UNIVERSITY PARK — For the third time in as many dual meets, the Penn State wrestling team swept the five heaviest weight classes, not once leaving the overall outcomes of those duals in question.
It’s been a dominant run for the No. 3 Nittany Lions (6-1, 2-1), who will complete a three-match road slate with a 2 p.m. dual against Wisconsin (5-4, 0-2) at UW Field House in Madison, Wis., this afternoon. The dominance started with a loss, however.
Since they lost their first Big Ten dual of the season to No. 4 Minnesota in sluggish fashion — the Gophers pushed the pace, eventually beating Penn State 23-14 on Nov. 20 — the Nittany Lions have regrouped and are hitting their collective stride at the season’s midpoint. With the Badgers up next and a showdown with No. 2 Iowa looming, Penn State has shown little evidence of weakness thus far.
Penn State has outscored its last five opponents 182-27. Including duals with two nationally-ranked teams, Penn State wrestlers have won 42 of the last 50 individual bouts and have earned bonus points in 29 of those matches.
“I think we’re more mature,” Penn State junior Quentin Wright said. “Mentally, we’re getting into the concept of wrestling hard, grinding out matches, because they’re all tough guys and having a good test with Minnesota really helps show you where the weaknesses are and the things that you need to get better on. In that aspect, we’ve gotten a lot better, but we’re still wrestling the same way. Minnesota allowed us to see a lot of the weaknesses and the areas we need to work on as a team and individually.”
And the Lions have made good on their early season promise to improve.
Wright, for one, has broken out of the funk he was in early. His last loss came on Dec. 9 to Lehigh’s then- No. 1 Robert Hamlin. Since then, the defending 184- pound national champion has racked up six pins, a technical fall, two decisions and a Southern Scuffle championship for himself.
“Quentin looked good,” Penn State assistant caoch Aaron Anspach told the Penn State Sports Network after the Northwestern dual. “He’s getting to his underhooks, getting to the attack positions he needs to be in. It’s just exciting to see Quentin because when he’s 100 percent, he’s a dangerous wrestler and he’s fun to watch.”
While Wright’s been on a tear, all of the team’s dual wins have been clinched before he’s even stepped on the mat, thanks in large part to the masterful seasons senior Frank Molinaro and sophomores David Taylor and Ed Ruth are having.
All three are undefeated. All three won their respective weight classes at the Southern Scuffle and all are — on paper — heavily favored against their Wisconsin counterparts they’ll likely face today.
No. 1 Taylor will face fellow Ohio product, No. 14 - ranked Ben Jordan at 165. Against Northwestern, Taylor beat Pierce Harger, another talented Ohio wrestler Taylor was familiar with.
“I grew up wrestling with (Jordan),” Taylor said. “(we went to) the same high school for a couple of years, so it’s the same thing.”
No. 1 Molinaro will face No. 9 Cole Schmitt, a junior, at 149, while No. 2 Ed Ruth will get freshman Frank Cousins at 174.
While Molinaro is the most experienced of Penn State’s ranked contingent, Anspach said Ruth and Taylor have wrestled like seasoned veterans so far this year as opposed to the level at which one might expect from sophomores.
“I think those guys, they’re ahead of their class right now as far as those weight classes go. And truthfully, I think they’re their own enemies,” Anspach said of Taylor and Ruth. “They’re going to wrestle as good as they want to out there. The only one that’s really going to stop them is themselves. As long as they keep going out there looking to dominate like (they did against Northwestern), they’re going to do pretty well this year.”
Wisconsin will likely send three wrestlers with losing records to the mat today and two others that are .500 on the season.
The Badgers have lost four straight duals after starting the season 5-0.
That doesn’t mean Penn State is planning for an easy match, however.
“We’re thinking about Wisconsin right now because they’re not a bad team,” Freshman Nico Megaludis said. “Everyone in the Big Ten’s tough, so we’re still on the road. We’re not back home preparing for Iowa yet. We’re on the road preparing for Wisconsin and I feel we’ll be ready.”
