UNIVERSITY PARK — If there’s one thing Quentin Wright wants to accomplish this season, the Penn State wrestler and defending 184-pound national champion wants to lead his team in pins by the end of the year.
One match into the season, it’s a three-horse race, although Wright and his teammates have plenty of reasons to believe the field will grow as it unfolds.
With pins from Nico Megaludis, David Taylor and Wright, and wins in six of the other seven bouts, the No. 1- ranked Nittany Lions cruised to a 39-3 win over Bloomsburg at Rec Hall on Sunday afternoon. Penn State lost just one bout on an afternoon, as Nittany Lion fans watched their team celebrate last season’s Big Ten and National Championship victories by raising banners recognizing those accomplishments high into the building’s rafters.
“We’ve got 10 studs, 35 studs on the team and everybody did a real good job out there,” Wright said.
The biggest question surrounding this version of the Penn State wrestling lineup was how five newcomers — four freshman and one junior transfer — would respond to wrestling their first bouts inside Rec Hall, crammed with more than 6,000 fans.
No. 18 Megaludis, a freshman, provided a swift answer, when he pinned Bloomsburg sophomore Sean Boylan 2:15 into their bout at 125.
“Nico, he had a very tough opponent and just kind of went out there and hit a couple of nice take-downs and got a pin on a tough kid,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said of Megaludis’ match. “That’s a great thing to see, not only a true freshman, but he’s the first guy out of the shoot there and that just kind of gives you an idea of the four years we’re going to have with him. Having a leadoff man that’s going to wrestle as hard as he does, set the tone attitude- wise, that’s a big deal for us.”
Junior transfer Derek Reber dropped a close match at 133 to Nick Wilcox, who used a third-period reversal to squeak out a 2-0 decision.
Sanderson said it looked like Reber, who transferred from Bucknell, was a bit nervous.
“He’s got some good things, he’s got to just keep doing what he’s doing and just bring some more fire with him,” Sanderson said. “I wouldn’t say it was just a nervous thing. His opponent did a nice job and won the match. It was back and forth. He could’ve come out on top, it was a close match, but he’s not too excited about it.”
Redshirt freshman Sam Sherlock earned a 10-5 decision win over Bloomsburg freshman Matt Rappo at 141 in comeback fashion.
The two had met before, when Sherlock was a junior at West Mifflin High school. Sherlock won that bout and said he used what he knew about Rappo from that bout to prepare for this one.
But Sherlock found himself down quickly when Rappo used an early first-period takedown and second- period escape to build a 3-1 lead. Sherlock went on the offensive in the second, notching an early low double- leg takedown before Rappo would escape. Moments later, the two would scramble on the edge of the mat with Sherlock turning it into a takedown for himself. He’d lead the rest of the way.
“I felt good coming out there,” Sherlock said. “I got a nice shot off and got caught in a scramble, but I knew I couldn’t give up there. I had to keep pressuring the guy with everything to come back.”
Top-ranked Molinaro and redshirt freshman Dylan Alton would combine to put 27 points up on their respective opponents at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively. Molinaro won by technical fall, 17-0 in 5:05 over Bryce Busler while No. 12 Alton held on for a 10-8 win in his first collegiate dual match against Huskie junior Frank Hickman.
No. 1 David Taylor turned in the fastest fall to that point when he pinned Kevin Hartnett in 2:22 on a first-period tilt to give Penn State a 23-3 lead.
But Wright would outdo Taylor two bouts later.
After second-ranked Ed Ruth turned in a 10-4 win over Mike Dessino at 174, Wright needed just 1:55 to fasten Bloomsburg freshman Mike MIrra to the mat.
“My goal is to be at the top of the leaderboard in pins for the team,” Wright, ranked No. 1 at 184 pounds, said. “I like to pin people. But I’ve got quite a few to catch up to Andrew Alton (18) from last year.”
Freshman Morgan McIntosh, who is ranked 10th at 197, rounded out the newbies wrestling their first bouts in Rec Hall with a 6-0 win against Richard Perry before No. 5 Cameron Wade won by major decision, 8-0 over Zac Walsh at 285 pounds.
McIntosh, who was rooted on by fans chanting “Mor-gan, Mor-gan, Morgan,” through the first period, racked up 3:52 of riding time, a number he was proud of afterward since he’s been focused on improving his game from the top position early this year.
While the Nittany Lions earned bonus points in half of the afternoon’s bouts, Sanderson said he thought his wrestlers would’ve liked to add more.
“I think some of the guys were a little frustrated, would’ve liked to have scored more points, but Bloomsburg’s a tough team,” Sanderson said. “That’s why we wrestle them. They’re one of the better coached teams in the country and they did a really nice job in tie-ups and controlling the tie-ups. It’s a team that really gives us an idea of what we need to work on.”
Notes: Penn State gave up just one takedown to the Huskies. ... Sanderson said Wade has gained a bit of weight while Wright and Molinaro estimated Wade is close to 285 pounds. ... Sanderson said Wade hasn’t experienced any setbacks related to partially tearing his MCL during last season’s NCAA Tournament, an injury which did not require surgery. ... Sunday’s announced Rec Hall attendance was 6,059. ... Six Nittany Lions won individual championships at Saturday’s East Stroudsburg Open. Freshman Matt Brown, wrestling attached for Penn State, went 5-0 at 174 while unattached wrestlers — freshmen Jordan Conaway (125) and Luke Frey (141), sophomores Andrew Alton (149) and James Vollrath (157) — and redshirt freshman Jonathan Gingrich (285) all won individual championships for Penn State. Gingrich is a former Bald Eagle Area standout. ... Sunday’s Big Ten opener against Minnesota at Rec Hall will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network. The dual, scheduled for noon, is nearly sold out with only a few standing
Travis Johnson can be reached at 231-4629.
