Penn State Downs Iowa 24-12 in National Wrestling Showdown

By
Updated: December 21, 2013

Penn State uses three majors to roll to victory, Penn State’s first in CHA since 2006

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 21, 2013 – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of head coach Cael Sanderson, trekked to Iowa City, Iowa, for a non-conference dual meet with Big Ten rival Iowa.  Penn State won the dual, wrestled in front of almost 14,000 fans in Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena while a snow storm rolled into Iowa City, 24-12, winning seven of ten bouts.

The dual meet began at 125, where Nittany Lion junior Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.), ranked No. 3, got Penn State off to a hot start with a sound 4-1 win over Iowa’s Thomas Gilman at 125.  Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), ranked No. 15 at 133, battled No.3 Tony Ramos into the third period before Ramos got the fall at the 5:22 mark. True freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), now ranked No. 2 at 141, used a third period takedown and a long ride out to post a strong 4-2 win over No. 9 Josh Dziewa to tie the bout at 6-6.

At 149, red-shirt freshman Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) silenced the Carver-Hawkeye crowd with a swift five-point throw as his bout ended, breaking a 1-1 tie as he went on to down Iowa’s Michael Kelly 6-1, putting Penn State up 9-6. Senior James Vollrath (Richboro, Pa.) battled top-ranked and defending national champion Derek St. John tough at 157 before dropping a 10-4 decision, sending the dual into halftime tied 9-9.

Senior David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), ranked No. 1 at 165, gave Penn State a 13-9 lead after intermission with a dominating 12-3 major over No. 4 Nick Moore.  Taylor rolled up 4:13 in riding time to post the win.  Junior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah), ranked No. 3 at 174, then controlled No. 6 Mike Evans with a third period ride out.  That, combined with a first period takedown gave the Lion All-American an impressive 4-1 win, putting Penn State up 16-9.

Senior Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 184, then  took care of No. 2 Ethan Lofthouse, rolling to a 12- 4 major with 2:21 in riding time. .  Sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.), ranked No. 3 at 197, then clinched the dual meet win with a dominating 16-4 major over Hawkeye Sam Brooks, putting Penn State up 20-9.  Junior Jimmy Lawson (Tom’s River, N.J.), ranked No. 12 at 285, nearly pulled off the upset of the night with a third period reversal of No. 3 Bobby Telford.  But the Hawkeye was able to reverse Lawson as the final seconds wound down and escaped with a 3-2 win, dealing Lawson his first loss of the season, making the dual final at 24-12 Penn State.

Penn State improves to 7-0, 1-0 in the Big Ten (the dual was a non-conference match-up).  Iowa falls to 6-1, 0-0 Big Ten. Taylor and Ruth continue to climb the Penn State career charts. Taylor is now 112-3, tied for 15th all-time at Penn State.  105 of his 112 wins are for bonus points as well.  He now has 54 dual meet wins, tied for 9th all-time. Ruth moves to 114-2 overall, tied for 13th all-time at Penn State.  The dual win marks Penn State’s first victory in Carver-Hawkeye Arena since a 21-12 win on Feb. 3, 2006.  The Lions won the takedown battle 18-10 and notched three majors on their way to victory.

Penn State was without the services of No. 7 Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) at 149 and No. 5 Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) at 157.  The twins are slated for a late December return after off-season surgeries.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *