Dec. 14, 2016
TODAY'S ACTION
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Nittany Lions (4-0, 0-0 B1G) travel to Reno, Nev., for the 2016 Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday, Dec. 18. The one-day event begins at 12 p.m. Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific (local). The Nittany Lions will face some of the nation's top wrestlers at the event, including many west coast schools that the squad does not see on a regular basis.
The Nittany Lions will take 15 wrestlers to the event, with the line-up of individuals to be late in the week. The Nittany Lions last took part in the Reno TOC in 2009-10, head coach Cael Sanderson's first year at Penn State. Sanderson's squad placed third that year and crowned two champions, Frank Molinaro at 149 and Cyler Sanderson at 157. Dan Vallimont placed second at 165.
Penn State's dual meet starting line-up features ten ranked wrestlers, six of whom remain unbeaten on the year. True freshman Nick Suriano is 8-0 and ranked No. 4 at 125, sophomore Jered Cortez is 6-2 and No. 14 at 133, senior Jimmy Gulibon is 6-4 and No. 13 at 141, junior Zain Retherford is 9-0 and No. 1 at 149, sophomore Jason Nolf is 9-0 and No. 1 at 157, red-shirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph is 7-1 and No. 9 at 165, sophomore Shakur Rasheed is 5-1 and No. 15 at 174 while senior Geno Morelli si 7-1 at that weight. Sophomore Bo Nickal is 8-0 and No. 2 at 184, junior Matt McCutcheon is 8-0 and No. 13 at 197 and sophomore Nick Nevills is 8-0 and No. 7 at 285.
While Penn State's list of entrants will be set later in the week (post-press), look for sophomore George Carpenter to make the trip at 133; junior Kade Moss to compete at 141 and red-shirt freshman Kellan Stout to go at 197, in addition to others to be announced.
Penn State will open up Big Ten dual action with a rugged road swing in early January. The Nittany Lions are at Minnesota on Friday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. Eastern, then at Nebraska on Sunday, Jan. 8, at 3 p.m. Eastern. The Nittany Lions' next home event is Friday, Jan. 13, when Rutgers invades Rec Hall for a 7 p.m. dual. Rec Hall duals are sold out but a limited number of standing room only tickets are available to the events. Fans can purchase these SROs on a first-come, first-serve basis by calling the Penn State Athletics ticket office at 1-800-NITTANY while supplies last. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The 2016-17 Penn State wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
#3 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (4-0, 0-0 B1G)125 #4 Nick Suriano Fr. Paramus, N.J./Bergen Catholic 7-0
133 #14 Jered Cortez So. Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North 6-2
141 #13 Jimmy Gulibon Sr. Latrobe, Pa./Derry Area 5-4
OR Kade Moss Jr. South Jordan, Utah/Bingham 4-1
149 #1 Zain Retherford Jr. Benton, Pa./Benton 8-0
157 #1 Jason Nolf So. Yatesboro, Pa./Kittanning 8-0
165 #9 Vincenzo Joseph Fr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic 6-1
174 Geno Morelli Sr. DuBois, Pa./DuBois 6-1
OR #15 Shakur Rasheed So. Coram, N.Y./Longwood 5-1
184 #2 Bo Nickal So. Allen, Texas/Allen 7-0
197 #13 Matt McCutcheon Jr. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area 7-0
285 #7 Nick Nevills So. Clovis, Calif./Clovis 7-0
ADDITIONAL PENN STATE PARTICIPANTS TBA
2016 RENO TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS / FIELD
PENN STATE
Boise State
Campbell University
Cal Poly
CSU Bakersfield
Clackamas
CSU Pueblo
Eastern Oregon
Menlo
Michigan State
Missouri
Modesto
Montana State Northern
Northern Colorado
Oklahoma State
Oregon State
Pacific University
Simon Fraser
Simpson
Southwestern Oregon
Stanford
Utah Valley
Wyoming
Individual rankings are InterMat, team ranking is InterMat TPI
(Tournament Power Index) as of 12/13
RETHERFORD, NOLF, NICKAL ON BONUS STREAK
The All-American trio of Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157) and Bo Nickal (184) are piling up the bonus point victories thus far this year. Retherford is a perfect 9-0, posting a tech fall in his first match and reeling off eight straight pions since. Nolf is 9-0 thus far with three tech falls and six pins. Nickal is 8-0 on the year, pinning his first seven foes and posting a major in his last outing. The trio is a combined 26-0 with 21 pins, four tech falls and a major.
SIX LION STARTERS HEAD TO RENO UNBEATEN
Six of Penn State's regular dual starters will head to the Reno Tournament of Champions with an unbeaten record. True freshman Nick Suriano is 8-0 with four majors and a pin at 125, junior Zain Retherford is 9-0 with eight pins and a major at 149, sophomore Jason Nolf is 9-0 with six pins and three techs at 157, sophomore Bo Nickal is 8-0 with seven pins and a major at 184, junior Matt McCutcheon is 8-0 with two majors and a pin at 197 and Nick Nevills is 8-0 with three pins and a tech at 285.
NICKAL MAJORS #13 SCHNEIDER TO LEAD LIONS TO 46-0 SHUT OUT WIN OVER BINGHAMTON
Sophomore Bo Nickal dominated #13 Steve Schneider of Binghamton on 12/11, posting an 18-7 major over the talented Bearcat. The victory was the highlight in Penn State's 46-0 shut out victory over BU in front of a sold out Rec Hall crowd.
SURIANO DOWNS #4 CRUZ IN BJC DUAL WIN OVER LEHIGH
True freshman Nick Suriano continued his superb start to the 2016-17 season with a dominating 7-0 win over returning All-American Darian Cruz of Lehigh on 12/4. The win helped spark Penn State to a 30-10 victory over #9 Lehigh in front of over 15,000 fans in this year's BJC Dual. It was Suriano's second win over a returning All-American.
NICKAL AND RETHERFORD CONTINUE PIN PARADE IN BJC DUAL WIN OVER LEHIGH
Sophomore Bo Nickal and junior Zain Retherford each picked up their seventh straight pin in Penn State's 30-10 win over #9 Lehigh in the BJC Dual on 12/4. Nickal pinned Kyle Gentile at the 2:35 mark for his seventh pin in as many matches while Retherford pinned #9 Laike Gardner at the 3:55 mark for his seventh straight pin in his eighth match.
LIONS CROWN 8 AT KEYSTONE CLASSIC; DOMINATE THE FIELD IN PHILLY
Penn State dominated the field in the Keystone Classic on 11/20, crowning eight champs with ten finalists, to win the team title. Nick Suriano (125) went 4-0 to win at 125; Zain Retherford went 5-0 with five pins to win at 149 and claim OW honors; Jason Nolf went 5-0 with three pins and two techs to win at 157; Vincenzo Joseph went 4-0 with two techs, and wins over #5 and #13, to win at 165; Shakur Rasheed went 5-0 and won the 174-pound title with a 2-1 (tb2) victory over teammate Geno Morelli, who took second with a 4-1 mark and three pins; Bo Nickal went 4-0 with four pins to win at 184; Matt McCutcheon went 4-0 to win at 197 and Nick Nevills went 4-0 to win at 285. Kade Moss was runner-up at 141 with a 4-1 mark; Jered Cortez went 4-1 to take third at 133 and Gary Dinmore went 3-2 to take fourth at 149.
SURIANO, MORELLI AND NEVILLS NOTCH BIG WINS TO LEAD LIONS OVER #12 STANFORD
True freshman Nick Suriano dominated #4 Connor Schram at 125, rolling up nearly 2:00 in riding time to post a 3-0 shutout in his Rec Hall dual debut; senior Geno Morelli dominated #13 Jim Wilson to post a 6-3 win at 174; and sophomore Nick Nevills beat #10 Nathan Butler 3-1 at 285 to lead Penn State to a resounding 36-6 win over 12th-ranked Stanford. Penn State won eight of ten bouts in sold out Rec Hall.
NITTANY LIONS SHUTOUT ARMY WEST POINT 45-0
Penn State opened up its season at Army West Point on 11/11 and won all ten bouts. Three Nittany Lions won their Penn State and collegiate debuts: Nick Suriano (125), Jered Cortez (133) and Vincenzo Joseph (165) all got wins in their inaugural action in the blue and white singlet. Jimmy Gulibon posted the night's most impressive win, a 17-6 major over #17 Logan Everett. Matt McCutcheon also notched a 4-2 win over #11 Rocco Caywood at 197.
HALL WINS BEARCAT OPEN; DINMORE SECOND
Ten members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team trekked to Binghamton, N.Y., for the 2016 Bearcat Kaloust Open today. True freshman Mark Hall, wrestling unattached, came away with 174 pound title while red-shirt freshman Gary Dinmore took second at 149. Five members of the team were competing attached, five unattached. Hall rolled to the title at 174 in his first open tournament wrestling unattached at the collegiate level. Hall went 5-0 with two pins, a tech fall and a 12-4 major over Harvard's Josef Johnson in the finals. Dinmore went 4-0 with a major, winning four straight before losing in the finals to a non-collegiate wrestler (meaning the loss does not count on his record). In addition to Dinmore and Hall, eight other Lions wrestled at Binghamton. Red-shirt freshman Dominic Giannangeli went 2-2 at 141 and red-shirt freshman Kellan Stout went 2-1 at 197. Francisco Bisono picked up a win at 174 and upped his season long win total to seven. Bisono went 6-1 at last week's Clarion Open to place third.
BISONO TAKES THIRD AT CLARION OPEN
Red-shirt freshman Francisco Bisono rolled to a 6-1 record at the Clarion Open on 11/6, placing third at 174. Bisono had one pin during his run as well. True freshman Bo Pipher went 2-2 with a pin at 141 as well. Devon Van Cura picked up a win at 184 while true freshmen Devin Schnupp and Brian Friery competed as well.
TEN LIONS RANKED BY INTERMAT AND FLO
Ten Nittany Lions are ranked by InterMat in the latest release by the site. Nick Suriano is #4 at 125, Jered Cortez #14 at 133, Jimmy Gulibon #13 at 141, Zain Retherford #1 at 149, Jason Nolf #1 at 157, Vincenzo Joseph #9 at 165, Shakur Rasheed is #15 at 174, Bo Nickal #2 at 184, Matt McCutcheon #13 at 197 and Nick Nevills #7 at 285. Nine Penn Staters are ranked by Flo Wrestling: Suriano #4, Cortez #14, Retherford #1, Nolf #1, Rasheed #15, Nickal #2, McCutcheon #6 and Nevills #6.
PENN STATE RADIO NETWORK SET FOR 2016-17
The Penn State Wrestling Radio Network has been finalized for the 2016-17 campaign. Forever Media's WRSC-AM 1390 will serve as the flagship station for the network. The Penn State Coaches Show featuring Cael Sanderson, presented by Pepsi, will be carried by Forever Broadcasting as well. Forever Media will air the bulk of the season on WRSC-AM 1390 with select dates tabbed for WQWK-AM 1450. In addition to those two stations WIBF-FM 92.5 Mexico/Lewistown and WDBF-FM 106.3 Mt. Union/Huntingdon will broadcast the full season as well. Jeff Byers will once again serve as the voice of Penn State Wrestling, calling each broadcast mat-side with the Nittany Lions. The Penn State Coaches Show featuring Cael Sanderson, presented by Pepsi, will air on Forever Media as well this year. The one-hour program will take place at Lettermans on East College Ave. in State College nearly every Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. from November 11 through mid-March. Fans are encouraged to attend the program throughout the year. The show will air live on WQWK-AM. Sanderson will be the featured guest for most shows from November 16 through mid-March. In addition to Sanderson, The Penn State Coaches Show will include various coaches from other Penn State teams and athletics administrators. The show is slated for Nov. 16, Nov. 30, Dec. 6, Dec. 14, Jan. 4, Jan. 11, Jan. 18, Jan 25, Feb. 8, Feb. 15, Feb. 22, March 1 and March 8. The Penn State Coaches Show featuring Cael Sanderson, presented by Pepsi, will feature guests answering questions from fans at Lettermans and online. Fans can submit questions to www.GoPSUsports.com/askthecoach. All Penn State wrestling broadcasts this season, both live action and the Penn State Coaches Show featuring Cael Sanderson, will be streamed online for free on GoPSUsports.com via GoPSUNow.