April 29, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.ââ'¬" The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club were well represented at the U.S. Marine Corps National Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas this weekend. All-time Nittany Lion great David Taylor won the U.S. National Championship and current Nittany Lion true freshman Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn.) earned United World Wrestling U.S. National Runner-Up status.
With each wrestler representing the NLWC, Taylor led the way with a dominant run to the 86 kilogram national title. Taylor posted a 4-0 mark and earned the right to take part in USA Wrestling's Final X State College event. Taylor was nearly untouchable. He won 8-0 in the finals and outscored his competition 42-2, posting wins of 8-0, 10-, 10-, 2-0 and 12-2.
Rec Hall will host part of the event on June 16, 2018, at 6 p.m. The event will determine the 2018 U.S. Senior World Teams in men's and women's freestyle wrestling, featuring the nation's best Olympic-caliber athletes in these disciplines. Tickets may be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY or by visiting the BJC Ticket Office on Monday through Friday's from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Current Lion assistant coach Jake Varner returned to the mat at 125 kg advanced to the national title bout before taking his first loss. He went 3-1 to earn the runner-up's Silver Medal at the event while former Nittany Lion great Nico Megaludis went 4-1 at 61 kg to earn the U.S. National Bronze Medal. Current Lion red-shirt freshman Luke Gardner (Pottsville, Pa.) competed at the senior level at 70 kg and went 1-2. Josh Rodriguez, an NLWC resident athlete, posted a 2-2 mark at 57 kg as well.
Berge roared to the national finals at 70 kg in the UWW event before losing 2-2 in the finals. He had four technical falls and an 8-0 shut-out on his way to earning UWW National Runner-Up honors. Fellow true freshman Jarod Verkleeren (Greensburg, Pa.) went 2-2 at 70 kg as well.
Also earning gold for the NLWC in Greco-Roman was resident athlete Ben Provisor. Provisor, a two-time Olympian now wrestling out of the NLWC, won his third U.S. Open National Championship, this time at 87 kg. Provisor went 3-0 to claim yet another national championship.
The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club also earned RTC Cup Runner-Up honors for its overall team performance.
The 2017-18 Penn State wrestling season is sponsored by The Family Clothesline. 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. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.