Penn State opened the tourney with an impressive 31-10 win over Pitt-Johnstown, the nation's third ranked DII team. Senior James Woodall (St. Dupont, Pa.) and sophomore Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) both garnered pins in the UPJ win, Teammates Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.), Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa. ) and DeWitt Driscoll (Connellsville, Pa.) opened the dual with decisions to put the Nittany Lion up 9-o before Woodall posted his pin.
Nathan Galloway (State College, Pa.) posted a major decision at 157 and James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) won at 174 before Davis got his fall. Senior heavyweight Joel Edwards (Upper Darby, Pa.) grabbed a 3-2 win to close out the dual. Head coach Troy Sunderland held out No. 1-ranked Eric Bradley (Plaistow, N.H.) at 184 to further recovery from an injury in preparation for next weekend's Big Ten opener vs. Wisconsin.
The first win in round one was posted by No. 8 Lehigh, which claimed a 50-6 victory over NJCAA entrant Williams Trade. The Mountain Hawks notched five pins and a technical fall in the dual. Lock Haven notched a 25-17 win over Mercyhurst in its first round bout. Division III York College pulled off the first round's upset with a 25-15 win over Clarion.
In Penn State's seminal dual vs. York College, Pataky at 125 and Bryan Heller (Fair Haven, N.J.) at 133 got the Nittany Lions off to a solid start in their 47-3 win, posting a technical fall and a major decision for an early 9-0 team lead. Driscoll followed with a pin at 141 and the Lions had a solid 15-0 lead. Jason Lapham (West Chazy, N.Y.) got a shot at 149 for Penn State and got a win before Galloway got a quick pin (at 1:03) at 157 to put Penn State up 24-0. Brian Cantalupi (Carlisle, Pa.) got a technical fall at 165 followed by a Yonushonis fall at 174, giving Penn State a 35-0 lead. Davis got his second pin in as many outings at 197 and Edwards got a pin at HWT to post the final score.
Lehigh downed Lock Haven in the other semifinal match, setting up a finals showdown with the Nittany Lions. Lock Haven won the first match, with Obe Blanc grabbing a win at 125. But the Mountain Hawks reeled off nine straight wins to post an impressive 32-3 win.
Mercyhurst downed Williamson 48-3 in one consolation semifinal, earning a chance to wrestle for fifth place. Pitt-Johnstown downed Clarion 26-12 in the other consolation semifinal, setting up a fifth place bout between two of the top Division II teams in the country (Mercyhurst is No. 15, UPJ is No. 3).
The much-anticipated championship match between No. 12 Penn State and No. 8 Lehigh began with a spirited 125-bout featuring two true-freshmen. Lehigh's Matt Fisk edging Pataky 13-9 to give the Mountain Hawks and early 3-0 lead. Penn State's Strayer, a red-shirt freshman, downed Lehigh's John Stout at 15-12 at 133 to knot the score at 3-3. Lehigh's Cory Cooperman posted an impressive 9-1 major decision over PSU's Driscoll at 141. Cooperman got a fall as time expired, plus a riding time bonus, for the eight-point advantage. The win gave Lehigh a 7-3 lead three bouts into the match.
At 149, Woodall dominated Lehigh's Matt Ciasulli 10-4 to pull Penn State to within one, 7-6. State College native Galloway dropped a heart-breaking 2-1 double-overtime decision to Lehigh's Derek Zinck at 157, giving Lehigh a 10-6 lead at the halfway point. The Mountain Hawks extended their lead to 14-6 when Troy Letters posted a 10-1 major over Penn State's Cantalupi at 165. The crowd was energized at 174 when Nittany Lion Yonushonis claimed a 6-4 sudden victory over Lehigh's Travis Frick, pulling Penn State to within five, 14-9, with three bouts remaining.
One of the day's most exciting bouts occurred at 194, where David Helfrich of Lehigh posted an 8-7 win over Nittany Lion Neil Bretz (Carlisle, Pa.), who was filling in for the injured Bradley. The win gave LU a 17-9 lead with two bouts left in the dual. But Penn State's Davis, a returning All-American at 197, made the final bout mean everything when he pinned Paul Weibel at 3:20 to close the gap to 17-15.
In the afternoon's final bout, heavyweights Edwards of Penn State and Tom Curl of Lehigh put on a thrilling show from the outset. Curl opened up the match with a takedown and near fall to go up 4-0 before Edwards reversed out to close the gap to 5-2 at the end of the first period. Edwards rode Curl most of the second period but Curl escaped with seconds left to lead 6-2 with just two minutes to wrestle. Edwards owned the third period, however, scoring an escape and two take downs to tie the score at seven. His huge riding time advantage gave him an exciting 8-7 win and secured an 18-17 victory for the Nittany Lions.
Lock Haven downed York 28-11 to claim third place. Pitt-Johnstown downed Mercyhurst 30-7 in a battle of Division II powers for fifth place. Clarion grabbed a win over Williamson, downing the Mechanics 49-0 for seventh place.
Davis was awarded the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award and also took home the award for most falls in the least amount of time, getting three in his three bouts in just 13:35.
Penn State will host No. 15 Wisconsin in its next dual match, opening up Big Ten play on Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. in Rec Hall. Single match tickets can be purchased by visiting the BJC Ticket Center or by calling 814-865-5555 or 800-863-3336. Prices are $5 for adults and $3 for youth and senior citizens.
Team Scores:
Round One:
Lehigh 50, Williams 6
Lock Haven 25, Mercyhurst 17
York 25, Clarion 15
Penn State 31, Pitt-Johnstown 10
Semifinals:
Penn State 47, York College 3
Lehigh 32, Lock Haven 3
Conso Semis:
Mercyhurst 48, Williamson 3
Pitt-Johnstown 26, Clarion 12
Finals: Penn State 18, Lehigh 17
Third: Lock Haven 28, York 11
Fifth: Pitt-Johnstown 30, Mercyhurst 7
Seventh: Clarion 49, Williamson 0
Awards:
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Phil Davis, Penn State
Most Falls in Least Time: Phil Davis, Penn State, thee in 13:35
Attendance: 1,802
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