West Coast trip perfect for Penn State wrestlers

No. 1 Penn State holds a 119-14 takedown advantage after its first four matches of the season.

The Nittany Lions used a 30-5 advantage and three falls in their 31-12 victory over Stanford on Sunday afternoon.

Freshman Jason Nolf led Penn State with 10 takedowns racking up six of them in the first period. Nolf was on track to get number 11 when he caught Walker Dempsey in a near-side cradle. Nolf turned Dempsey onto his back and picked up a 5:24 fall at 157 pounds and the final match of the night.

Senior Morgan McIntosh and sophomore Zain Retherford were the others to earn pins for the Nittany Lions.

McIntosh, who was making a return to his home state, pulled off a roll through half nelson putting Boomer Fleming on his back early in the second period. McIntosh had to re-position himself and earned the fall in 4:11 at 197 pounds.

Retherford continued his dominant start to the year at 149 pounds. He opened the third period with a 7-1 lead in the neutral position, a choice made by his opponent Paul Fox. Fox went in for a single-leg shot and Retherford got caught but continued to scramble. Fox was on his back clinching onto Retherford’s left ankle, while Retherford was in control of Fox’s legs. Retherford raised his position up and pinned Fox with his left leg at 6:35.

Bo Nickal (174), Matt McCutcheon (184), Nico Megaludis (125) and Jordan Conaway (133) were also winners for Penn State. Nickal was the only other winner to earn bonus points for the Nittany Lions. He earned a 12-4 major decision win over Keaton Subjeck.

The Cardinal earned two wins at the highlight matches, 141 and 165 pounds, and a forfeit to earn their 12 points.

The night started at 165 pounds with Stanford’s returning All-American Jim Wilson giving the Cardinal a 3-0 lead with a 6-3 win over Penn State’s Shakur Rasheed. The Nittany Lions forfeited the heavyweight bout to Stanford’s Josh Marchak to pull the Cardinal within 13-9. It was the closest Stanford would be the rest of the match.

Stanford’s Joey McKenna, who was ranked No. 4 according to Intermat, faced off with No. 5 Jimmy Gulibon at 141 pounds. McKenna got a takedown seven seconds into the match and used two escapes, another takedown and a riding point to earn the 7-3 win over Gulibon.

Penn State’s next contest will be the Nittany Lion Open on Dec. 6 inside Rec Hall.

Notes: Jan Johnson didn’t wrestle for Penn State at heavyweight as he suffered a leg injury in Friday’s match with Cal-State Bakersfield. … UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was in attendance for the Nittany Lions-Cardinal match. … Sunday’s match was the first time that Penn State and Stanford tangled on the mat.

Penn State shines at Mat-Town Open

Penn State sent 10 wrestlers to the Mat-Town Open at Lock Haven University on Sunday.

Jered Cortez, Vincenzo Joseph, Brian Brill and Kellan Stout all earned titles in impressive fashion for the Nittany Lions. Joseph’s was the most dominant as he used four technical falls on the way to a 157-pound title. Brill, who was making a return to his hometown, followed up with two pins and two tech falls on his way to the 174-pound crown.

Cortez took advantage of a tech fall in his 133-pound title run, while Stout used two major decisions for the 184-pound championship.

Devon Van Cura finished 4-1 at 184 pounds, which was good for a third-place finish. Dominic Giannangeli went 3-2 at 141 pounds for Penn State.

Caleb Livingston (165), Patrick Higgins (125), Dylan Dailey (184) and Scott Stossel (125) rounded out the Nittany Lions’ competitors at the event.

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 7:31 PM with the headline "West Coast trip perfect for Penn State wrestlers."