There’s No Place Like Home: No. 4 Penn State beats No. 12 Stanford 36-6 in Rec Hall
Penn State wrestling made its return to Rec Hall this past Sunday.
The crowd hiked up Burrowes Street bundled in sweatshirts and jackets. The gym filled to the brim with standing room only options the whole way up to the track. And the students took their seats on the floor next to the mats.
The Nittany Lions delivered a 36-6 win over Stanford for the home crowd, including four pins from Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, Bo Nickal and Jered Cortez.
The team also tallied three upset wins. Unranked senior Geno Morelli beat No. 13 Jim Wilson in a 6-3 decision at 174. Sophomore No. 14 Nick Nevills upset Stanford’s No. 10 heavyweight Nathan Butler, 3-1. And last but not least, the primetime bout at 125, freshman No. 12 Nick Suriano beat No. 4 Connor Schram, 3-0.
Redshirt freshman No. 8 Vincenzo Joseph and senior No. 12 Jimmy Gulibon were the only two Lions to lose on Sunday, but both well-fought and exciting matches.
Suriano takes the cake with the featured match of the day and a memorable debut in front of a home crowd. He set the quick pace in the first period and forced Schram to stay in the middle of the mat. He didn’t connect on any shots, but he forced a stall warning on Schram and ended the first 0-0.
The Nittany Lion chose down to start the second and escaped to make it 1-0. He continued to press and force an opportunity for a takedown. Schram got the second stall warning called and Suriano went up 2-0 heading into the third.
With Schram down to start the third, Suriano looked to take control on top and build a riding time. After a stall warning on Suriano and a reset, the Nittany Lion did just that and clinched 1:53 in riding time. That secured the 3-0 upset win for Suriano and started up the momentum for the second half of the dual.
Penn State stands at 2-0 and the win over Stanford marked coach Cael Sanderson’s 100th win at Penn State.
Next up, the Nittany Lions travel to Philadelphia on Sunday, Nov. 20 for the Keystone Classic tournament.
BOUT BY BOUT:
165: STAN Keaton Subjeck dec. PSU #8 Vincenzo Joseph, 18-12
174: PSU Geno Morelli dec. STAN #13 Jim Wilson, 6-3
184: PSU #3 Bo Nickal pinned Austin Flores, WBF (6:21)
197: PSU #16 Matt McCutcheon dec. STAN Josh Marchok, 3-2
285: PSU #14 Nick Nevills dec. STAN #10 Nathan Butler, 3-1
125: PSU #12 Nick Suriano dec. STAN #4 Connor Schram, 3-0
133: PSU #9 Jered Cortez pinned STAN Peter Russo, WBF (2:40)
141: STAN #2 Joey McKenna dec. PSU #12 Jimmy Gulibon, 6-2
149: PSU #1 Zain Retherford pinned STAN Tommy Pawelski, WBF (2:16)
157: PSU #1 Jason Nolf pinned STAN Paul Fox, WBF (5:46)
The crowd hiked up Burrowes Street bundled in sweatshirts and jackets. The gym filled to the brim with standing room only options the whole way up to the track. And the students took their seats on the floor next to the mats.
The Nittany Lions delivered a 36-6 win over Stanford for the home crowd, including four pins from Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, Bo Nickal and Jered Cortez.
The team also tallied three upset wins. Unranked senior Geno Morelli beat No. 13 Jim Wilson in a 6-3 decision at 174. Sophomore No. 14 Nick Nevills upset Stanford’s No. 10 heavyweight Nathan Butler, 3-1. And last but not least, the primetime bout at 125, freshman No. 12 Nick Suriano beat No. 4 Connor Schram, 3-0.
Redshirt freshman No. 8 Vincenzo Joseph and senior No. 12 Jimmy Gulibon were the only two Lions to lose on Sunday, but both well-fought and exciting matches.
Suriano takes the cake with the featured match of the day and a memorable debut in front of a home crowd. He set the quick pace in the first period and forced Schram to stay in the middle of the mat. He didn’t connect on any shots, but he forced a stall warning on Schram and ended the first 0-0.
The Nittany Lion chose down to start the second and escaped to make it 1-0. He continued to press and force an opportunity for a takedown. Schram got the second stall warning called and Suriano went up 2-0 heading into the third.
With Schram down to start the third, Suriano looked to take control on top and build a riding time. After a stall warning on Suriano and a reset, the Nittany Lion did just that and clinched 1:53 in riding time. That secured the 3-0 upset win for Suriano and started up the momentum for the second half of the dual.
Penn State stands at 2-0 and the win over Stanford marked coach Cael Sanderson’s 100th win at Penn State.
Next up, the Nittany Lions travel to Philadelphia on Sunday, Nov. 20 for the Keystone Classic tournament.
BOUT BY BOUT:
165: STAN Keaton Subjeck dec. PSU #8 Vincenzo Joseph, 18-12
174: PSU Geno Morelli dec. STAN #13 Jim Wilson, 6-3
184: PSU #3 Bo Nickal pinned Austin Flores, WBF (6:21)
197: PSU #16 Matt McCutcheon dec. STAN Josh Marchok, 3-2
285: PSU #14 Nick Nevills dec. STAN #10 Nathan Butler, 3-1
125: PSU #12 Nick Suriano dec. STAN #4 Connor Schram, 3-0
133: PSU #9 Jered Cortez pinned STAN Peter Russo, WBF (2:40)
141: STAN #2 Joey McKenna dec. PSU #12 Jimmy Gulibon, 6-2
149: PSU #1 Zain Retherford pinned STAN Tommy Pawelski, WBF (2:16)
157: PSU #1 Jason Nolf pinned STAN Paul Fox, WBF (5:46)
