Championship-caliber seniors face final duals for Nittany Lions

For five Penn State wrestlers, Saturday’s match will be unofficially their last one inside Rec Hall.

The Nittany Lions square off with Michigan State on Senior Day. However, they will host a National Dual Championship Series match on Feb. 21, so that will be the finale.

“Honestly, I’m not trying to think about it a whole lot,” Morgan McIntosh said. “I know it will make me a little sad. I’m looking forward to it and enjoying every minute I have left. I’m excited for it and I know it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Jordan Conaway added: “I’m excited as always. I can’t believe its already coming to a close here. You just treat it like every other match — just go out there and have fun.

McIntosh, Conaway and Nico Megaludis come to mind when you think of the seniors on Penn State’s roster. But, there is also Caleb Livingston and Dylan Dailey, who will also be celebrated during Senior Day.

“This is a real strong class,” Nittany Lion coach Cael Sanderson said. “Not only our superstar kids but it’s just a great class of kids. They are good students. Our team GPA has been in the top 10 of the nation pretty much every year. They are good kids and come from good families.”

As a whole, this group has claimed 13 national championship rings. McIntosh, Megaludis and Conaway were parts of the 2012, 2013 and 2014 teams, and Livingston and Dailey were part of the 2013 and 2014 teams.

“It’s tough to think they are seniors,” Sanderson said. “We won’t have them again. But on the same token, you’ve been here five years, it’s time to move on to the next stage in life.”

As the season has progressed, it is fair to say these five guys could add another ring to their collection. McIntosh, Megaludis and Conaway could all add more hardware to their resumes.

McIntosh has been ranked all season long as the top wrestler at 197 pounds. He is looking to build on his third-place finish in last year’s NCAA tournament. He is focused on winning his first individual title and becoming a three-time All-American.

But, to be able to lead this young Penn State squad to its fifth national championship in six years would mean the world.

“I haven’t won my individual national title yet,” McIntosh said, “but that’s my goal. Ultimately, I want to win a national title for our team. To win it this year with a bunch of young guys like this, it would be awesome. I just know that this is a really special team. There’s not a lot of teams out there that can have guys like this. Young guys come out and step right up and be in the hunt for a individual national title. I know we can do it and I know our whole team can do it.”

Megaludis is aiming to become a four-time All-American but also earn his first individual crown. He finished second in both 2012 and 2013 and then third in 2014. The one person who seems to be standing between him and that first title is Ohio State’s Nathan Tomasello. The pair squared off in Penn State’s 24-14 win over the Buckeyes last Friday, with Tomasello coming out on top 3-1.

“I can’t express how appreciative I am of the support,” Megaludis said. “The atmosphere here is like nowhere else. It’s unbelievable how much fans can care about a team, and I am glad to be a part of that. There is nothing like Penn State.”

Conaway came to the Nittany Lions after Liberty, where he originally was going to go, dropped its wrestling program. He has done well and finished as an All-American last season. He wrestled at 125 pounds last season as Megaludis redshirted.

This year, he has continued to enjoy success after going back to 133 pounds.

He is ranked No. 5 in the country and has three losses. Two of them came to the top-ranked wrestlers in the country in Cornell’s Nashon Garrett (Southern Scuffle finals) and Illinois’ Zane Richards, No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. His other setback was to his possible replacement, Jered Cortez, in the Nittany Lion Open finals.

Livingston and Dailey haven’t been able to crack the starting lineup for Penn State. Livingston did represent the Nittany Lions at heavyweight in the Nittany Lion Open. He looked like he was wrestling giants as he was giving up anywhere from 100 to 120 pounds to his opponents. He went 0-2 on the day, losing to West Virginia’s Austin Myers and Lehigh’s Doug Vollaro.

Livingston won’t get a rematch with Vollaro when Penn State travels to No. 6 Lehigh on Friday to wrestle in front of another sellout crowd.

The fans for both programs won’t be disappointed. The Mountain Hawks go into the match with a 12-1 record, with the loss coming at the beginning of the season to Nebraska.

Lehigh is led by 184-pounder Nathaniel Brown, who is No. 3 on the year and 15-2. Brown and six other wrestlers are ranked for the Mountain Hawks.

It’s a match Sanderson is looking forward to.

“Lehigh should be great,” Sanderson said. “It is a great rivalry that goes back 100 years. I know it means a lot to our alumni and our fans and it means a lot to their alumni and fans. It’s a great match. Lehigh is one of the best teams in the country. They are very strong in dual meets. We’ve been looking forward to this dual all year just knowing that this was going to be one of the better matchups.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Championship-caliber seniors face final duals for Nittany Lions."