Widening the Gap
2011-12: A quick look back at Cael Sanderson's third year at Penn State, a dominant campaign
"It was over before the end..."
Heading into a season as defending NCAA Champions was, well, unprecedented at least in modern wrestling history for Penn State. Many thought Philadelphia was a fluke, an accidental storm of events, including being close to home, that wouldn't – just couldn't – be duplicated.
As the season unfolded, it became clear that something on a grander scale of season-to-season success was happening in State College. The 2011-12 season served as notice: Cael Sanderson's Nittany Lion wrestling program was not going away.
A Championship season began in Rec Hall with a resounding 39-3 win over Bloomsburg on Nov. 13. But a week later, Penn State hosted #4 Minnesota in a rare early-season Big Ten dual. A couple upset losses at key weights ensued and Pen State lost 23-14. While many around the country pointed to that dual meet as proof of Penn State's fleeting nature, inside the Nittany Lion locker room it was business as usual. A loss…so…what do you do? Train, work, enjoy the sport and continue moving forward. That's exactly what Penn State did.
The Nittany Lions reeled off three wins to close out December. Penn State won at #10 Lehigh (34-6) and at Lock Haven (50-0). In between those two road duals, Penn State hosted West Virginia on Dec. 11 and rolled to a 34-6 victory. A crowd of 6,078 witnessed the dual meet, just shy of a sellout. To date, Rec Hall has never seen a non-sellout crowd. That is a span of nearly a decade.
The Nittany Lions rolled on to Chattanooga, Tenn., the new home of the Southern Scuffle and dominated the field as they claimed their second-straight Scuffle crown. Frank Molinaro (149), David Taylor (165), Ed Ruth (174) and Quentin Wright (184) all won titles while Dylan Alton (157) took second. At 174, Ruth won his title with a hard-fought 6-3 win over a talented redshirt freshman, one Matt Brown of Penn State. The match was competitive, Ruth went on to legendary success…as did Brown…it was a sign of things to come for the young Utah native.
Penn State's Big Ten season ensued in January with three straight road wins by a combined score of 116-9. Penn State won at Michigan State (36-6), at Northwestern (38-3) and at Wisconsin (43-0). The Nittany Lions found themselves ranked fifth-nationally and hosting #2 Iowa in Rec Hall on Jan. 22, 2012. Penn State welcomed the Hawkeyes in front of a sellout crowd of 6,796. That dual was the first of what is now 55-straight sellouts in Rec Hall. The Hawkeyes bolted out to an early 12-0 lead, seemingly on their way to what some expected to be the blowout win. The 2011-12 season was defined in the next seven bouts as the Nittany Lions won the last seven match-ups in the dual…and never looked back all season long. Molinaro beat Mike Kelly, Alton beat Nick Moore, Taylor beat Mike Evans, Ruth majored Ethan Lofthouse, Wright beat Vinnie Wagner, true freshman Morgan McIntosh posted a 5-3 (sv) win over Grant Gambrall and Cameron Wade shutout Blake Raising. The Lions posted the 22-12 win and the rest of the season wasn't even close.
Penn State closed out its dual meet slate with five more wins by a combined score of 171-31. The Lions hammered #5 Ohio State (34-9), #7 Nebraska on the road (31-6), #12 Michigan (34-7), Utah Valley on the road 39-3 in front of a UVU record crowd, and #9 Pitt (33-6). The Lions ended the campaign with a 13-1 dual meet record and a 7-1 Big Ten mark, claiming a share of their first-ever Big Ten Regular Season (dual meet) Championship.
Penn State travelled to Purdue University for the 2012 Big Ten Championship and dominated the field on its way to a second straight Big Ten title. The Lions outdistanced second-place Minnesota by 15 points and third place Iowa by over 20. The Nittany Lions crowned three champions as well. Molinaro won at 149 while Taylor and Ruth each won their second-straight crowns (Taylor won at 165 and Ruth at 174). The 3-0 showing in the finals capped off a tournament that saw nine Nittany Lions punch their tickets to the NCAA tournament. Joining Molinaro, Taylor and Ruth in St. Louis were true freshman Nico Megaludis (125), Frank Martellotti (133), Alton (157), Wright (184), McIntosh (197) and Wade (285).
Sanderson's squad travelled to St. Louis on a roll and the train powered through the Scottrade Center without slowing down. The Nittany Lions crowned three champions at the event and left St. Louis with six All-Americans. Penn State won the team crown going away, out-distancing second place Minnesota by 25.5 points and third-place Iowa by nearly 40.
Penn State had five finalists that year in St. Louis and came away with three champions. Alton, who was the seventh-seed at the tournament, came back from a heartbreaking sudden victory loss in the quarterfinals to wrestle all the way back to third place. Alton went 6-1 at the tournament, took third at 157, and ended his season early on Saturday with a 30-6 overall record. Alton's success as well as wins from Martellotti, McIntosh and Wade, essentially assured the Lions their second-straight NCAA title before the finals began.
Saturday night, with the team crown in hand, Penn State welcomed new champions but also saw some goals unmet. The mixed emotions of such wide-ranging success combined with the sting of seeing a teammate come up short in the finals always makes for a flurry of feelings. Penn State's three title winners were bookended by teammates who earned runner-up status.
Megaludis, the true freshman 125-pounder from Pittsburgh, entered the tournament as the 10th-seed. He won his first four matches to advance to the first of many finals for the Lion legend. Megaludis majored Wyoming's Michael Martinez in round one before dominating #7 Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma 7-3 in round two. That win set up a quarterfinal match-up with #2 Zach Sanders of Minnesota. Exacting revenge for an early season loss, Megaludis used three takedowns and an escape to roll to a lopsided 7-4 win, clinch All-America laurels as a true freshman. He then took on #6 Frank Perrelli of Cornell in the national semifinals and took the Big Red senior through two sudden victory periods before prevailing 3-2 with a second tie-breaker rideout. Megaludis lost in the national finals and left St. Louis as an NCAA runner-up in his first trip to nationals. He ended his season with a 28-8 mark.
Wright, the junior defending NCAA Champion, rolled through his first four matches to reach the national finals for the second straight year. He majored North Carolina's Thomas Ferguson and #11 Ben Clymer of Hofstra in the second round. Wright pinned #3 Ben Bennett of Central Michigan at the 2:35 mark and took care of #2 Robert Hamlin of Lehigh 3-2 in the national semifinals, using a first-period takedown to claim the win. Wright fell short in the national finals, falling in sudden victory after going on offense for over 7:00 but finishing the tournament with 4-1 mark, as a three-time All-American and the 2012 NCAA runner-up. Wright ended his junior year with a 30-4 overall record.
Molinaro, a senior with one final shot at an elusive national title, entered the tournament as a three-time All-American. Finishing as national runner-up a year ago, Molinaro entered the tournament unbeaten and as the top-seed. He was untouchable in St. Louis. Molinaro rolled to a 5-0 mark and his first NCAA title. He majored Chris Villalonga of Cornell and beat Oregon State's Scott Sakaguchi in the first two rounds. Molinaro majored #8 Eric Grajales of Michigan in the quarters, becoming a four-time All-American with the win. Molinaro then posted a 5-0 victory over Hofstra's Justin Accordino in the national semifinals to advance to the national title bout once again. Molinaro met Minnesota's Dylan Ness for the fourth time that season and continued to dominate the talented Gopher. Molinaro led 2-0 thanks to a late takedown in the first period. He added a second period escape and riding time to roll to a 4-1 win and the NCAA title. Molinaro ended a perfect senior season with a 33-0 record and a 121-29 career record.
Taylor also entered the tournament unbeaten as the top-seed. Vanquishing the ghosts of an upset loss in the prior season's finals, Taylor capped off a perfect sophomore campaign with the 165-pound title, going 5-0 with four pins and a tech fall in a simply dazzling performance. He opened up the tournament with three first-period pins over Corey Lear of Bucknell (1:40), Brandon Wright of Chattanooga (1:51) and #8 Robert Kokesh of Nebraska (0:29) in the quarterfinals. Taylor pinned #4 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Clarion at the 4:46 mark in the national semifinals to advance to his second straight national title bout. This time, Taylor left no doubt. He rolled over #11 Brandon Hatchett of Lehigh in the NCAA finals, posting a 22-7 technical fall at the 5:55 mark. Taylor's title allowed him to end the season with a 32-0 record. He was named the 2012 NCAA Championship Outstanding Wrestler and the 2012 NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler of the Year.
Ruth, who's advance to a possible title a year ago was undone by an injury – one that he quickly came from and wrestled back to third place an freshman All-America laurels – capped off Penn State's third individual unbeaten season with the title at 174. Ruth, who was also an unbeaten top-seed beginning the tournament, was as unstoppable as Molinaro and Taylor. The Harrisburg native won the first of three straight NCAA titles with a 5-0 mark including two pins and two majors. He pinned Rider's Jim Resnick (1:43) and Missouri's Dorian Henderson (1:25) in the first two rounds. He took down #9 Nick Heflin of Ohio State in the quarterfinals and then dominated #4 Logan Storley of Minnesota in the NCAA semifinals. Ruth, making his first appearance in the finals, made a statement against the wrestler who beat him by injury default a year ago in the NCAA tournament. The Lion sophomore dominated #3 Nick Amuchasetgui of Stanford in the NCAA finals, by a wide margin, in a 13-2 major decision. Ruth ended his perfect sophomore season with a 31-0 overall record, two steps along a path that would lead to Nittany Lion icon status.
The Lions left St. Louis victorious as a team, with three champions and six All-Americans, and the knowledge that every grappler who competed in the Scottrade Center except Molinaro, would be back to continue the team's progress towards dynasty.
Retrospectacle…
Final Results (13-1, 7-1 B1G, 1st B1G, 1st NCAA)
Nov. 13 BLOOMSBURG 39-3 W
Nov. 20 #4 MINNESOTA* 14-23 L
Dec. 9 at #10 Lehigh 24-12 W
Dec. 11 WEST VIRGINIA 34-6 W
Dec. 18 at Lock Haven 50-0 W
Jan. 1-2 Southern Scuffle at UT-Chattanooga 1st
Jan. 8 at Michigan State* 36-6 W
Jan. 13 at #17 Northwestern* 38-3 W
Jan. 15 at Wisconsin* 43-0 W
Jan. 22 #2 IOWA* 22-12 W
Jan. 29 #5 OHIO STATE* 34-9 W
Feb. 3 at #7 Nebraska* 31-6 W
Feb. 5 #12 MICHIGAN* 34-7 W
Feb. 11 at Utah Valley 39-3 W
Feb. 19 #9 PITTSBURGH* 33-6 W
March 3-4 2012 Big Ten Championships at Purdue 1st
March 15-17 2012 NCAA Championships at St. Louis 1st
* Big Ten Dual
Signature Wins
-- Penn State shut out Big Ten foe Wisconsin 43-0 in Madison on Jan. 15, 2012, marking the first time in over 50 years that the Badgers had suffered a shut-out and also marked Penn State's first shut-out in a Big Ten dual.
-- The Nittany Lions downed #2 Iowa 22-12 in a packed Rec Hall on Jan. 22, 2012, as nearly 6,800 standing room only fans filled Rec Hall. The dual meet began a streak of consecutive Rec Hall sellouts that continues to this day.
-- Penn State clinched a share of the 2012 Big Ten Regular Season Championship with a 34-7 home dual win over Michigan on Feb. 5, 2012. The win was Penn State's seventh Big Ten dual win of the year, setting a school record for conference wins in a season.
Highlights
-- Penn State averaged 6,481 fans per dual meet, selling out all but two of its seven home dates with every single event having over 6,000 fans fill Rec Hall.
-- The Nittany Lions ran away with the 2012 Southern Scuffle title, outdistancing Minnesota by 14 points to win its second straight Scuffle crown.
-- Penn State's 7-1 Big Ten dual meet mark set a school record for conference wins in a season and gave the Lions a share of the 2012 Big Ten Regular Season title.
-- The Nittany Lions rolled to a second straight Big Ten Championship, running away with the conference crown at Purdue. The Lions had three champions and notched 149.0 points to second place Minnesota's 134.0.
-- PSU won the 2012 NCAA Championship in St. Louis' Scottrade Center on March 15-17. The title was Penn State's second straight, making the Lions only the fourth team in NCAA history to win back-to-back titles.
-- Penn State had six All-Americans, all of whom finished in the top three and five of whom return.
-- Senior Frank Molinaro, sophomore David Taylor and sophomore Ed Ruth each capped off stunning undefeated seasons by winning NCAA titles at their respective weights. Molinaro (149), Taylor (165) and Ruth (174) gave Penn State a 3-2 mark in the national finals with true freshman Nico Megaludis (125) and junior Quentin Wright (184) finishing as National Runners-Up.
-- Penn State's team title was the school's third overall.
-- Sanderson was named 2012 Big Ten Coach and InterMat's 2012 National Coach of the Year.
-- David Taylor was named the 2012 Hodge Trophy winner as the National Wrestler of the Year.
