No. 1 Nittany Lions rout Northwestern

When you go into a match against a less than formidable opponent, you hope that you get out with no problems.

Penn State was dominant and everyone was injury-free in a 46-4 victory over Northwestern on Sunday in Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“The guys came out with a purpose today,” Nittany Lions head assistant coach Casey Cunningham said to the Penn State Sports Network. “They wanted to get their hands on them and score points today, and for the most part they did that.”

There should have been two highlights in Penn State’s win. One of them came to fruition while the other was a dud.

Morgan McIntosh came into Sunday’s dual looking for his 100th career win for the Nittany Lions. He didn’t seem to have a problem with Northwestern’s Jake Berkowitz.

The senior earned six takedowns and four near-fall points as his 100th win was a 17-4 major decision.

“He has been a quiet leader for us,” Cunningham said. “He’s not a ‘ra-ra’ guy. He is more laid back. For him to come across the country for the last five years and be a part of this program, has been huge. For him to get 100 wins, that’s a big milestone. We are happy for him but he and us have bigger goals for him so that’s what he is working toward now.”

At 149 pounds, in what was supposed to be the highlight of the match, No. 1 Zain Retherford dominated No. 4 Jason Tsirtsis.

Retherford, who was coming off a major decision of No. 5 Jake Sueflohn on Friday, led 2-0 after the first period. He earned two takedowns to open up a 7-2 lead heading to the final period.

In the third, Retherford went to work and continued his dominance. He produced three takedowns, received a stall point and totaled 3:33 in riding time to secure another point for the 15-5 major decision over Tsirtsis.

“I think with Zain you get the same guy every time,” Cunningham said. “He’s going to get after you. You better be ready to go for seven minutes. He is not going to stop.”

Penn State received pins from Jordan Conaway (133), Jason Nolf (157) and Bo Nickal (174). It also earned a forfeit to Jimmy Gulibon at 141 and Matt McCutcheon’s 184-pound bout was cut short due to an injury default.

Shakur Rasheed made a return to the lineup at 165 pounds and had a 6-0 victory. The match started off with Nico Megaludis earning a 23-7 technical fall and giving the Nittany Lions an early 5-0 lead.

Penn State came up one victory short of a shutout on the scoreboard and in the weight classes. The lone loss came at heavyweight with Wes Phipps again getting the start. He was outweighed by the Wildcats’ Conan Jennings by 76 pounds. Jennings used that weight advantage for a 10-0 major decision win.

This story was originally published January 17, 2016 at 4:53 PM with the headline "No. 1 Nittany Lions rout Northwestern."