UNIVERSITY PARK — Quentin Wright and his Penn State wrestling teammates kept their eyes peeled last Sunday at the Nittany Lion Open.
They were looking for notable wrestlers wearing brown singlets, but none of the ranked members of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks entered the tournament.
Instead, Wright and his teammates had to wait a few days. Now they will get their matchups with a talented bunch of Lehigh wrestlers tonight when the No. 5 Nittany Lions (1-1, 0-1) take on the No. 10 Mountain Hawks (5-2, 1-0 EIWA) at Stabler Arena in the 100th meeting between the two teams.
“They didn’t bring any of their all-stars, starters or really good guys,” Wright said of Lehigh’s participation in the NLO. “Definitely, as a team that’s what you want. Especially now, you want to get some of those matches (against good guys) in your season that really help you out to see where you’re at.”
Penn State needs a measuring stick of sorts.
The Nittany Lions have had a relatively calm opening month of the season.
In November, Penn State wrestled just two duals — one against an overmatched Bloomsburg squad — and their own long open tournament.
The Nittany Lion Open, thankfully for Penn State, provided plenty of opportunities to wrestle, with most of Penn State’s starters getting in at least five bouts.
“It feels better to have more matches under our belts,” 157-pound redshirt freshman Dylan Alton said. “We’re just trying our new things we’re working on and just getting out there and competing, it’s what we do best. We’re looking forward to that.”
The competition the Mountain Hawks provide could be steep.
Last season, Penn State and Lehigh dueled early in the season, each team winning five bouts. But the Nittany Lions pulled off a 21-17 win by earning bonus points in two bouts.
While the Nittany Lions gave up two major decisions at 133 and 197 pounds, they got pins from Andrew Alton at 141 and David Taylor at 157.
“Bonus point are always a factor. I think that was the difference last year if I remember correctly,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “We were wrestling really well and we were really fired up and I think we ended up going out, losing the last three, and that’s never a fun thing. They’ve got some great guys at the upper weights.”
And it’ll be no different tonight. Lehigh’s lineup is top heavy, with ranked grapplers at 165, 184, 197 and 285 pounds.
All of those bouts figure to be some of the most enticing of the evening, as Penn State will also likely send a ranked wrestler to the mat in all of those weight classes.
No. 1 Taylor will likely draw No. 9 Brandon Hatchett, a senior, at 165 while fifth-ranked Wright will face No. 1 Robert Hamlin, a junior, at 184. Wright defeated Hamlin 5-2 for the 184-pound NCAA title in April at Philadelphia.
Penn State freshman Morgan McIntosh, ranked No. 10 at 197 pounds, will face No. 7 Joe Kennedy before No. 8 Cameron Wade takes on Lehigh’s No. 3 Zach Rey at heavyweight.
“We have guys that are capable of scoring bonus points and they need to do that,” Sanderson said. “And it’s the same guys that are always scoring bonus points. The guys that are All-Americans, and national finalists.”
Taylor and Penn State’s top-ranked 149- pounder Frank Molinaro lead the team with 35 bonus points apiece, while Wright and Wade have each accrued 31 so far.
The Nittany Lions are hoping to draw more from this road trip than just a win, however.
With five wrestlers embarking on their first trip with the team, Sanderson said he sees plenty of room for team bonding.
“I’ve never been on a road trip with the team so I look forward to that and just bonding with the team more and hanging out with the guys,” Dylan Alton said.
Penn State will stay in a hotel prior to the Lehigh dual and then return to State College where they will face West Virginia on Sunday.
“It’s good to get on the road,” Sanderson said. “It’s good for your team just to bond and spend some time together and it’s never a bad thing to know when your guys are going to sleep.”
