Penn State sent eight wrestlers into the finals with half of them winning their bouts. Freshman Frank Martellotti (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 18 at 125, went 5-0 to win at 125 with two pins, a tech fall and a major. Classmate Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.), ranked No. 12, put on a show at 141, going 6-0 to claim the title with five pins. The fifth pin was a :39 fall over No. 20 Zack Kemerer of Penn in the finals. Red-shirt freshman David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), ranked No. 5 nationally, continued his superb run with a 6-0 day at 157. Taylor claimed the title with a 9-3 dismantling of Virginia Tech's Jesse Dong (who reached the NCAA round of 12 last year). Taylor had a fall, a tech and three majors. Junior Cameron Wade (Twinsburg, Ohio), ranked No. 7 at heavyweight, went 5-0 with three tech falls, a pin and a major.
Penn State's outstanding afternoon was tempered, however, in the finals at 184. No. 6 Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) was beating No. 14 Nathan Schiedel of Binghamton with just seconds to go in the final when the returning All-American was injured and suffered an injury default to take second place. Wright went 5-1 on the day. Just seconds before that, two-time All-American Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.), ranked No. 2 at 149, was upset in overtime by No. 10 Mario Mason of Rutgers. Mason downed Molinaro 3-1 (sv), giving the Lion junior a 5-1 record on the day. Red-shirt freshman Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.), ranked No. 14 at 174, dropped a hard-fought 9-4 decision to No. 8 Mike Letts of Maryland in the finals. Ruth went 5-1 for second place with two pins and two tech falls. True freshman Dirk Cowburn (Coudersport, Pa.), wrestling unattached at 165, advanced to the finals where he was pinned by No. 3 Josh Asper of Maryland. Cowburn went 5-1 for his runner-up finish.
Senior Adam Lynch (Mifflinburg, Pa.) was solid at 141, going 5-1 to take third place. His only loss came to Alton in the semifinals. Sophomore James English (York, Pa.) also took third at 149, going 5-1. His only loss was a 3-1 decision to No. 10 and eventual champ Mason of Rutgers in the semifinals. Red-shirt freshman James Vollrath (Richboro, Pa.) took fourth at 157. He lost to Taylor in the semis and went 3-2 on the day to take fourth place.
Freshman Nate Morgan (McCook, Neb.), wrestling unattached at 125, went 4-2 to take second place while classmate Sam Sherlock (West Mifflin, Pa.), unattached at 133, went 4-3 to take eighth. Sophomore Nick Fischer (Unionville, Pa.) went 3-3 at 165 and placed eighth while classmate Justin Ortega (Oxford, Pa.) went 4-2 at 197 to take sixth place. True freshman Nick Ruggear (Oxford, Pa.) was also 4-2 at 197 and finished seventh. Red-shirt freshman Jake Kemerer (Greensburg, Pa.), ranked No. 12 nationally at 165, went 3-2 and did not place at 165 while sophomore Bryan Pearsall (Lititz, Pa.) went 4-2 and did not place at 133.
Unattached wrestlers who grabbed victories but did not place included Cameron Kelley (Pittsford, N.Y.), 1-2 at 125; Rob Vollrath (Richboro, Pa.), 0-2 at 133 but beat a non-rostered entrant; Seth Beitz (Juniata, Pa.), 1-2 at 141; John Gingrich (Wingate, Pa.), 1-2 at 285 and Kyle Moran (Oxford, Pa), who went 3-2 at 141. Other attached wrestlers competing included Andrew Church (Erie, Pa.) at 174 while other unattached grapplers competing included David Church (Erie, Pa.) at 149, Thomas Gorman (East Patchogue, N.Y.) at 157, Brandon Phillips (Timonium, Md.) at 174) and Justin Haug (Galeton, Pa.) at 165.
Other champions at the event included Mitchell Port of Edinboro at 133 and Zac Thomusseit of Pittsburgh at 197.
The Nittany Lions, now 5-0 this year, return to action at home on Dec. 12 when Lock Haven comes to town for a 2 p.m. dual. Fans wishing to purchase single dual meet tickets for the 2010-11 Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling season can place their orders by calling 814-865-5555 or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office. The box office is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ticket pricing is $8 for adults and $5 for youth, and there will be a limit of eight tickets per order. Group sales are also available. The 2010-11 Penn State wrestling season is presented by the Family Clothesline. All Penn State events will once again air live on Forever Broadcasting's WRSC (1390 AM) and WSQV (92.1 FM). All radio broadcasts are streamed live at GoPSUsports.com as part of the All-Access package. The 2010-11 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now