April 23, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Four members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, the two-time NCAA and Big Ten Champions, recently competed in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials in Iowa City on April 21-22. The foursome each fared well, with each wrestler coming away with at least one victory in the prestigious event.
Red-shirt freshman Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) posted a 1-2 mark at 74 kg (163 pounds). Brown opened up his tournament with a 1-0, 2-0 win over Ryan Morningstar before dropping matches to Tyler Coldwell and Colt Sponseller.
Teammate David Taylor (St. Parish, Ohio), also competed a 74 kg and posted a 3-2 record. Taylor downed Moza Fay 0-4, 5-3, 3-1 in the first round before losing to eventual finalist Andrew Howe. Taylor rebounded with a 4-3, 3-1 win over Mike Poeta and a 2-0, 1-1, 4-2 win over Sponseller in consolations before bowing out of the tournament with a loss to Kyle Dake.
Sophomore Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) competed at 84 kg (185 pounds) and went 1-2. Ruth lost to Phil Keddy in the first round and rebounded with a 2-3, 6-0, 5-2 win over Joe LeBlanc in consolations. He then lost to Raymond Jordan to end his tournament run.
Junior Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) also competed at 84 kg. Wright went 1-2 like Ruth. The Nittany Lion downed Bryce Hasseman 6-3, 1-0 before losing two straight to Keith Gavin and Mack Lewnes.
While Penn State's four collegians gained valuable international experience at the event, the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club came back from Iowa City with one more Olympian. Jake Varner won the 96 kg weight class and will represent the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He joins fellow NLWC members Jaime Espinal and Franklin Gomez, who will represent Puerto Rico in London, giving the club three Olympians.
Varner won the best two-of-three finals over Tommy Rowlands in two straight (0-1, 2-0, 1-0 and 2-0, 1-0). Les Sigman advanced to the finals at 120 kg before dropping the best two-of-three to Terval Dlagnev and finished as runner-up. Also competing for the NLWC were Penn State strength and conditioning coach Sean Contos (0-2 at 55 kg), former Nittany Lion All-American Mark McKnight (2-2 at 55 kg) and Teyon Ware (1-2 at 66 kg).
The Nittany Lions ended the year as two-time reigning NCAA and Big Ten Champions. Penn State posted a 13-1 overall dual meet record and were the 2012 Big Ten Co-Regular Season Champions with a 7-1 conference mark. The full season slate of live dual meet and tournament action aired locally WRSC AM (1390 AM) with Friday evening duals simulcast on WRSC FM (103.1 FM). Lock Haven's WBPZ (1230 AM) also carried the entire season live, WIEZ (670 AM) in Huntingdon/Lewistown carried all Sunday events. The regular season schedule of radio broadcasts was streamed live at www.GoPSUsports.com as part of Penn State's All-Access package. 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 was presented by The Family Clothesline.