Jan. 28, 2015
By Matt Allibone, GoPSUsports.com, Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - At the beginning of every season, the Penn State wrestling team finds itself looking forward to one thing - the month of March and the prospect of the postseason.
As exciting as it is to compete at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships, the Nittany Lions still have five dual meets and over a month to go before those events arrive. Still, that doesn't mean they've lost sight of the task at hand.
This weekend, head coach Cael Sanderson and crew will travel to Michigan for a Friday night dual with the Wolverines in Cliff Keen Arena before trekking to East Lansing for a Sunday afternoon matchup against Michigan State. For a team looking to defend their fourth consecutive conference and NCAA tournament victories, the matchups are excellent preparation.
"The Big Ten is the toughest conference in the nation and it's exciting to go back-to-back and get those tough matches in there because this is all practice before nationals," redshirt-freshman 141-pounder Kade Moss said. "So it's exciting that we get to wrestle against the toughest kids in the nation to get ready for that."
With 10 duals meets already under its belt, Penn State is very much in the middle of the season's grind. While it can be easy to lose focus, the Lions know that each dual presents them with the opportunity to face an opponent that they could easily see again down the road.
This weekend is a perfect example of that. With both the Wolverines and the Spartans being Big Ten teams, there is always a strong possibility that one of their wrestlers will wind up facing a Nittany Lion again this season at one of the postseason tournaments.
That right there is plenty of motivation for the Blue and White to remain focused against both squads. At the same time, any type of competition is enough to excite Penn State's wrestlers.
"We're in Big Ten Schedule, a lot of these guys we're going to see at nationals and Big Tens so you want to kind of separate yourself from them now," senior heavyweight Jimmy Lawson said. "Then you're going into nationals with confidence, so that's the focus.
"For me [winning these duals] is very important, it builds confidence not to mention it has a lot to do with seeding which can come into play. My goal is to not lose any matches. I'm sure my teammates feel the same way. We're all competitors, nobody wants to lose."
While both schools have wrestlers who could end up facing a member of the Nittany Lions again this season, Michigan features a particularly strong lineup that will be sure to challenge the Lions on Friday.
The 15th-ranked team in the nation, Michigan has eight ranked wrestlers, with six of them (133-pounder Rossi Bruno, 149-pounder Alec Pantaleo, 165-pounder Taylor Massa, 184-pounder Dominic Abounader, 197-pounder Max Huntley and heavyweight Adam Coon) in the top 10. The Wolverines are also coming off of an impressive 34-6 win over Indiana on Sunday.
"I think Michigan has a really good team," head coach Cael Sanderson said. "On paper they're favored in the majority of the weight classes. So we've got to wrestle. They have a nice little intimate atmosphere there...we're definitely excited about it. In the dual meets there's certainly a lot of parity no doubt about it."
Having eight ranked wrestlers of their own, the Nittany Lions feel good about their chances. The dual will give a handful of freshmen, including 165-pounder Garett Hammond and 184-pounder Matt McCutcheon, the chance to compete against a top opponent while veterans and top-ten grapplers like Lawson, 133-pounder Jimmy Gulibon and 197-pounder Morgan McIntosh will be challenged as well.
Lawson's bout at heavyweight against the sophomore Coon will be especially interesting. Both wrestlers are ranked in the top-ten (Lawson is sixth, Coon is seventh), yet the pair has never faced each other before.
In order to prepare, Lawson has listened to the advice of his teammate and fellow heavyweight Jon Gingrich, who faced Coon last season and dropped a tough 2-1 bout to him.
"Wrestling with Jon is good practice for wrestling [Coon] because he knows how he likes to wrestle and he knows his tendencies," Lawson said. "At the end of the day you've got to wrestle your match. I think knowing what a guy's tendencies are and knowing where they're vulnerable at is important."
Coming off of a tight 17-16 loss to No. 2 Minnesota, the Nittany Lions are hungry to taste victory. If anything, the close setback has only given them further confidence that they are on the right track to be at their best in March.
"That's one of the positive things, you always see things you can improve upon," Lawson said. "[Minnesota is] a tough opponent and a team that's probably picked to win nationals and we lost in bonus points so that's something that can be easily fixed. It's all about the national tournament."