) decision to No. 13 Zack Giesen of Stanford and shifted down to consolations.
Erwin majored Edinboro's Pat Bradshaw in the conso semis and then lost to top-seeded Joe LeBlanc, ranked No. 5 nationally in the third place bout. Erwin went 4-2 on the day (3-2 against collegiate competition) to take fourth place.. Pataky went 1-1 in consolations and took fifth place. Crowell got a 7-5 win over Michael French of Great Falls in his first consolation bout and then lost to Bradshaw in the consolation rounds to finish the tournament with a 2-2 record.
The rest of the Lion contingent included sophomore Clay Steadman (McKean, Pa.), who won his first round bout but was then handled twice in a row and was eliminated from competition with a 1-2 mark at 197. Freshman Bryan Pearsall (Lititz, Pa.) went 1-2 at 133 for Penn State while senior Adam Lynch (Mifflinburg, Pa.), who was filling in for starter Colby Pisani (Ridgway, Pa.) at 141, went 1-2 overall (0-2 against collegiate competition). Freshman Justin Ortega (Oxford, Pa.) was the only Nittany Lion to leave the tournament without a win, going 0-2 at 174.
Oklahoma State won the team title, far outdistancing second place Edinboro. The Fighting Scots just edged out third place Penn State (final team point totals were not available at press time). The Nittany Lions compiled a 25-15 overall record on the day, 23-15 against collegiate competition.
Penn State will resume dual meet action on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010, when it heads to nearby Lock Haven University to face the Bald Eagles in a 3 p.m. dual at Thomas Fieldhouse. The Nittany Lions' next home event will be on Jan. 22 when the Illinois Illini come to State College. Single event tickets for Nittany Lion wrestling cost $8 for adults and $6 for youth. Group sales are available once again for groups of 15 people or more. Group prices are $4 in advance and $5 walk-up. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 1.800.NITTANY between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. All Penn State events will once again air live on Forever Broadcasting's WRSC?(1390 AM), 3WZ (95.3 FM) and on GoPSUsports. com as well. The 2009-10 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
2009 RENO TOURNAMET OF CHAMPIONS FINALS RECAP:
Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009 - Downtown Convention Center - Reno, Nev.
125: #7 Eric Morrill, Edinboro 4-3 dec. #3 Anthony Robles, Arizona State
133: #7 Jordan Oliver, Oklahoma State 4-2 dec. #9 Boris Novachkov, Cal Poly
141: #3 Jamal Parks, Oklahoma State inj. def. Germane Lindsay, Ohio
149: #6 Frank Molinaro, Penn State 3-1 dec. #7 Jason Chamberlain, Boise State
157: #3 Cyler Sanderson, Penn State 3-2 dec. #5 Adam Hall, Boise State
165: #1 Jarrod King, Edinboro 2-1 dec. #9 Dan Vallimont, Penn State
174: Mike Benefiel, Oklahoma State pinned Ryan DesRoches, Cal Poly (WBF 2:33)
184: #13 Zack Giesen, Stanford 5-4 dec. Nick Purdue, Ohio
197: #9 Alan Gelogaev, Oklahoma State 14-5 maj. dec. #15 Dennis Drury, N. Carolina
HWT: #2 Josh Rosholt, Oklahoma State 2-1 dec. (OT) Ricky Alcala, UC-Davis
Penn State's weight-by-weight summary:
NC - Clackamas Community College and Southwestern Oregon Community College are two year schools and their results, should Penn State compete against them, DO NOT count towards any individuals overall record. * - David Crowell competed at 184 but his results did not count towards Penn State's team score. Penn State had no one competing or scoring at HWT.
125: Junior Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.), ranked No. 10 at 125, was the No. 2 seed at 125 and opened up the tournament with a first round bye. He downed Navy's Allen Stein 6-1 in the second round. The Lion junior found himself trailing Stanford's Ryan Mango with just :32 left, 7-4, when he gained control of the Cardinal grapplers shoulders, turned him and got a pin at the 6:28 mark to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, Pataky trailed Edinboro's Eric Morrill, ranked No. 7 nationally, for much of the bout and then hit a textbook cement mixer with :20 left when he trailed by only two. Pataky not only did not pick up any back points as Morrill rolled through, but he was not even awarded a takedown, handing Morrill a 10-8 win. Pataky was not able to rebound right away and dropped a tough 4-3 decision to No. 8 Michael Martinez of Wyoming. Pataky wrestled No. 15 Alan Bartelli of Boise State for fifth place and notched an impressive 3-2 win. Pataky went 3-2 overall for fifth place.
Penn State's 125 agate:
#10 Brad Pataky (2-seed in tournament):
First round bye
W, 6-1 dec. Allen Stein, Navy
Qtrs: WBF vs. Ryan Mango, Stanford (6:28)
Semis: L, 8-10 dec. #7 Eric Morrill, Edinboro
Cons Semis: L, 3-4 dec. #8 Michael Martinez, Wyoming
5th Place: W, 3-2 dec. #15 Alan Bartelli, Boise State Pataky 5th place, 3-2 overall
133: Freshman Bryan Pearsall (Lititz, Pa.) had a very disappointing start to the tournament, getting pinned by Myles Mazurkeiwicz of Great Falls at the 4:50 mark. In the opening consolation round, Pearsall rebounded with an 8-2 decision over North Carolina's Jeremy Shaw in the opening round of consolation action. But the Lion freshman was beaten 7-0 by Wyoming's Cory Vombaur in his next consolation bout and was eliminated from the tournament with a 1-2 record at 133.
Penn State's 133 agate:
Bryan Pearsall:
LBF vs. Myles Mazurkeiwicz, Great Falls
W, 8-2 dec. Jeremy Shaw, North Carolina
L, 0-7 dec. Cory Vombaur, Wyoming
Pearsall DNP, 1-2 overall
141: With starter Colby Pisani (Ridgway, Pa.) still nursing an injury, senior Adam Lynch (Mifflinburg, Pa.) took to the mat at 141 for Penn State. Lynch got things started in fine fashion with a 19-3 technical fall win in round one. He was majored by No. 3 Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State in the second round and moved to the consolation bracket.
Penn State's 141 agate:
Adam Lynch:
(NC) W, 19-3 tech. fall vs. Matt Pride, SW Oregon CC (TF; 6:44)
L, 3-13 maj. #3 Jamal Parks, Oklahoma State
L, 0-15 tech. fall vs. Elijah Nacita, CS-Bakersfield (TF; 5:17)
Lynch DNP, 0-2 overall (1-2 incl. non-collegiate competition.
149: All-American Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.), ranked No. 6 nationally, was the No. 1 seed at 149. Molinaro survived a first round scare, needing a last-second takedown to force overtime against CS-Fullerton's Matt Lopez before notching a 15-13 (SV) win. Awake now, Molinaro then cruised to a 16-0 technical fall over CS-Bakersfield's John Cardenas in the second round. He followed that up with a 4-2 win over 7th-seeded Luke Silver of Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals, setting up a semifinal showdown with Oklahoma State's Quinton Fuentes. Molinaro dominated the Cowboy, winning 6-2 with 3:01 in riding time to set up a finals showdown against No. 7 Jason Chamberlain of Boise State.
In the finals against Chamberlain, Molinaro could not manage to score on two early single legs as Chamberlain was able to hop on one foot and slowly work his leg free to keep the bout scoreless through the first period. Chamberlain chose down to start the middle period and scored the bout's first point on a quick escape. Molinaro continued to be the aggressor and finally forced Chamberlain into a first stall warning. The Lion sophomore used a quick short single, turned it into a double leg and took a 2-1 lead with just :03 left on the clock in the second period. Leading by one, Molinaro chose down to begin the final stanza and quickly escaped to a 3-1 lead. Molinaro would push the offense for the remainder of the period and, while not scoring again, rolled on to a 3-1 win and the 2009 RTOC title at 149. Molinaro went 5-0 on the day.
Penn State's 149 agate:
#6 Frank Molinaro (1-seed in tournament):
W, 15-13 (SV) dec. Matt Lopez, CS-Fullerton
W, 16-0 tech. fall John Cardenas, CS-Bakersfield
Qtrs: W, 4-2 dec. Luke Silver, Oklahoma State
Semis: W, 6-2 dec. Quinton Fuentes, Oklahoma State
Finals: W, 3-1 dec. #7 Jason Chamberlain, Boise State Molinaro CHAMPION, 5-0 overall
157: All-American Cyler Sanderson (Heber City, Utah), ranked No. 3 nationally, was the No. 1 seed at 157. Sanderson cruised to a 21-8 major decision over Edinboro's Josh Greisheimer in the first round and a 25-9 technical fall over Great Falls' Michael Hader in the second round. Another technical fall, this one a 21-6 win over West Virginia's Ryan Goodman, gave Sanderson a shot at No.14 Bryce Saddoris of Navy in the semis. Sanderson came through with a 6-5 win to move into the finals where he met No. 5 Adam Hall of Boise State.
In the finals against Hall, Sanderson and Hall battled to a scoreless tie through the opening period. Sanderson scored the bout's first point, taking down to start the second period and quickly escaping to a 1-0 lead. Sanderson used a high single to force a scramble at the 1:20 mark and spent the next :40 working for the bout's first takedown at the :50 mark. The solid score put Sanderson up 3-1 after a quick Hall escape. The senior All-American carried that lead into the third period. Hall cut the lead to 3-2, choosing down to start the final stanza and escaping to a 3-2 deficit. Hall nearly took the lead, getting in deep on Sanderson off a reset. But Sanderson forced action out of bounds with 1:40 left to hold his lead. Sanderson nearly scored on a double leg with :40 left, but Hall was able to fight through the move and force a stalemate with :30 left. Sanderson continued to shoot and nearly scored as the bout ended. While not getting the final takedown, Sanderson's solid offensive pressure allowed the Nittany Lion to post a 3-2 win and claim the 2009 RTOC crown at 157. Sanderson went 5-0 on the day.
Penn State's 157 agate:
#3 Cyler Sanderson (1-seed in tournament):
W, 21-8 maj. dec. Josh Greisheimer, Edinboro
W, 25-9 tech. fall vs. Michael Hader, Great Falls (TF; 6:57)
Qtrs: W, 21-6 tech. fall vs. Ryan Goodman, West Virginia (TF; 7:00)
Semis: W, 6-5 dec. #14 Bryce Saddoris, West Virginia
Finals: W, 3-2 dec. #5 Adam Hall, Boise State
Sanderson CHAMPION, 5-0 overall
165: All-American Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.), ranked No. 9 nationally, was the No. 2 seed at 165. Vallimont got a first round bye. He hammered Minnesota-Mankato's Darren Olsen, getting a 23-7 tech fall in the second round. A 10-4 win over CS-Bakersfield's Joey Granata in the quarterfinals moved Vallimont on to the semis where he grabbed a thrilling 8-4 (OT) win over No. 8 Alex Meade of Oklahoma State. Vallimont moved on to the finals where he met defending national champion Jarrod King of Edinboro in the finals.
In the finals, Vallimont withstood two early scoring chances by King before nearly scoring on his own at the :40 mark and with just :10 left. But each man was able to work his way out of trouble and the first period ended in a scoreless tie. King chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. Unlike the first period, which was relatively open, the second period saw each man wrestle more defensively, jockeying for position and looking for an opening to score. After an extended blood timeout for King, Vallimont got hit with a first stall warning with just :07 left on the clock. Trailing by one, Vallimont chose down to start the third period but could not break out of a strong King ride. The defending national champion maintained control of Vallimont until just :07 remained. The late escaped briefly tied the score, but King's riding time point gave the Scot a 2-1 win and sent Vallimont to a second place finish. Vallimont went 3-1 on the day.
Penn State's 165 agate:
#9 Dan Vallimont (2-seed in tournament):
First Round Bye
W, 23-7 tech. fall vs. Darren Olsen, MN-Mankato (6:22)
Qtrs: W, 10-4 dec. Joey Granata, CS-Bakersfield
Semis: W, 8-4 (OT) dec. #8 Alex Meade, Oklahoma State
Finals: L, 1-2 dec. #1 Jarrod King, Edinboro
Vallimont RUNNER-UP, 3-1 overall
174: Freshman Justin Ortega (Oxford, Pa.) took on Oklahoma State's Chris McNeil in the first round and dropped an 8-4 decision. He was then defeated 6-1 by Navy's Matt DeMichael in the first round of consolation action and was eliminated from the tournament with an 0-2 mark.
Penn State's 174 agate:
Justin Ortega:
L, 4-8 dec. Chris McNeil, Oklahoma State
L, 1-6 dec. Matt DeMichael, Navy
Ortega DNP, 0-2 overall
184: Senior David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio), ranked No. 14 nationally, was the No. 2 seed at 184. Erwin began his day with an 18-3 technical fall over Minnesota-Mankato's Aaron Norgren. He then posted a 15-4 major over Caleb Kociemba of Clackamas CC in the second round to move on to the quarterfinals. Erwin then pounded Arizona State's Jake Meredith, getting a 10-1 major before suffering a heart-breaking 10-8 (SV) defeat to No. 13 Zack Giesen of Stanford in the semis. Erwin rebounded, however, to go 1-1 in consolations for fourth place. Erwin went 4-2 overall, 3-2 against collegiate competition.
Sophomore David Crowell (Easton, Pa.) made his Nittany Lion debut at 184 as well in a non-team scoring capacity. Crowell got a first round bye and then downed Kyle Sand of Adams State in the second round, getting a 12-9 decision. He was pinned in the quarters by top-seed Joe LeBlanc of Wyoming but rebounded with a 7-5 win over Michael French of Great Falls in his first consolation bout. Crowell then bowed out of the tournament with an 11-1 major loss to Pat Bradshaw of Edinboro. Crowell went 2-2 and did not place.
Penn State's 184 agate:
#14 David Erwin (2-seed in tournament):
W, 18-3 tech. fall Aaron Norgren, MN-Mankato (TF; 6:46)
(NC) W, 15-4 maj. dec. Caleb Kociemba, Clackamas
Qtrs: W, 10-1 maj. dec. Jake Meredith, Arizona State
Semis: L, 8-10 (SV) #13 Zack Giesen, Stanford
Cons Semis: W, 8-0 maj. dec. Pat Bradshaw, Edinboro
3rd Place: L, 8-16 maj. dec. #5 Joe LeBlanc, Wyoming
Erwin 5th place, 4-2 overall (3-2 vs. collegiate competition)
David Crowell:
First Round Bye
W, 12-9 dec. Kyle Sand, Adams State
Qtrs: LBF vs. #5 Joe LeBlanc, Wyoming (4:28)
Cons Rd 4: W, 7-5 dec. Michael French, Great Falls
Cons Rd 5: L, 1-11 maj. dec. Pat Bradshaw, Edinboro
Crowell DNP, 2-2 overall
197: Sophomore Clay Steadman (McKean, Pa.) posted a thrilling 5-4 win in the opening round over Arizona State's Anthony Pike. He then battled tournament top-seed, 8th-ranked Alan Gelogear to the end but dropped a 5-2 decision and moved to the consolation rounds. Steadman was then stunned by Upper Iowa's Nick Shandri, giving up a late takedown to lose 4-3 in the next consolation bout. Steadman was only able to go 1-2 on the day and was eliminated with the loss to Shandri.
Penn State's 197 agate:
Clay Steadman
W, 5-4 dec. Anthony Pike, Arizona State
L, 2-5 dec. #8 Alan Gelogear, Oklahoma State
L, 3-4 dec. Nick Shandri, Upper Iowa
Steadman DNP, 1-2 overall
HWT: Sophomore Cameron Wade (Twinsburg, Ohio) did not compete due to an injury and Penn State did not score anyone at heavyweight.