Jan. 19, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Nine members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team competed at the Floyd `Shorty' Hitchcock Open today at Millersville University, wrestling both attached an unattached. Penn State advanced three wrestlers to the finals and went 1-1 with one medical forfeit.
Junior Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.), ranked No. 4 at 157, stayed unbeaten on the year with a strong 5-0 performance to win the 157-pound title. Alton had a pin and a major in his title run. Junior Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.), ranked No. 7 at 149, went 4-0 with a quick pin (in 0:31) and two technical falls, to advance to the finals before taking a medical forfeit to place second. True freshman Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.) advanced to the finals at 184 before losing, going 3-1 with two pins to take second.
True freshman Garret Hammond (Chambersburg, Pa.) went 6-1 with a pin to take third at 165 and classmate Cody Law (Windber, Pa.) was outstanding at 157, going 7-2 with a pin and advancing to the consolation semifinals. Sophomore Josh Rogers (Pottstown, Pa.) went 3-2 at 197 and classmate James Frascella (Carmel, Ind.) went 2-2 at 184. Sophomore Michael Waters (Advance, N.C.) picked up a victory at 141 while true freshman Devon Bentley (Shippensburg, Pa.) competed at 141 as well.
Dylan Alton improves to 12-0 on the year while brother Andrew is 8-0. McCutcheon is now 10-4 on the year while Hammond is 25-6. Both are in their red-shirt seasons. Penn State hosts No. 11 Illinois next Friday night, Jan. 24, in a 7 p.m. dual in sold out Rec Hall.
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 remaining Rec Hall duals. 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.