The 4-1 ledger by Ohio State served as its best performance at the National Duals since posting a 3-1 record in 2002 and is its first four-win outing since 1992 (4-1). After dropping its preliminary match to No. 5 and fourth-seed Central Michigan, 19-16, the Scarlet and Gray rebounded with wins over West Virginia (29-9), No. 12 Hofstra (25-16) and No. 9 Northwestern (19-17).
The Buckeyes' victory over their Big Ten Conference counterpart was head coach Tom Ryan's 130th-career win. In two seasons at Ohio State, Ryan has compiled a 21-9 record. Prior to his tenure with the Buckeyes, Ryan was the head coach at Hofstra and tallied a 109-82 mark.
Ohio State faced seven ranked Penn State wrestlers and of those recorded four victories. At 125 pounds, true freshman Nikko Triggas served No. 7 Mark McKnight his first loss of the season with a 10-3 decision. For redshirt-junior and 10th-ranked J Jaggers, a 6-4 victory over second-ranked Jake Strayer at 141 pounds was a personal triumph.
Not to be outdone, sophomore and 10th-ranked Lance Palmer recorded an upset of his own at 149 pounds, downing No. 4 Bubba Jenkins, 10-7. It was Jenkins' first loss of the year. Finally, at 184 pounds, redshirt-sophomore and fifth-ranked Mike Pucillo, who was the lone Buckeye to go undefeated (5-0) at the event, notched a 16-0 technical fall over No. 14 Phil Bomberger.
With the Buckeyes up 12-0 following wins by Triggas, Jaggers, Palmer and an 8-3 decision over Tim Haas by redshirt-sophomore Reece Humphrey, Penn State avoided the shutout after 10th-ranked Dan Vallimont decisioned redshirt-junior Jason Johnstone, 4-1 at 157 pounds. However, true-freshman Colt Sponseller recorded his fourth-consecutive win at 165 pounds at the National Duals thanks to a 9-5 decision over Dave Rella.
The Nittany Lions cut four points off the Buckeye lead after 17th-ranked Dave Erwin beat Alex Picazo, 10-2. Pucillo went on to replace those four points, plus one, after the technical fall against Bomberger. Second-ranked Phil Davis defeated true-freshman John Weakley, 10-2, but senior heavyweight and No. 2 J.D. Bergman ended the Buckeyes' day on a high note with a 12-3 major decision against John Laboranti.
Ohio State will entertain No. 2 Iowa in conference action at 7 p.m. Friday in St. John Arena. The Buckeyes will make their debut on the Big Ten Network on a tape delay basis at 9:30 p.m. later that evening.
Ohio State students with a valid BuckID will be admitted to the match for free. The match also is a White Out. Fans are encouraged to wear white and the first 3,000 in attendance will receive rally towels courtesy of Nationwide.
Across the Olentangy River, the Buckeye men's hockey team also will make its first appearance on the BTN live at 7:05 p.m. Friday against Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival Michigan State in Value City Arena.
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