Penn State wrestlers handle Rutgers, 37-6
Penn State checked Rutgers off the scheduled Friday night to move to flawless 7-0 record, 3-0 in the Big Ten.
The Lions managed two pins, three tech falls and one major decision to propel them to a 37-6 victory.
With Jered Cortez still out at 133, sophomore George Carpenter dropped the second bout of the evening followed by a loss from senior No. 12 Jimmy Gulibon at 141.
The Scarlet Knights took an early and brief lead until Retherford took the reigns and Penn State won-out from there.
The most exciting bout was No. 11 Matt McCutcheon’s 4-3 win at 197. McCutcheon was coming off of two consecutive losses and needed to break the rut. He shot first at the beginning of the bout and scored a low single for a 2-0 lead. Iowa freshman Matthew Correnti escaped and ended the first 2-1. McCutcheon chose down and escaped in the second and stepped up his defense to keep his lead to 3-1 at the end of the second. Correnti chose down to start the third and rolled for a reversal to tie things up. McCutcheon worked for an escape and kept up a steady defense for the final 1:20 to win 4-3.
One of Penn State’s “wrestler’s-to-watch” is 165-pounder and redshirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph. The Pittsburgh-native has been slowly creeping up in the rankings and put up an impressive tech fall victory against Rutgers. He had one loss early in the season against Stanford, but bounced back with a first place win at the Keystone Classic tournament. He’s been winning ever since and Penn State will be counting on him for a big win against an unranked Iowa opponent.
Penn State hits the road again this weekend for one of the biggest matchups of this season– No.3 Iowa. The two teams have been neck and neck in the rankings week after week. Eight of Iowa’s ten starting wrestlers are ranked in the top twenty of the Intermat rankings.
No. 1 Retherford and No. 1 Nolf will both be facing No. 2 wrestlers. No. 3 Suriano will be facing the top-ranked lightweight and No. 5 Nevills will take on Iowa’s No. 6 ranked heavyweight. The match starts at 9 p.m. and will be aired on the Big Ten Network.
BOUT BY BOUT:
125: PSU #3 Nick Suriano maj. dec. RU Brandon Paetzell, 16-2
133: RU Scott DelVecchio dec. PSU George Carpenter, 11-4
141: RU #6 Anthony Ashnault dec. PSU #12 Jimmy Gulibon, 4-1
149: PSU #1 Zain Retherford pinned RU #14 Ken Theobold, WBF (5:33)
157: PSU #1 Jason Nolf tech fall RU #16 John Van Brill, 22-4 (TF; 4:09)
165: PSU #4 Vincenzo Joseph tech fall RU Willie Scott, 19-3 (TF; 4:55)
174: PSU #14 Geno Morelli dec. RU Phillip Bakuckas, 5-3
184: PSU #2 Bo Nickal pinned RU #14 Nicholas Gravina, WBF (4:22)
197: PSU #11 Matt McCutcheon dec. RU Matthew Correnti, 4-3
285: PSU #5 Nick Nevills tech fall RU Randy Normandia, 24-9 (TF; 6:57)
The Lions managed two pins, three tech falls and one major decision to propel them to a 37-6 victory.
With Jered Cortez still out at 133, sophomore George Carpenter dropped the second bout of the evening followed by a loss from senior No. 12 Jimmy Gulibon at 141.
The Scarlet Knights took an early and brief lead until Retherford took the reigns and Penn State won-out from there.
The most exciting bout was No. 11 Matt McCutcheon’s 4-3 win at 197. McCutcheon was coming off of two consecutive losses and needed to break the rut. He shot first at the beginning of the bout and scored a low single for a 2-0 lead. Iowa freshman Matthew Correnti escaped and ended the first 2-1. McCutcheon chose down and escaped in the second and stepped up his defense to keep his lead to 3-1 at the end of the second. Correnti chose down to start the third and rolled for a reversal to tie things up. McCutcheon worked for an escape and kept up a steady defense for the final 1:20 to win 4-3.
One of Penn State’s “wrestler’s-to-watch” is 165-pounder and redshirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph. The Pittsburgh-native has been slowly creeping up in the rankings and put up an impressive tech fall victory against Rutgers. He had one loss early in the season against Stanford, but bounced back with a first place win at the Keystone Classic tournament. He’s been winning ever since and Penn State will be counting on him for a big win against an unranked Iowa opponent.
Penn State hits the road again this weekend for one of the biggest matchups of this season– No.3 Iowa. The two teams have been neck and neck in the rankings week after week. Eight of Iowa’s ten starting wrestlers are ranked in the top twenty of the Intermat rankings.
No. 1 Retherford and No. 1 Nolf will both be facing No. 2 wrestlers. No. 3 Suriano will be facing the top-ranked lightweight and No. 5 Nevills will take on Iowa’s No. 6 ranked heavyweight. The match starts at 9 p.m. and will be aired on the Big Ten Network.
BOUT BY BOUT:
125: PSU #3 Nick Suriano maj. dec. RU Brandon Paetzell, 16-2
133: RU Scott DelVecchio dec. PSU George Carpenter, 11-4
141: RU #6 Anthony Ashnault dec. PSU #12 Jimmy Gulibon, 4-1
149: PSU #1 Zain Retherford pinned RU #14 Ken Theobold, WBF (5:33)
157: PSU #1 Jason Nolf tech fall RU #16 John Van Brill, 22-4 (TF; 4:09)
165: PSU #4 Vincenzo Joseph tech fall RU Willie Scott, 19-3 (TF; 4:55)
174: PSU #14 Geno Morelli dec. RU Phillip Bakuckas, 5-3
184: PSU #2 Bo Nickal pinned RU #14 Nicholas Gravina, WBF (4:22)
197: PSU #11 Matt McCutcheon dec. RU Matthew Correnti, 4-3
285: PSU #5 Nick Nevills tech fall RU Randy Normandia, 24-9 (TF; 6:57)
