Haas, who has steadily worked his way back from an injury that cost him the first semester of action, pinned Northwestern's Eric Metzler at the 3:25 mark to turn a stunning early 9-0 deficit into a closer 9-6 bout. The fall did not just close the gap with the wildcats, it proved to be the difference in the bout as it accounted for the evening's only bonus points.
With the dual beginning at 197, Northwestern bolted out to an early lead thanks to an upset loss by Nittany Lion All-American Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) and losses at HWT and 125. Davis was upset by No. 3 Mike Tamillow 6-1. No. 1 Derek Fox posted a tough 5-2 win over No. 15 John Laboranti (Pittston, Pa.) of Penn State and senior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.), ranked No. 10 at 125, nearly upset No. 5 Brandon Precin but fell, 4-3, in a double tie-breaker. After Haas' pin, Nittany Lion All-American Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) once again seemed to have a fall early in the bout but did not get the call and suffered an upset loss at 141. That loss put NU up 12-6.
From that point, the Nittany Lions went on a roll to win four of the last five bouts and grab the victory. Sophomore Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.), ranked No. 5, nearly pinned No. 4 Ryan Lang and came away with an 11-8 win at 149; No. 2 Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) moved to 21-0 with an 8-4 win at 157; and Dave Rella (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) upset No. 20 Dominic Marella 6-5 at 165 in another key battle. Rella's win put Penn State up 15-12. At 174, No. 12 Nick Hayes got a hard-fought 7-4 win over No. 16 David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) to tie the score with one bout left. Nittany Lion junior Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.), ranked No. 13 at 184, dominated Northwestern's Adil Kolovic, 14-7, to seal the 18-15 win.
The Nittany Lions are now 10-4 overall, 2-2 in the Big Ten. Northwestern moves to 5-6, 0-2 in conference action. The Lions visit No. 15 Illinois on Sunday at 2 p.m. (Eastern) in yet another road dual. Penn State's next action at home will be at home when No. 6 Michigan comes to Rec Hall on Friday, Feb. 8, for a 7 p.m. dual. Tickets for all regular season duals are on sale now at the athletic department ticket office in the Bryce Jordan Center. Single-dual tickets are $5 for adults and seniors and $3 for students 18 and under. Penn State students with a proper student ID are admitted free! Fans can call 814-863-1000 or 800-833-5533 to order single-dual or season tickets. All Penn State duals will be broadcast locally on WBLF 970 AM and WKVA 920 AM and streamed live at www.GoPSUsports.com. All home duals will feature a live video webcast and live scoring at www.GoPSUsports.com as well.
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