STATE COLLEGE — The stakes will be the same. The strategies will be similar. The lineups will look completely different.
When No. 2 Iowa arrives in Happy Valley to wrestle No. 3 Penn State (7-1, 3-1) on Sunday, the squads that take the mat for each team in Rec Hall will hardly resemble the teams that tangled en route to a 22-13 Iowa win last season.
Both teams have replaced key cogs with fresh faces. The Hawkeyes (9-1, 4-0) are expected to send five different wrestlers to the mat than what they did last season and Penn State is no different.
“I think it’s an advantage for both teams, that we haven’t seen each other at all whatsoever,” Penn State junior Quentin Wright said. “I think in a sense, each team has an advantage where we really don’t know what the other one’s made of. This weekend will be a good opportunity to see that.”
For Iowa, freshmen Mike Kelly, No. 6 Mike Evans, Jeremy Fahler and No. 12 Bobby Telford are expected to get starting nods at 149, 165, 184 and 285 pounds, respectively. It will be the first time any of them have wrestled against Penn State in a dual meet.
The Hawkeyes could send another freshman to the mat in Nick Moore to take usual starter Derek St. John’s place in the lineup at 157 pounds. St. John, the nation’s No. 2 157-pounder, has not wrestled since Dec. 8, but will travel with the Hawkeyes to State College. St. John is officially considered doubtful by the Hawkeyes’ coaching staff, however.
Penn State’s lineup will look just as foreign to the Hawkeyes. No. 8 Nico Megaludis, Frank Martellotti, Bryan Pearsall, No. 8 Dylan Alton and No. 12 Morgan McIntosh will offer Iowa different opponents from last season at 125, 133, 141, 157 and 197 pounds, respectively. None of them have wrestled in a dual meet with Iowa before.
The onus will be on Megaludis, Martellotti and Pearsall to improve upon Penn State’s performances at the lower weights from last season.
Then, Iowa swept all three bouts and earned crucial bonus points with a fall at 125.
Because they haven’t wrestled the Hawkeyes yet, doesn’t mean Penn State’s new faces are unknown commodities. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
“I definitely know that they know what I do,” Megaludis said. “They know that I wrestle hard because I’ve wrestled (No. 2 Matt McDonough) in a practice before. I knew some of the Iowa coaches and they know how I wrestle.”
Penn State’s No. 1 149-pounder Frank Molinaro said it would be unwise to count on anonymity of certain wrestlers in relation to their opponents to provide any sort of advantage for either team.
“They’ve got a great coaching staff over there, too. They’re breaking down every weight class,” Molinaro said. “They’ve probably got six or seven coaches that are working individually with every single guy, watching film, FloWrestling. As far as that goes, no advantage there.
“It’s more just who can get their guys the freshest and who can get their guys the most potential out of them come Sunday.”
Coming in fresh
After a furious stretch in which the Lions traveled to Michigan State and back then headed back to the Midwest for duals against Northwestern and Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions finally get a day off today.
During that span of road duals, the Lions dominated, losing just two of thirty bouts, one of those coming by disqualification.
“Definitely the best that I’ve ever been a part of my five years here,” Molinaro said of the team’s recent road trips. “Just shutting people out, I don’t even think we did that last year to any team (on the road). That’s huge.”
Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes have hit the travel- heavy portion of their schedule. Iowa will face No. 7 Ohio State (8-2, 2-2) tonight before trekking to State College.
Molinaro was quick to point out, however, that the Lions had a Friday off while No. 4 Minnesota wrestled that night before coming into Rec Hall and beating Penn State in November.
“It works both ways, but I think it’s probably going to be an advantage for me not wrestling Friday and staying fresh all week,” Molinaro said.
A chance to see McIntosh
Hailing from as far away as Santa Ana, Calif., McIntosh doesn’t usually have a lot of family members in attendance at Rec Hall to watch him compete.
The Penn State freshman had two important spectators watching him from the stands at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena and Wisconsin’s UW Field House, however.
McIntosh’s parents flew into Illinois, caught McIntosh’s 6-4 win over the Wildcats’ John Schoen, then drove up to Madison to see their son’s 7-3 win over Jackson Hein.
“My dad’s actually from Madison, he grew up there so I got to see some other family too, it was nice,” McIntosh said.
Previously, McIntosh’s dad made the cross-country trip to State College for the Nittany Lion Open.
Goals, goals, goals
When Molinaro came to Penn State, he set out to accomplish three goals. Win 100 matches. Check.
Become a four-time All-American. Win a national championship. He feels like he’s getting closer and closer to those last two every day.
It was never a goal of Molinaro’s to dominate the way he has in this, his final season anchoring the Penn State lineup.
The country’s top-ranked 149-pounder has yet to be beaten this season. He’s 19-0 on the year and has shut out opponents 10 times.
“It’s just kind of reassuring to me that my whole game plan is working,” Molinaro said. I want to take guys down, wear them down and turn them, so to have 10 shutouts already, it makes me at least know I’m having some progress and am headed in the right direction.”
Good week for Ruth, Ruggear
For his dominant efforts against Northwestern and Wisconsin, Penn State 174-pounder No. 2 Ed Ruth was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week.
Ruth earned technical falls in both of his weekend bouts, one of them coming via an 18-3 score over No. 9 Lee Munster.
Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore Nick Ruggear brought home a third-place finish on Jan. 15 at the Floyd ‘Shorty’ Hitchcock Invitational at Millersville University.
Ruggear, who was Penn State’s starter at 197 last season, finished 5-1 at 285 pounds on Sunday.
Travis Johnson can be reached at 231-4629.
