Nov. 19, 2014
| PENN STATE VS. PITTSBURGH | |
| Friday, Nov. 21 - 7 p.m. ET | |
| Petersen Events Center | Pittsburgh, Pa. | |
| PENN STATE VS. CLARION | |
| Saturday, Nov. 22 - 7 p.m. ET | |
| Tippin Gymnasium | Clarion, Pa. | |
Rec Hall | University Park, Pa. Game Day Information:
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (1-0, 0-0 B1G), ranked No. 7 nationally in the latest Intermat Tournament Power Index, will take its show on the road for the first time this year when head coach Cael Sanderson's squad makes a two-dual road swing through Western Pennsylvania. The Nittany Lions visit No. 16 Pittsburgh (3-1) on Friday, Nov. 21, for a 7 p.m. dual in Pitt's Petersen Events Center. The next day, Penn State visits former Eastern Wrestling League rival Clarion (0-4) for a 7 p.m. match-up.
Penn State will carry a 1-0 mark into the dual meet swing after a 24-10 season opening win over No. 17 Lehigh on Nov. 9. The Nittany Lions feature a young and talented line-up that saw four individuals make their dual debuts in the victory over the Mountain Hawks. Junior Jordan Conaway (Abbottstown, Pa.) is ranked No. 12 at 125 and is 1-0 while sophomore Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) is 1-0 at 133 and ranked No. 5. True freshman Kade Moss (South Jordan, Utah) is 3-1 at 141 and sophomore Michael Waters (Advance, N.C.) is 5-1 at 141 as well. Sophomore Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) is 1-0 at 149 and ranked No. 15.
Senior Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) is ranked No. 10 at 157 but did not wrestle against Lehigh. Red-shirt freshman Cody Law (Windber, Pa.) got the nod against Lehigh and is 4-2 overall. Red-shirt freshman Garett Hammond (Chambersburg, Pa.) is a perfect 7-0 on the year at 165, coming off winning the ESU Open title last Sunday. Senior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) is ranked No. 3 at 174 with a 1-0 mark. Red-shirt freshman Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.) is 5-2 on the year at 184, with both losses coming to wrestlers ranked in the top five. McCutcheon is now ranked No. 19 nationally. Junior Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.) is 1-0 on the season and ranked No. 4 while senior Jon Gingrich (Wingate, Pa.) is ranked No. 7 at 285 with a 1-0 mark.
Pittsburgh will enter the weekend with a 3-1 mark, coming off a tough loss to Lehigh. The Panthers have four wrestlers ranked among the top 20 by Intermat. Sophomore Mikey Racciato is ranked No. 13 at 149 with a 4-0 mark, setting up an interesting showdown with Beitz at 149. Senior Tyler Wilps is ranked No. 5 at 174 with a 0-0 mark and matches up with No. 3 Brown in what could be a battle of top five grapplers. Senior Max Thomusseit is 4-0 and ranked No. 4 at 184 and would face No. 19 McCutcheon, giving the young Nittany Lion his fourth bout against a top-five ranked wrestler already this year (he is 1-2 vs. the top five to date with a 12-5 win over then fifth-ranked Ophir Bernstein of Brown at ESU). Junior Nick Bonaccorsi is ranked No. 10 at 197 with a 4-0 record and would face off with No. 4 McIntosh.
Clarion features a young line-up and an 0-4 record. The Golden Eagles could start a line-up that has four underclassmen in it. Clarion opened the year with a tough run at the EMU Duals, losing match-ups against SIU-Edwardsville, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois and Big Ten power Northwestern.
The Nittany Lions own a 54-12-3 advantage in the series with Pittsburgh. Penn State has won the last four, including last year's 28-9 victory in the Bryce Jordan Center on Dec. 8, 2013, a dual meet that set a new NCAA national attendance record for fans at a dual (15,996). Penn State won the last meeting in Pittsburgh, a 31-7 victory on Feb. 8, 2013. The Nittany Lions own a 25-4-1 lead in the series with Clarion, including the last 18. Penn State won 43-3 in Rec Hall last year on Feb. 23, 2014. This marks the first time Penn State has visited Clarion since Dec. 8, 2001, a 26-9 Penn State victory.
Penn State will take part in the Nittany Lion Open, hosted by the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, on Sunday, Dec. 7, starting at 8:30 a.m. in Rec Hall. A very limited number of standing room only (SRO) tickets are available for Penn State's Rec Hall duals. Fans can call the Penn State ticket office at 1-800-NITTANY to purchase. Penn State 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 2014-15 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
THIS WEEK
#7 Penn State (1-0, 0-0 B1G) hits the road for the first time this season when it treks to #16 Pittsburgh (3-1) on Friday, Nov. 21, for a 7 p.m. dual in Pitt's Petersen Events Center. The Nittany Lions then visit Clarion (0-4) on Saturday, Nov. 22, for a 7 p.m.
UP NEXT
Penn State will take part in the Nittany Lion Open, hosted by the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, on Sunday, Dec. 7, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
ON THE AIR
TV - None
Live Web Video - TBA/None
Radio - Penn State Wrestling Radio Network (1390 WRSC AM locally); go to http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/102714aab.html for full listing. All audio is streamed live thru GoPSUsports and College Sports Live (CBS).
#7 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (1-0, 0-0 B1G)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 #12 Jordan Conaway Jr. Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford 1-0
133 #5 Jimmy Gulibon So. Latrobe, Pa./Derry Area 1-0
141 Kade Moss Fr. South Jordan, Utah/Bingham 3-1 OR
Michael Waters Jr. Advance, N.C./Davie 5-1
149 #15 Zack Beitz So. Mifflintown, Pa./Juniata 1-0
157 #10 Dylan Alton Sr. Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain 0-0
OR Cody Law Fr. Windber, Pa./Forest Hills 4-2
165 Garett Hammond Fr. Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg 7-0
174 #3 Matt Brown Sr. West Valley City, Utah/Cyprus 1-0
184 #19 Matt McCutcheon Fr. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area 5-2
197 #4 Morgan McIntosh Jr. Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel 1-0
285 #7 Jon Gingrich Sr. Wingate, Pa./Bald Eagle Area 1-0
OR Jimmy Lawson Sr. Toms River, N.J./Manchester Township 0-0
#16 PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (3-1)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 Dom Forys Fr. Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny 2-2
133 Nick Zanetta Fr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks 2-2
Ben Ross Fr. Pipersville, Pa./Pennridge 0-2
141 Travis Shaffer Sr. Derry, Pa./Derry 0-2
149 #13 Mikey Racciato So. Pen Argyl, Pa./Pen Argyl 4-0
157 Ronnie Garbinsky Jr. Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone 2-2
Eric Nutter Jr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic 1-0
165 Cody Wiercioch Fr. Muse, Pa./Canon-McMillan 3-0
Troy Reaghard Sr. Oakdale, Pa./West Allegheny 3-1
174 #5 Tyler Wilps Sr. Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley 0-0
184 #4 Max Thomusseit Sr. St. Paris, Ohio/St. Paris-Graham 4-0
197 #10 Nick Bonaccorsi Jr. Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park 4-0
Ryan Solomon Fr. Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills 0-0
285 John Rizzo So. Johnstown, Pa./Temple 2-2
CLARION GOLDEN EAGLES (0-4)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 Seth Carr Fr. McDonald, Pa./South Fayette
133 Matt Liggett Fr. Chardon, Ohio/Chardon
141 John Pezze Jr. North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin
149 Sam Sherlock Sr. West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin
157 Evan DeLong Fr. Kane, Pa./Kane
165 Slade Horner Jr. Ridgway, Pa./Ridgway
174 Michael Pavasko Jr. Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley
184 Daniel Sutherland Sr. North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham
197 Ryan Darch Sr. Batavia, N.Y./Batavia
285 Evan Daley So. Erie, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf
Team ranking is Intermat Tournament Power Index (TPI) as of 11/17/14
Individual rankings are Intermat as of 11/17/14
HEAD COACH Cael Sanderson
Cael Sanderson is in his sixth season as head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team. The veteran head coach now has four straight NCAA and four straight Big Ten titles in hand. He has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year four straight times and was named the 2013 National Coach of the Year (his second such honor).
THE PENN STATE YEARS...
In his first year at Penn State (2009-10), he guided the Lions to a 13-6-1 dual meet mark, 5-3 in Big Ten action, and crowned his first Big Ten Champion. The Lions finished No. 10 in the final USA Today/Coaches dual meet poll and placed ninth at NCAAs.
In 2010-11, Sanderson guided the Nittany Lions to its first-ever Southern Scuffle Co-Championship and its first Virginia Duals Championship since 1991. In guiding Penn State to a 6-1-1 conference mark, Sanderson equaled the most Big Ten dual meet wins in Penn State history in just his second year at the helm of the Nittany Lions (Penn State won six Big Ten duals in 1998). Sanderson led Penn State to the school's first ever Big Ten Championship on March 5-6 and was named 2011 Big Ten Coach of the Year. Saving the best for last, he led the Nittany Lions to the 2011 NCAA National Championship in Philadelphia on March 17-19, Penn State's first since 1953 and Sanderson's first as a collegiate head coach.
In 2011-12, Sanderson led Penn State to a school record 7-1 Big Ten dual record and a share of the 2012 Big Ten dual meet championship. Sanderson then made it two in a row by leading Penn State to the 2012 Big Ten Championship at Purdue on March 3-4 and was named 2012 Big Ten Coach of the Year, earning the honor for the second straight season. Two weeks later, Sanderson led Penn State to a second straight NCAA crown, helping Penn State to become just the sixth team in NCAA history to win back-to-back titles.
In 2012-13, Penn State went 13-1 overall in dual meets this year and won its third straight Southern Scuffle title in early January. The Nittany Lions followed that up with a third straight Big Ten Championship on March 9-10 at Illinois and a third straight NCAA National Title in Des Moines on March 21-23. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third straight season (sharing this year's honor as a co-CotY) and 2013 National Coach of the Year (the second time he has earned that honor).
In 2013-14, Sanderson led Penn State to a 15-1 overall record, yet another share of the Big Ten dual meet title with a 7-1 mark, a fourth straight Southern Scuffle title, a fourth straight Big Ten title and a fourth straight NCAA Championship. He was once again named Big Ten Coach of the Year, the third time he has been so honored..
In this, his sixth season as Penn State's coach, Sanderson has led the Nittany Lions to four straight Southern Scuffle titles (including this year's), two B1G dual meet co-titles (including this year's), four straight Big Ten Championship titles (including this year's), four straight national titles (including this year's), collected 26 All-Americans, seven national champions, three Gorriaran winners, two NCAA tourney OWs and two Hodge Trophy winners. Coach Sanderson now sports a 116-20-2 dual meet mark in this, his seventh year as a head coach. He is 72-10-2 at Penn State.
HAMMOND, NOLF, NEVILLS WIN ESU OPEN TITLES
Three members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team claimed titles at the 2014 ESU Open, concluded late Sunday evening at East Stroudsburg University. Red-shirt freshman Garett Hammond (Chambersburg, Pa.) and true freshmen Nick Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) and Jason Nolf (Yatesboro, Pa.) all took first place at the event. Twelve Penn Staters competed in the Poconos, split between attached and unattached status. Hammond went a perfect 6-0 with two pins, a tech fall and a major to improve his record to 7-0 on the year and win the 165-pound crown. One of Hammond's pins came in just 0:43. Nevills and Nolf made their open tournament debuts at the event. Nevills went 5-0 at 285, with three pins (including one at the 1:00 mark), to roll through the big man bracket. Nolf was equally impressive, going 6-0 with two pins and two tech falls to win the 157-pound title. Two other Nittany Lions took third place at the event. Junior Michael Waters (Advance, N.C.) went 5-1 with a major and a tech fall to take third place at 141 while red-shirt freshman Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.) was 5-1 with a pin and a tech fall to take third at 184. He downed #5 Ophir Bernstein of Brown in the third place match by a 12-5 score and his lone loss was a 4-2 decision to #4 Lorenzo Thomas of Penn in the semifinals. Red-shirt freshman Kade Moss (South Jordan, Utah) posted a 3-0 mark at 141 before bowing out of the tourney and classmate Cody Law (Windber, Pa.) went 4-1 with a major at 157 before ending competition as well.
GULIBON DOWNS #2 BECKMAN; NAMED B1G WoW
Penn State Nittany Lion wrestler Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) has been named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for the week ending Nov. 9, 2014. The honor is the first such weekly laurel for the Nittany Lion sophomore. Gulibon thrilled a sold out, standing room only Rec Hall crowd of 6,237 with a dominating 8-3 win at 133 over No. 2 Mason Beckman of Lehigh in Penn State's season opener on Sunday. He used a swift four-point move at the end of the first period (a takedown with two back points) and a late second period takedown to roll to victory. Gulibon's win helped spur Penn State on to a 24-10 victory over the Mountain Hawks. Gulibon is coming off an 18-15 freshman campaign in which he qualified for the NCAA Championships and helped Penn State win its fourth straight national title.
BROWN PINS PEPPLEMAN TO LEAD LIONS OVER #17 LEHIGH
Senior Matt Brown pinned Lehigh's Marshall Peppleman at the 4:01 mark at 174 to lead Penn State to a 24-10 season-opening win in front of a sold out Rec Hall crowd on 11/9. Brown's fall was the 23rd of his career, tying him for 19th all-time on Penn State's all-time falls list.
HAMMOND WINS LION DUAL DEBUT AS FOUR RS-FRESHMEN MAKE COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
Red-shirt freshman Garett Hammond downed Lehigh's Santiago Martinez 8-3 at 165 in his first collegiate dual meet. Hammond's win helped spark Penn State to a 24-10 victory on 11/9. Hammond was one of four Penn State red-shirt freshmen making their collegaite debuts: Kade Moss at 141, Cody Law at 157 and Matt McCutcheon at 184.
NICKAL CLAIMS 174-POUND CROWN AT BINGHAMTON OPEN
Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas) went a perfect 5-0 at the Binghamton Open on Sunday, claiming his second straight open tournament title. Nickal led a contingent of six Nittany Lions competing, all unattached, at the event. Nickal's 5-0 mark at 174 included one technical fall and one pin. Nickal, who is red-shirting and wrestling unattached, is 9-0 on the year with two tourney titles to his credit.
THE 2015 BJC DUAL VS. IOWA IS SOLD OUT!
The 2015 BJC Dual, pitting the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, Feb. 8, is sold out. This marks the second straight year that the Penn State wrestlers have sold out the near-16,000 seat venue. This time the event sold out three months in advance. Tickets for the event began selling quickly when Penn State's 5,000-plus season ticket holders were given first opportunity to purchase additional seats. The general public was able to begin buying tickets in groups of 20 or more on Nov. 4 and that allotment was gone on its first day of sale. Nittany Lion Club members were then given an opportunity to purchase a limited number of remaining tickets today and those seats sold out in less than an hour. Penn State students will be admitted on a first come, first serve basis on the day of the event to the reserved student sections. Due to the overwhelming response to the dual, and with the event now at capacity, there will be no further sales for the meet. The dual meet, which begins at 1 p.m., will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. A limited number of standing room only tickets are available for select Penn State Rec Hall dual meets. For ticket inquiries, call 1-800-NITTANY Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
NICKAL CLAIMS 174-POUND TITLE AT CLARION OPEN
Penn State Nittany Lion wrestler Bo Nickal (Allen, Tex.) posted a perfect 4-0 mark in his debut event at the collegiate level to win the 174-pound title at the Clarion Open late Sunday. Nickal led a contingent of five Nittany Lion true freshmen, all wrestling unattached at the event. Nickal posted four wins at 184, including an 11-2 major in the semifinals. He downed Edinboro's Nick Mitchell in the championship bout by a 3-2 score.
REC HALL SRO'S ON SALE
A limited number of Standing Room Only (SRO) tickets for some of Penn State's remaining Rec Hall duals are on sale. Fans may purchase the single-match SRO tickets only by calling 1-800-NITTANY. Certain duals have already had the SROs sell-out. Only about 300 SROs will be made available for each dual meet. Penn State students are admitted for free on a first-come, first-serve, basis.
LIONS RANKED #7 ON INTERMAT'S TPI
The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team is ranked No. 7 on the latest Intermat Tournament Power Index (TPI). Eight Nittany Lions are ranked nationally at their respective weights as well: Jordan Conaway is No. 12 at 125; Jimmy Gulibon is No. 5 at 133; Zack Beitz is No. 15 at 149; Dylan Alton is No. 10 at 157; Matt Brown is No. 3 at 174; Matt McCutcheon is ranked No. 19 at 184; Morgan McIntosh is No. 4 at 197 and Jon Gingrich is No. 7 at 285.