Nov. 19, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Five of Penn State's ten-man contingent taking part unattached at the Mercyhurst Laker Open came home with first place titles with seven of the nine playing in the top three. Penn State earned five firsts, a second and a third place showing in Erie.
Red-shirt freshman Kyle Moran (Oxford, Pa.) went 4-0 at 141 to win the first place title while classmate Seth Beitz (Juniata, Pa.) was 5-0 with a pin at 149 to win the title. Red-shirt freshman Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) was superb with a 5-0 mark to win the crown at 174. Brown notched two pins and three tech falls to roll to the title. Brown defeated teammate Andrew Church (Erie, Pa.) in the finals at 174. Church was 3-1 with a major to place second in front of a hometown crowd.
Junior Justin Ortega (Oxford, Pa.) was a perfect 4-0 at 197 to win the title while red-shirt freshman Jon Gingrich (Wingate, Pa.) won another heavyweight title, this time going 4-0 with three pins to win it all. True freshman Collin Campbell (Hurdle Mills, N.C.) took third at heavyweight, going 4-1 with a major. Also competing for Penn State was true freshman Mike Waters (Advance, N.C.), who went 2-2 up at 141; true freshman Rex Lutz (Easton, Pa.), who won once at 165, and red-shirt freshman Brandon Phillips (Timonium, Md.), who was 3-2 at 174.
Penn State hosts No. 4 Minnesota tomorrow at 12 p.m. in Rec Hall. Penn State will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 4 when it takes part in the Nittany Lion Open. The tournament, hosted by the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, begins at 8:30 a.m. and is not part of the Lions' season ticket package. Tickets are available at the door the day of the event. Penn State's next home dual is on Saturday, Dec. 11, when West Virginia visits Rec Hall for a 2 p.m. match-up. A very limited number of ticket remains for the WVU dual, fans can purchase them by calling 814-865-5555. Tickets are priced at $8 for adults and $5 for youth (18 and under) and can be purchased from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day or in person at the Bryce Jordan Center box office. A maximum of four tickets may be purchased per person.
The full season slate of live dual meet and tournament action will air locally on WRSC AM (1390 AM) with Friday evening duals being simulcast on WRSC FM (103.1 FM). Lock Haven's WBPZ (1230 AM) will also carry the entire season live, WIEZ (690 AM) in Huntingdon/Lewistown carries all Sunday events and further affiliates may be added soon. The regular season schedule of radio broadcasts will be streamed live at www.GoPSUsports.com as part of Penn State's All-Access package, which will also feature live video streams of many home events. Ticket information is accessed easily online at www.GoPSUsports.com/tickets/m-wrestl-tickets.html . Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstatepat and on Penn State Wrestling's facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling. The 2011-12 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.