March 15, 2018
CLEVELAND - Penn State wrestling carried its session one momentum right into the evening session, closing out day one with a 9-0 finish. With seven Nittany Lions headed for the quarterfinals, all nine qualifiers are still in action headed toward day two.
Penn State's most consistent contributors continued to deliver, with top-seeded Zain Retherford opening session two pinning Maryland's No. 16 Alfred Bannister at the 2:29 mark.
"I think I wrestled well," Retherford said. "I think I've been working some stuff on top, so I was finally able to get my bow and arrow, I haven't been able to do that in a while so that was fun."
Retherford's pin marked the 53rd of his career to tie the Penn State all-time record, following a round one tech fall. Although it was the pin he wanted in the opening round, for Retherford, in the NCAA Championships it's all about having a short term memory.
"No matter how close the match is or anything like that, just keep rolling one match at a time," Retherford said.
Retherford's 2-0 day didn't come without a few nerves, but the two-time NCAA national champion says nerves are a good thing.
"Nerves is good, it's not a bad thing," Retherford said. "It feels awesome, there's not too many things that I get to do where I kind of feel those nerves. I know that this is a special thing and just making the most out of this opportunity."
NCAA Championships Team
Standings after Session I (Quarterfinal Participants)
1.
- Ohio State - 36 (9)
2.
- Penn State - 28.5 (7)
3.
- Iowa - 27 (3)
4.
- Michigan - 22.5 (5)
5.
- Missouri - 19 (4)
At 174, second-seeded Mark Hall followed an earlier 12-2 major decision with a 21-3 tech fall at the 6:54 mark. Meeting Purdue's Dylan Lydy, Hall shot out to an early first period advantage, widening his advantage turning Lydy twice in the final frame.
"It started quick, I got him right to his back," Hall said. "I wanted to pin him there, I had two times where I had him pretty deep on his back and I have to finish the job but all in all, I've been wrestling really well, getting to my attacks."
No. 5 seed Shakur Rasheed rounded out Penn State's bonus point performances, registering a 14-3 major decision with 3:36 in riding time against UNC's Daniel Chaid.
"Second match, I just kind of had the mindset like I'm going to get it," Rasheed said. "It doesn't matter. I think I showed it out there, I didn't have the best shots, the cleanest shots, but I got it done."
Third-seeded Nick Nevills closed out Penn State's second round matchups defeating NC State's No. 14 Michael Boykin, 5-4 in sudden victory by way of :16 of riding time. Although not exactly pleased with his performance, it was moving on for a chance to compete for his team that was on his mind.
"That was one of the biggest things on my mind besides what was going on in the match because we needed team points and we needed to win and I was just trying to deliver," Nevills said.
Nittany Lions Nick Lee and Corey Keener then came through for the Nittany Lions in the consolation rounds with a pair of decisions.
After a tough start in the first round, Retherford didn't have to say anything to his NCAA Championships roommate in between sessions.
"I'm roommates with Nick Lee on this trip, he's a good kid," Retherford said. "I haven't really said too much to him, I think he knows what to do. If he seemed like he wasn't in a good place or something, maybe I would say something, but I have all the confidence in him and Corey as well."
For Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson, both Lee and Keener are key in keeping the Nittany Lions in the hunt for the team title.
"Yeah we had to stay alive there and who knows tomorrow, we can just keep rolling and get bonus points and get back up on that All-American stand," Sanderson said. "You can't do that if you're out."
Ask any Nittany Lion though and there's no doubting the importance of wrestling well for a full day Friday.
"Tomorrow's the big day, tomorrow's the big point day so these bonus points are really huge in these early rounds but we've got to wrestle," Sanderson said. "Everyone has great matches -we're having fun. We're just competing hard and it's a great team race here but we just want our guys to go out there and be themselves and wrestle hard."
Session three kicks off tomorrow at 11 a.m. in Quicken Loans Arena.
Up Next in Session III
133: Corey Keener, Sr.
- Consolation 2
vs.
Rico Montoya, Northern Colorado
141: #8 seed Nick Lee,
Fr. - Consolation 2
vs.
#10 Mason Smith, Central Michigan
149: #1 seed Zain Retherford,
Sr. - Quarterfinals
vs.
#8 Boo Lewallen, Oklahoma State
157: #3 seed Jason
Nolf, Jr. - Quarterfinals
vs.
#6 Michael Kemerer, Iowa
165: #3 seed Vincenzo
Joseph, So. - Quarterfinals
vs.
#11 Isaiah White, Nebraska
174: #2 seed Mark Hall,
So. - Quarterfinals
vs.
#7 Taylor Lujan, Northern Iowa
184: #1 seed Bo Nickal,
Jr. - Quarterfinals
vs.
#9 Max Dean, Cornell
197: #5 seed Shakur
Rasheed, Jr. - Second Round
vs.
#4 Michael Macchiavello, NC State
285: #3 seed Nick
Nevills, Jr. - Second Round
vs.
#6 Amar Dhesi, Oregon State