Nov. 17, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Ten members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team took part in the East Stroudsburg Open today, both attached and unattached. True freshman Garett Hammond (Chambersburg, Pa.) won the 165-pound title to lead Penn State's efforts.
Hammond was a perfect 5-0 on the day, putting forth a dominant performance with five bonus point wins. Hammond had two majors, a tech fall and two pins on the day and improved his record to 16-3 as an unattached Nittany Lion. Junior heavyweight Nick Ruggear (Oxford, Pa.) went 3-1 on the day plus grabbing a win over a non-collegiate grappler (which does not count in his results). Ruggear's performance included a pin and a major was good enough for third place at 285.
Two Nittany Lion 141-pounders placed. Sophomore Michael Waters (Advance, N.C.) went 5-2 to place fourth at 141 while junior Nate Morgan (McCook, Neb.) went 6-2 to take seventh with two pins and a tech fall.
Junior Kyle Moran (Oxford, Pa.) went 3-2 at 149 and freshmen Caleb Livingston (Drexel Hill, Pa.) was 3-2 at 157. Senior Andrew Church (Erie, Pa.) was 2-2 at 174 as well. Cameron Kelly (Pittsford, N.Y.) picked up a victory at 141; Dylan Dailey (Danville, Pa.) grabbed a victory at 184 and Josh Rogers (Pottstown, Pa.) won a bout at 197.
The Nittany Lions return to action next weekend for their home opener on Sunday, Nov. 24, against Lock Haven. The dual starts at 2 p.m. in Rec Hall and will be preceded by the raising of the 2013 Big Ten and NCAA title banners. The dual meet, as is every home dual for the Nittany Lions, is sold out. As of press time, less than 80 Standing Room Only tickets remain.
With the full season of Rec Hall duals sold out prior to the start of the campaign, a very limited number of standing room only tickets are available to a few of the seven Rec Hall duals. Also, there are still tickets available for Penn State's Dec. 8 dual against Pitt in the Bryce Jordan Center. People may purchase tickets by calling 1-800-NITTANY or by visiting the Penn State Athletics ticket office located in the BJC. 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 2013-14 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.