The dual began at with the evening's premier match-up. Junior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.), ranked No. 3 at 125, took on No. 6 Obe Blanc of Lock Haven. McKnight got the bout's first takedown at the 2:21 mark to go up 2-1 after a Blanc escape. Looking to build a sizeable lead in the first period, the Nittany Lion went up 4-1 with another takedown at the :45 mark. Blanc escaped to a 4-2 deficit with under :30 left and proceeded to tie the bout with a takedown at the :05 mark. Tied 4-4, Blanc chose down to start the second period and escaped to a 5-4 lead. McKnight nearly took the lead with a takedown at the 1:00 mark but action moved off the mat, resetting the wrestlers at the inner-circle. McKnight got in on another single leg and finished the two point takedown at the :20 mark. McKnight managed to hold the Bald Eagle wrestler down for the remainder of the period to take a 6-5 lead (with 1:15 in riding time) into the final stanza. McKnight chose down to begin the third period and quickly escaped to a 7-5 lead while maintaining his riding time advantage. Blanc tied the bout at 7-7 with a takedown at the 1:08 mark. Needing to hold McKnight for nine seconds to eliminate the riding time point, Blanc was strong enough on top to turn the trick. As time wound down in the clash of two top ten wrestlers, McKnight fought hard to escape Blanc and avoid extra time. After a reset at the :26 mark, McKnight got his escape at the :18 mark to briefly go up 8-7. Blanc, however, quickly turned in on McKnight for a takedown and posted an impressive 9-8 upset win to put Lock Haven up 3-0.
At 133, Nittany Lion Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) met Lock Haven's Danny Lopes. Strayer, ranked No. 7, got his first takedown at the 1:20 mark to lead 2-1 after allowing Lopes up. Working for bonus points, he added another takedown for a 4-1 lead after one period. He also amassed a 1:07 riding time advantage. Strayer chose down to begin the second period and escaped to a 5-1 lead. With Lopes working his way off the mat, Strayer pulled the Bald Eagle back on and notched a third takedown to lead 7-1 at the 1:08 mark. Strayer allowed Lopes up and took him down again within seconds to take a 9-2 lead. A second LHU stall put Strayer up 10-2. Strayer held Lopes down for the entire period and headed to the third stanza up 10-2 with a 1:58 time advantage. Lopes chose down to begin the third and allowed Lopes to escape. After another LHU stall put Strayer up 11-3, the Nittany Lion sophomore began working towards even more bonus points. Strayer notched a takedown, forced a two-point stall penalty and a final takedown to post an impressive 18-4 major decision. The win put Penn Sate up 4-3.
Junior Bryan Heller (Fair Haven, N.J.) met Lock Haven's Mark Armstrong at 141. Quickly jumping out on the Bald Eagle grappler, Heller got his first takedown to lead 2-0 at the 2:44 mark. Heller was hit with an illegal hold penalty and, after an Armstrong escape, the score was tied at 2-2. Heller went up 4-2. Continuing the move and forcing Armstrong to his back, Heller pinned the Bald Eagle grappler with a furious combination at the 1:15 mark. The six team points gave Penn State a commanding 10-3 lead early.
At 149, red-shirt freshman Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) met Lock Haven's Donnie Ament. Vallimont quickly began working on Ament, getting a takedown at the 2:25 mark. Strong on top, Vallimont rode Ament for the entire period to lead 2-0 with a 2:25 riding time edge. Ament chose down to start the second and escaped to a 2-1 deficit. Vallimont got his first takedown after a nice flurry mid-mat to lead briefly lead 3-2, but Vallimont countered with a reversal to retake the lead, 4-3, with 1:00 to wrestle in the second. Ament tied the bout with an escape at the :44 mark. The Nittany Lion red-shirt freshman got a takedown with under :10 left to carry a 6-4 lead (with 2:56 in riding time) into the third period. Vallimont chose down to start the final period and quickly turned a near-escape into a two-point reversal. After an Ament escape, Vallimont led 8-5. Looking to build upon his lead, Vallimont added clinching takedown at the :38 mark to go up 10-5 with an assured riding time point. Working hard on top, Vallimont rode Ament out to post an 11-5 win and push Penn State out to a 13-3 lead.
Nittany Lion senior Nathan Galloway (State College, Pa.) took on No. 15 Seth Martin at 157. Galloway, who dropped a heart-breaking 2-0 decision in the Nittany Lion Open final earlier this year, got the first takedown of the bout to go up 2-0 with 1:31 left in the first. Martin escaped to a 2-1 deficit with just over :30 left to wrestle in the first period. Galloway, leading 2-0 with :52 in riding time, chose neutral to begin the second period. The Nittany Lion senior nearly got a second takedown :30 into the middle period, but Martin forced the action of the mat. After a reset, Martin got in on a strong single-leg, looking to take the lead. After Galloway fought off the attempt for a while, Martin finished the move to go up 3-2. Needing an escape to tie the score, Galloway got the important point with :10 left in the second, sending action to the third tied 3-3. Martin chose down to start the third, looking for a go ahead point with an escape. The Nittany Loin senior got his go ahead point quickly, grabbing a 4-3 lead with 1:52 to wrestle. Martin increased his lead to 6-3 with another takedown with 1:20 to wrestle. Martin was strong on top and managed to get Galloway to his back for three near fall points. Martin finished on top to post a 9-3 win and cut the Penn State lead to 13-6.
Penn State's Mark Friend (Libertyville, Ill.) took to the mat at 165 against Bald Eagle Landis Wright. Wright went up early with a two-point takedown at the 1:45 mark. Friend tied the bout with a nice reversal and proceeded to ride the Lock Haven freshman for the remainder of the first period. Tied 2-2, Friend chose down to start the middle period and was allowed out by Wright for a 3-2 lead. Friend quickly got in on another single-leg and finished the move with a nice leg kick to lead 5-2. Wright, however, got his own reversal to tighten the match at 4-4 with 1:10 to wrestle in the second. Wright would ride Friend out for the remainder of the period. Friend held a 5-4 lead entering the final two minutes. Wright chose down to start the third and quickly reversed Friend again to go up 6-5 with 1:50 to wrestle. The Lock Haven grappler would not let Friend escape and, after fighting off a near reversal by the Nittany Lion, posted a hard-fought 7-5 win (with the riding time point). The victory made the team score Penn State 13, Lock haven 9.
James Yonushonis (Phillipsburg, Pa.), ranked No. 3, took on Lock Haven senior Mike Metzger at 174. Coming off an upset loss at Hofstra, Yonushonis came out and quickly took Metzger down to lead 2-0 less than :30 in. Metzger escaped to a 2-1 deficit but not before Yonushonis built up a 1:23 riding time advantage. The Nittany Lion All-American upped his lead to 4-2 with another takedown and Metzger escape. Metzger got in on a late first-period single leg but Yonushonis fought the move off handily to take a 4-2 lead into the second. Metzger chose down to start the second and escaped to a 4-3 deficit with 1:35 to wrestle. Yonushonis added a third takedown to lead 6-4 after a Metzger escape with :46 to wrestle. Neither man would mount a serious threat for the remainder of the second, sending the bout to the final period with Yonushonis up 6-4 with 2:20 in riding time. Yonushonis chose down to start the third and quickly escaped to a 7-4 lead. Yonushonis turned a two-point takedown into a near pin with 1:10 left, getting a cradle on Metzger. The Bald Eagle fought pin off just enough to avoid the fall. However, three back points and the riding time point gave Yonushonis a 13-4 major decision. With Penn State short handed due to not having the services of its starting 197-pounder and heavyweight, the four-point major gave Penn State a solid 17-9 cushion.
Sophomore Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) met Lock Haven's Tom Kocher at 184. Bomberger got the first takedown of the bout with 1:00 to wrestle and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Kocher escaped to a 2-1 deficit and quickly got in on a deep single-leg as the first period wound down. Kocher finished the move to carry a 3-2 lead into the second period. Kocher chose down to start the second and Bomberger began working for back points. Kocher fought off each effort and escaped to a 4-2 lead. Another Kocher takedown and the Bald Eagle had a 6-2 lead with just over 1:00 to wrestle. Bomberger could not work out from Kocher's strong ride and found himself down 6-2 going into the third. Bomberger chose down to begin the third and quickly escaped to a 6-3 deficit. Looking to comeback, Bomberger got in on a single leg but could not finish the move. In the process, Kocher countered the Nittany Lion sophomore's effort to get his own takedown to push his lead to 8-3. Bomberger escaped to cut the lead to 8-4 but had only :50 to wrestle. Kocher fought off every Bomberger effort to post an 8-4 decision. Lock Haven led 17-12 heading into the dual's final two bouts, two bouts that would not feature the regular starters.
At 197, Nittany Lion junior Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.), ranked No. 5 nationally, was out with the flu. Stepping in for Davis was talented junior Chad Unger (Perry, Ohio). Unger met Lock Haven's Jeremie Cook. Each wrestler traded offensive bursts through the first two minutes with neither man getting any points. The final minute of the first featured Unger working Cook's head to no avail and the bout went to the second period tied 0-0. Cook chose down to begin the second period reversed Unger. Cook added three back points to up his lead to 5-0 with :50 to wrestle in the second. Two more back points as the period wound down had Cook up 7-0 with only two minutes to wrestle. Needing to turn Cook to come back, Unger chose up to start the third period. Unger locked his hands while on top, giving Cook an 8-0 lead. The Nittany Lion junior could not create any solid pinning opportunities. While he did ride Cook for most of the third period, the Bald Eagle freshman fought off every effort to post an impressive 8-1 win. The victory closed the team gap to Penn State 17, Lock Haven 15. With that, the dual – and a potential upset – boiled down to the heavyweight bout where Penn State was without its starting man.
Penn State senior heavyweight Aaron Anspach (Columbia, Pa.), ranked No. 11 nationally, was held out of action due to a skin infection. Sophomore Joe Farina got the call to face Lock Haven's Mike Cook in the dual's deciding match-up. Farina got the first takedown at the 1:32 mark to take a 2-0 lead. Cook began working for a reversal and, after :20 of work, tied the bout. Farina escaped to a 3-2 lead with :05 left. Up 3-2 heading into the second, Farina chose down to start the middle period. After a first LHU stall warning and a reset, Farina escaped to a 4-2 lead with 1:15 to wrestle. With the dual in the balance, Farina added a second takedown at the :33 mark to lead 6-2. Farina rode Cook out to carry that 6-2 lead into the final period. Cook chose down to start the final period and Farina began working hard on top. Cook, however, countered Farina's first move and began working for a reversal. After a stalemate and reset, Farina let Cook up. With 1:25 to wrestle, the Nittany Lion sophomore led 6-3. He added insurance with another takedown at the 1:10 mark, bringing the nearly 3,000 fans to their feet. Farina rode Cook long enough to pick up a riding time edge and then maintained his position for the bout's final second. The thrilling 9-3 win clinched the dual, giving Penn State a 20-15 win.
The Nittany Lions move to 5-1 while Lock Haven falls to 2-3. Missing two starters, Penn State split the bouts with LHU 5-5 but grabbed the win with five bonus points to none for Lock Haven.
Penn State will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 7, when it treks to Ithaca for a battle with No. 13 Cornell. Its next home dual is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 28, when Ohio State comes to Rec Hall. All Penn State duals will be heard live on WBLF AM and WKVA AM as well as streamed for free at GoPSUsports.com. Season and single-match tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by calling the Penn State ticket office at 814-863-1000 or 800-833-5533 for more information. Fans can also get tickets at GoPSUsports.com. This year's season ticket prices are $24 for adults and $18 for students. Single dual prices are $5 per event for adults and $3 per event for youth. All of Penn State's matches can be heard locally on WBLF 970 AM and at GoPSUsports.com.
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