Powerful Nittany Lions roll to big win at Iowa
By Craig Sesker IOWA CITY, Iowa – Penn State sent a strong message to the rest of the college wrestling world heading into the holiday break.
The top-ranked Nittany Lions are load- ing up for a run at winning their fourth straight NCAA team title. Visiting Penn State was missing two
starters, but still flexed plenty of muscle in a 24-12 win over No. 2 Iowa before 13,747 fans on Dec. 21 at Carver- Hawkeye Arena. The Nittany Lions won 7 of 10 bouts before a huge Hawkeye crowd that gath- ered despite a batch of bad winter weath- er in Iowa.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “It’s still early in the season and we can still make a lot of progress. That’s kind of our plan, to get better each match. This gives us a good idea of what we need to work on when you wrestle against a good team like Iowa.”
The teams agreed to meet after not being scheduled to meet in a Big Ten Conference dual this year. “You have to go forward and put it behind you,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “We got blown off our home mat. I think they had first-period takedowns in eight matches. Those are things that can- not happen if you’re going to win match- es. The only thing good that happened was for them.” Penn State held an 18-10 edge in total
takedowns, including a 15-0 edge in the final five bouts after intermission. NCAA champion and top-ranked David
Taylor of Penn State looked dominant in notching a 12-3 major decision over Iowa’s Nick Moore at 165. “We are an offensive team and we are going out there to score points,” Taylor said. “You got to go out against a team like Iowa and put it on the line. We need to build leads and keep wrestling hard. We knew what to expect coming in here. I’m really proud of our guys. We wrestled hard. This was a good win and a good challenge for us. We need to keep work- ing to improve.” NCAA runner-up Matt Brown of Penn
14 USA Wrestler
Penn State true freshman Zain Retherford, a Cadet World champion, rallied from an early deficit to defeat Iowa’s Josh Dziewa at 141 pounds. Darren Miller photo.
State shot in on a first-period takedown en route to a 4-1 win over Iowa All- American Mike Evans at 174. Evans beat Brown in a dual meet here last season. Two-time NCAA champion and top- ranked Ed Ruth of Penn State earned a 12-4 major decision over No. 2 Ethen Lofthouse of Iowa at 184. Ruth controlled the match by scoring five takedowns on an array of leg shots. Ruth, a senior, has won 80 straight matches in college. He hasn’t lost since his freshman year.
“Ed Ruth did a great job,” Sanderson said. “Lofthouse is strong and he’s tough to finish on. Ed kept shooting and found a way to get a major. Ed’s a machine.” Penn State clinched the team win when sophomore Morgan McIntosh downed Iowa’s Sammy Brooks 16-4 at 197. All-American Bobby Telford of Iowa used a late reversal to rally past PSU’s Jimmy Lawson 3-2 at heavyweight. NCAA runner-up Tony Ramos of Iowa took charge with three first-period take- downs and then finished off PSU fresh- man Jimmy Gulibon for a fall early in the third period at 133 as the huge crowd
erupted.
“I could feel him getting tired,” Ramos said. “When you’re tired and you’re worn out and getting beat on, you’re going to make a mistake and slip up somewhere.” Cadet World champion Zain Retherford of Penn State fired in on a leg attack and finished for a third-period takedown in downing Iowa’s Josh Dziewa 4-2 at 141. “Zain Retherford wrestles with a maturi- ty that you don’t see very many guys have at the college level, and he’s a true freshman,” Taylor said. “He’s a very spe- cial kid. He loves the limelight.” PSU’s Zack Beitz hit a five-point move
with a takedown and three-point near fall to break a 1-1 tie late in downing Iowa’s Michael Kelly 6-1 at 149. NCAA champion Derek St. John of Iowa downed Penn State backup James Vollrath 10-4 at 157. St. John has placed fourth, second and first in the NCAAs. Two-time NCAA runner-up Nico Megaludis of Penn State shot in on a leg attack and finished for a takedown late in the second period en route to a 4-1 win over Iowa freshman Thomas Gilman to start the dual at 125.
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