UNIVERSITY PARK — The Bloomsburg Huskies have no seniors, just two nationally-ranked wrestlers in their lineup and will have to deal with a rowdy Rec Hall crowd today as they face an uphill battle against defending NCAA champion Penn State.
That doesn’t mean No. 1 Penn State will be underestimating the Huskies, a team the Nittany Lions beat 41-3 last season, however.
“You can’t go out and take anyone lightly,” Penn State’s David Taylor said. “They’ve got a couple of good guys, their (149-and 157-pound wrestlers) are both pretty good guys, so they’ve got to be ready to go, Dylan (Alton) and Frank (Molinaro). But for the most part, it’s just a good chance for us to go out in front of a lot of people and just kind of prove the stuff we’ve been working on in practice and get the season underway.”
While the experienced, three-time All-American Molinaro will be ready for his opponent, likely Bloomsburg’s Bryce Busler, Penn State coach Cael Sanderson will be keeping a close eye on Alton’s bout and a few others.
Penn State will likely send a total of five wrestlers to the mat who will either be competing in their first collegiate dual bouts or their first in a Nittany Lion singlet in Rec Hall.
Alton, who redshirted last season, is one of them.
“I think they’re excited,” Sanderson said of his newcomers. “And we wouldn’t wrestle somebody that we didn’t believe was motivated by that type of situation, versus being negatively affected. ... There usually aren’t too many surprises. If there’s a surprise out there on the mat, then we’re not really doing our job as coaches to prepare them.”
Joining Alton in their Nittany Lion debuts will likely be freshman Nico Megaludis at 125, junior transfer Derek Reber at 133, freshman Morgan McIntosh at 197 and redshirt freshman Sam Sherlock at 141.
Sherlock locked up the final spot in the lineup when he beat teammate Bryan Pearsall two-out- of-three bouts last Saturday.
“I won the spot for now, but it’s going to be a battle all year,” Sherlock said.
The two lightweights have been neck-and-neck in their time together at Penn State. Good friends, Sherlock and Pearsall lived with one another all summer in State College.
They often work out together and are usually paired up in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex during practice.
Sherlock, the shorter of the two wrestlers, insists he’s better on his feet while Pearsall is the more dangerous grappler on the mat.
“There’s been days where I’m turning him every which way and there’s days where he’s beating up on me,” Pearsall said. “I can’t really tell you what would happen if we wrestled 10 times. Just because we’re that close, I don’t think it would be a 5-5 split, but it can go either way and it’s been going on now for about two years. It’s good to have that kind of competition.”
The Nittany Lions also will get a taste of real competition from someone other than teammates as they unveil their NCAA and Big Ten Championship banners before the dual begins.
Junior Quentin Wright joked that he wasn’t aware there would be a banner-raising ceremony. Perhaps that’s his way of keeping focused on winning another individual national championship and not basking in the glow from last year’s title run.
“This year’s a new year,” the Bald Eagle Area graduate said. “We’ve got to do the same things, win another, get the national title this year. And that’s what we’re focused on every day and starting this weekend against Bloomsburg.”
