With the dual tied, 18-18, Marsden took on Gingrich in front of 6,491 rowdy fans in the final bout of the day. After regulation, the bout was deadlocked, 2-2. Marsden reversed Gingrich in the first tiebreaker period to put himself ahead, 4-2. The Cowboy carefully maintained his lead in the second tiebreaker period, walking away with a 4-3 victory.
"[Winning] was a great feeling and having the stage really amped up the whole atmosphere along with having a crowd there backing us up,” Marsden said. “I remember going there last year against Penn State they had a huge crowd. Having them come here and feel our crowd was even better."
The All-American capped off an outstanding performance from the Cowboy wrestling squad, which overcame two pins to pull off the win.
Sophomore Anthony Collica picked up a big win at 157 pounds, cutting Penn State’s six-point lead to just one with a 24-9 technical fall over No. 8 Dylan Alton. Collica trailed, 2-1, after the first period, but went on to score eight takedowns and a two-point near fall in the final two periods. He was awarded a point for riding time at the end of the match to secure the tech fall.
"I was just thinking, 'I have to do a bigger job than what I was supposed to do,'” Collica said. “I just went out there and wrestled tough. I knew that guy gets tired usually, and I knew I had to wrestle hard the whole time and I'd be alright."
National champion and top-ranked Alex Dieringer followed up with more bonus points to push the Cowboys ahead, tallying a 14-4 major decision over No. 18 Garrett Hammond. His victory came with four takedowns and two sets of near fall points. The Cowboy extends his win streak to 40, which dates back to last season. Dieringer has also picked up nine consecutive wins with bonus points attached.
Giving OSU a solid start at 125 pounds was ninth-ranked Eddie Klimara, who met up with No. 8 Jordan Conaway. The Cowboy junior earned two quick takedowns in the first period and pulled away with a three-point near fall in the final period to record an 8-7 upset win.
"[Starting at 125 pounds] gets that momentum going,” Klimara said. “It gets everybody fired up for the dual. Going out there and beating a high-ranked kid started us off well."
At 141 pounds, Dean Heil notched a close win, taking his bout with Kade Moss into overtime. No points were scored in sudden victory, but similar to Marsden’s match, Heil earned a reversal in the first tiebreaker period. He later took down the Nittany Lion in the second tiebreaker period to win, 8-5.
Nolan Boyd tallied an important and methodical win at 184 pounds, defeating No. 19 Matt McCutcheon, 4-0. It was his fourth win over a ranked opponent this season.
The Pokes dropped two close matches at 174 and 197 pounds as Kyle Crutchmer and Luke Bean fell to top-five opponents in No. 2 Matt Brown and No. 4 Morgan McIntosh, respectively.
No. 11 Crutchmer forced his match against Brown into overtime with a huge buzzer-beater takedown to end regulation. The two were involved in a wild scramble in sudden victory, but it was Brown who was awarded the takedown.
"You have to look at [the team] and see what you have,” coach John Smith said. “For what we have, we're wrestling above what we are capable of, and that is what you like to see. We have guys who did some things tonight that I wasn't sure could do it, but they did it. Those are the things you like to see. You like to see your team above what they are capable of wrestling. A lot of times it ends up in a good place at the end."
The Cowboys (10-3, 3-0 Big 12) travel to North Carolina next weekend to take on North Carolina and NC State in a doubleheader on Feb. 22.
Results:
125: No. 9 Eddie Klimara (OSU) dec. No. 8 Jordan Conaway (PSU), 8-7
133: No. 5 James Gulibon (PSU) fall Gary Wayne Harding (OSU), 3:32
141: No. 15 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. Kade Moss (PSU), 8-5 TB1
149: No. 18 Zack Beitz (PSU) fall No. 4 Josh Kindig (OSU), 3:17
157: No. 18 Anthony Collica (OSU) TF5 No. 8 Dylan Alton (PSU), 24-9
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) MD No. 18 Garrett Hammond (PSU), 14-4
174: No. 2 Matt Brown (PSU) dec. No. 11 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU), 9-7 SV1
184: No. 18 Nolan Boyd (OSU) dec. No. 19 Matt McCutcheon (PSU), 4-0
197: No. 4 Morgan McIntosh (PSU) dec. Luke Bean (OSU), 6-1
285: No. 5 Austin Marsden (OSU) dec. Jon Gingrich (PSU), 4-3
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