8 Penn State wrestlers got their season underway at Clarion Open. Here’s how they did
Penn State’s wrestling season doesn’t get officially underway until it wrestles two duals on Saturday against Sacred Heart and Oregon State.
However, eight Nittany Lions took part in the Clarion Open on Sunday.
Alex Facundo (165 pounds), Brian Borden (165), David Evans (133), Gary Steen (125), Jack Kelly (174), Lucas Cochran (197), Sean Wang (141) and Shayne Van Ness (149) all competed unattached for Penn State. Evans was the highest finisher with a second-place finish.
Facundo (fifth), Borden (sixth) and Cochran (fifth) were the only other Nittany Lions wrestlers to place.
Evans, who is a redshirt freshman, took on Navy’s Joshua Koderhandt in the finals. The pair got into a scramble early with Koderhandt coming out on top. In the process, Koderhandt locked up a cross-face cradle and collected four near-fall points at the end of the first period to lead 6-0.
Koderhandt’s escape was the lone point of the second period. Evans got on the board in the third period with an escape, but he was hit with a stall point. Evans went for a throw late in the third period, but was countered for a takedown and ultimately fell 10-1 to Koderhandt.
Evans opened with a one-point victory. He then topped the No. 6 seed in West Virginia’s Jordan Titus, 6-3, to make the semifinals. In the semifinals, Evans was up 7-2 on the No. 2 seed in Maryland’s Jackson Cockrell, but he then pinned the Terrapins wrestler in 5:50.
Facundo, who is a true freshman, cruised to the quarterfinals with two major decisions and a pin. In the quarterfinals, he suffered a 3-2 loss to Maryland’s John Best. In the consolation bracket, Facundo kept the bonus-point wins alive with another pin and a major decision in the consolation semifinals that put him in the fifth-place match.
Borden ended up medically forfeiting to Facundo in that fifth-place match.
Borden, who is a true freshman, fell into the consolation bracket early and went to work on wrestling his way back. He had three major decisions and a pin to make the consolation quarterfinals. Borden then received a medical forfeit into the consolation semifinals, and then a no contest got him into the fifth-place match.
Cochran, who is a true freshman, opened with a pin, but was then pinned by the No. 1 seed to be kicked into the consolation bracket. The Utah native opened his consolation run with a decision, and followed with a 14-1 major decision.
Cochran received a medical forfeit to reach the consolation semifinals, where he topped Lock Haven’s Parker McClellan, 9-0. Cochran used a 5-0 win over Buffalo’s Eli Sheeren to claim that fifth-place finish.
Wang, who is a true freshman, opened with a loss, but picked up two wins in the consolation bracket, and ultimately lost another to go 2-2. Van Ness, who was the No. 2 seed and is a true freshman, cruised to the quarterfinals with a major decision and pin. However, he then medically forfeited out of the tournament to finish 2-2.
Steen, who is a true freshman, went 0-2 for the tournament. Kelly, who is a true freshman, won his first bout, but dropped back-to-back major decisions to finish 1-2.
Centre County grads compete, too
Bald Eagle Area graduate Seth Koleno, who is in his junior season at Clarion, claimed the 141-pound title. He opened with two pins, with one beating the top seed at the weight. Koleno used a 15-5 major decision over Maryland’s Danny Bertoni, who was the No. 4 seed, in the semifinals.
Koleno wasn’t the only Centre County wrestler to compete on Sunday, as Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy graduate Caleb Dowling (157 pounds) competed for West Virginia as a true freshman. Dowling finished fifth in his first collegiate tournament.
He opened with a 10-2 major decision, but he was kicked into the consolations when he suffered an 11-6 defeat. In the consolation bracket, Dowling had a 15-0 technical fall and then an 11-2 major decision. Dowling got a medical forfeit win in the consolation quarterfinals and used a 6-3 win in the consolation semifinals to reach the fifth-place match.
Dowling’s high school teammate Tyler Stoltzfus (174) competed for Lock Haven and was 4-2 on the day, but did not place.
Bellefonte graduate Kyle Myers (184) competed for the Mountaineers, going 0-2 on the day.
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 8:22 PM.
