No. 1 Penn State wrestling pins win No. 40 in a row on Kerry McCoy’s Maryland Terrapins

Penn State’s wrestling team may want to look into trademarking “Pin State.”

The Nittany Lions pinned six wrestlers — five in a row — in a 47-3 demolishing of Maryland’s squad, which was coached by Penn State alum Kerry McCoy, on Sunday inside the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md.

It was the 40th straight dual meet win for Penn State, which continues to add to its all-time mark.

With the Nittany Lions trailing 3-0, Corey Keener (133 pounds) snapped off two takedowns and two sets of four near-fall points to lead 12-1 after the first period. Fifty seconds into the second period, Keener stuck Jhared Simmons on his back. It was over from there for the Terrapins.

Nick Lee (141) came out like a man possessed, racking up eight takedowns in a 22-10 major decision win over Ryan Diehl.

Then, the pin parade began.

Not counting the intermission, the five straight pins took just 10 minutes on the clock. The first four Penn State wrestlers didn’t even get out of the first period in their victories.

Zain Retherford continued his march up the all-time pins list by getting No. 51. It took him just 1:22 to finish off Alfred Bannister. Retherford needs just three more falls to surpass David Taylor and Josh Moore for No. 1. If he continues to stick his opponents, No. 54 could come against Ohio State inside Rec Hall on Feb. 3.

Jason Nolf recorded three takedowns of Kyle Cochran before putting him on his back in 1:44. The Nittany Lions led 22-3 at the break. Vincenzo Joseph then took just 1:24 to stick Brendan Burnham at 165 pounds.

Mark Hall nearly made it to the second period, but he finished off Jahi Jones with 15 seconds remaining in the first period. Bo Nickal was slacking compared to his teammates as he pinned Nico Cappello 35 seconds into the second period of their 184-pound bout. However, Nickal was a scoring machine in the first period and rattled off eight takedowns.

Anthony Cassar got the nod at 197 as Penn State still looks to figure out its starter. Cassar continues to keep pace with Shakur Rasheed in terms of bonus-point victories. He used six takedowns in a 14-5 major decision win over David-Brian Whisler.

In what was considered the highlight bout of the match — and the final one — No. 8 Nick Nevills earned a 4-1 upset over No. 6 Youssif Hemida.

“He’s a really tough opponent,” Nevills said told the Penn State Sports Network. “This is his second loss. He’s gone to some tough tournaments and beat some good guys. I was in on two, maybe three, shots that I should’ve finished. He’s just a real long guy.”

As a whole for the weekend, the Nittany Lions were as dominant as they’ve been in a long time. They held a 64-1 takedown advantage and outscored their opponents 90-9. Also, the matches this weekend took roughly 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete.

This story was originally published January 21, 2018 at 6:56 PM with the headline "No. 1 Penn State wrestling pins win No. 40 in a row on Kerry McCoy’s Maryland Terrapins."