Feb. 25, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Nine members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team travelled to Richmond, Va., for the 2013 National Collegiate Open, with four wrestlers placing at the one-day event which ended late Sunday evening. Red-shirt freshman Luke Frey (Montoursville, Pa.) led the way with a runner-up finish at 149.
With six Lions wrestling attached and three red-shirts wrestling unattached, Frey's outstanding showing at 149 brought home a second place finish. The Lion freshman went 3-1 with a major to get to the finals before dropping a hard-fought sudden victory decision in the finals. Frey improves his record to 13-4 on the year. Red-shirt freshman Scott Syrek (Chester Springs, Pa.) also placed at 197, going 4-3 with a pin to take sixth.
Two true freshmen who wrestled unattached were Penn State's other placers. Freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) went 4-2 at 133, including two tech falls, to take fourth place. Classmate Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) went 6-2 at 141, with two majors, to finish fourth as well. Also competing unattached for Penn State was true freshman Wes Phipps (Grove City, Pa.), who went 2-2 at 184.
Red-shirt freshman Mike Waters (Advance, N.C.) went 2-2 with two majors at 141; red-shirt freshman David Owens (Derry, N.H.) was 2-2 at 149; red-shirt freshman Rex Lutz (Easton, Pa.) picked up a win at 165 and sophomore Brandon Phillips (Timonium, Md.) was 3-2 at 174 to round out Penn State's competing wrestlers.
Penn State will now prepare for the 2013 Big Ten Wrestling Championships on March 9-10 in Champaign, Ill., hosted by the University of Illinois. The two-day event crowns the conference champion (and Penn State is the two-time defending champion) and serves as the national qualifier for the conference's 12 teams. Action begins on Saturday, March 9, at 11 a.m. (Eastern) and concludes Sunday, March 10. Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstateWREST and on Penn State Wrestling's facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling. The 2012-13 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
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