Feb. 22, 2016
By Ryan Hickey, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" With a palpable buzz in Rec Hall in anticipation of the top two teams squaring off, top-ranked Penn State continued to roll as they downed the Cowboys of Oklahoma State to capture the first ever NWCA National Dual Championship Series title.
With the main focus from day one being Big Tens and Nationals, it is easy to put a match like this on the backburner and focus on the postseason that's just two short weeks away. For Sanderson, the match was big for two reasons. Winning every match is always the goal, but even more importantly, the sixth-year coach believes his guys are wrestling at their best.
"This is a big deal to us. We want to win the dual championship, but it's more about getting ready as we are moving forward getting into Big Tens and Nationals," said Sanderson. "I think our guys are where we want them to be at this point."
Earning the national dual championship is something Sanderson is proud of when you look at the season his team had, going undefeated in the dual meet schedule for the first time since 1972. The 9-0 Big Ten record is also the second time in Penn State history that the team has not lost or tied a conference match.
"I think these guys had such a great year dual meet wise, dual meet after dual meet," said Sanderson. "You want to go out there and finish strong and if you don't finish strong, I think that's no fun, but they did a good job. I think they have to be happy moving forward."
The coaching staff was confident coming into the season of the talent that was on this roster. Receiving a boost with the return of Nico Megaludis and Zain Retherford along with the success from a couple of freshmen were the biggest keys to the unblemished record. The biggest takeaway in going undefeated for the first time in Sanderson's tenure was that the team kept grinding towards the end of the season when the schedule ramped up.
"I think we were confident with the team we had coming in. It seems like the last eight weeks, it was just tough team, tough team, tough team," said Sanderson. "It takes a lot of strength and character to continue to step up and wrestle well and not have a bad match here or a bad match there, so that's a real testament to these guys up here and the rest of the team."
Bonus points, just as they have all season long, played another big role in helping the Nittany Lions notch their 16th victory of the season. Tallying three pins on the afternoon allowed the Blue and White to make up for the fact that they allowed a technical fall as well as giving up six points due to an injury default.
"I think pins are huge in a big dual meet like that. Bonus points are huge, but more than that, I always say it's more about the attitude," said Sanderson. "If you are wrestling with some fire in your bones, bonus points will come and I think our guys are wrestling with some fire and they enjoy what they are doing out there and the result is going to be bonus points."
Starting off the bout for the very last time at Rec Hall was Nico Megaludis, who was able to close out his wrestling career at Rec Hall the same way he started it five years ago.
"I mean I don't like to show emotion, but I guess I did a little bit. It was my last match and it's pretty cool," said Megaludis. "I haven't been the biggest pinner in the world, and my first match here, it was against Bloomsburg my freshman year, I pinned the kid and then go out like this, that's kind of special."
The pin was just the redshirt senior's 17th career fall and his sixth in dual meets at Rec Hall. The pin came at such a rare time, it caught teammate Jordan Conaway off guard, who was forced to rush to get ready to wrestle.
"I was getting ready, but still had my clothes on and everything and everyone was going nuts and [Nico] somehow pinned him, so I had to hurry up and get ready to go," said Conaway.
Like all new events, there are always things that can be changed and ideas to make the championship the best it can be. Sanderson likes the idea of a dual championship meet and thinks the format of just one match compared to a tournament is better because it isn't as taxing on the grapplers by the time the postseason comes around. One thing this dual series does do is that it allows teams that don't usually matchup to get a chance to wrestle each other, which provides the extra excitement for the fans.
For Morgan McIntosh, it was special to be able to win the first ever dual meet national championship at Rec Hall in front of the Nittany Lion faithful, but the senior, like the rest of the team, realizes that this was not the ultimate goal and still have their eyes set on the big prize.
"It's exciting, but nothing like winning a team national title," said McIntosh. "It's exciting and we are happy and we are wrestled hard today and we wrestled to win and we are happy to get that win, but I think it doesn't really compare to the team tournament."