Feb. 13, 2010
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Eleven members of the Penn State wrestling team headed north to take part in the 2010 Edinboro Open and eight of that group earned places at the event. Red-shirts David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), Jake Kemerer (Greensburg, Pa.) and Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) all earned titles.
Each of Penn State's entrants was unattached at the non-traditional tournament and, since bouts were not of regulation length (six minutes with three separate two-minute periods instead of seven minutes); none of the results count on the wrestlers records.
Taylor stormed through the 157-pound weight class to claim his third Open title of the year, getting two pins in the process. Kemerer was a perfect 4-0 at 165 with a pin and a major to win the crown, his first Open title of the year. Wright went 4-0 at 184 with one pin to win the crown, his third of the year as well.
Freshman James Vollrath (Richboro, Pa.) was solid at 157 as well, taking third with a pin and two majors. His only loss was to Taylor. Nick Fischer (Unionville, Pa.) also had a good tournament, going 3-2 to take fourth at 157. He lost to Vollrath in the consolation finals. Freshman Tom Reynolds (Skillman, N.J.) placed fourth at 133 with a 4-2 mark, losing in the consolation finals. Freshman James English (York, Pa.) went 5-2 at 149 to take fourth, falling in the conso finals as well. Freshman Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) took second place at 184, defeating red-shirting Edinboro star Chris Honeycutt in the semifinals before losing in overtime to teammate Wright in the finals. Ruth went 3-1 on the day.
Three other Nittany Lions competed at the event. Junior Eric Caschera (South Williamsport, Pa.) went 1-2 at 125, freshman Jarret Freeman (Laurelton, N.Y.) went 0-2 at 149 and freshman Eric Resch (Lititz, Pa.) was 1-2 at 165.
Penn State is now 13-5-1 on the year, 5-2 in Big Ten duals, and riding a four-dual win streak. Michigan State now sits at 8-6-1, 2-4 Big Ten. The Nittany Lions close out the regular season at No. 5 Minnesota on Friday, Feb. 19, in an 8 p.m. (Eastern) dual in Minneapolis. All Penn State events will once again air live on Forever Broadcasting's WRSC (1390 AM) or 3WZ (95.3 FM) and on www.GoPSUsports.com as well. The 2009-10 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.