2012 Men’s Basketball
Championship
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State followed up a win against Iowa with yet another statement victory by hammering visiting Ohio State 34-9 in a key Big Ten dual. Penn State won eight of 10 bouts in front of a sold out Rec Hall crowd of nearly 7,000 fans, not giving up a single takedown in its eight victories against the fifth-ranked Buckeyes.
| TOP 25 SCORES |
|---|
| No. 1 Oklahoma State 35, Bucknell 6 |
| No. 2 Penn State 34, No. 5 Ohio State 9 |
| No. 6 Iowa 19, No. 3 Minnesota 17 |
| No. 4 Cornell 28, Iowa State 12 |
| No. 7 Nebraska 36, Wisconsin 0 |
| No. 8 Illinois 29, Indiana 10 |
| No. 10 Oklahoma 22, No. 14 Lehigh 16 |
| No. 11 Michigan 26, Michigan State 9 |
| No. 22 Virginia 22, No. 13 Maryland 14 |
| No. 21 Central Michigan 22, No. 16 Kent State 13 |
| No. 18 Northwestern 21, Purdue 18 |
| No. 24 Hofstra 23, Penn 13 |
True freshman Nico Megaludis, ranked No. 8 at 125, opened up the dual with a dominating 6-2 win against No. 15 Johnni Dejulius with 2:41 in riding time. Buckeye Logan Stieber, ranked No. 3 at 133, then pinned Nittany Lion sophomore Frank Martellotti at the 1:38 mark. At 141, Lion junior Bryan Pearsall battled No. 6 Hunter Stieber tough before dropping a 9-5 decision, giving the Buckeyes a 9-3 lead.
Three-time All-American Frank Molinaro, ranked No. 1 at 149, began a Penn State onslaught with a thorough dismantling of Ohio State’s Alex Gordon. Molinaro posted a 12-0 major with an impressive 5:20 in riding time. Redshirt freshman Dylan Alton then hammered No. 20 John Demas, shutting out the ranked Buckeye 4-0 with 1:28 in riding time to give Penn State a 10-9 lead heading into the halftime break.
Coming out of the locker room, All-American David Taylor, ranked No. 1 at 165, posted a devastating 18-3 tech fall against Ohio State’s Derek Garcia (6:20).
Keeping the Lion train rolling, All-American Ed Ruth ranked No. 2 at 174, pinned No. 8 Nick Heflin in the first period, getting the fall at the 2:05 mark. Defending national champion Quentin Wright, ranked No. 2 at 184, then pinned Buckeye Craig Thomas at the 3:18 mark for Penn State’s third consecutive bonus-point win. In a much-anticipated bout at 197, Lion freshman Morgan McIntosh, ranked No. 12 at 197, took care of No. 20 Andrew Campolattano with a 5-4 win.
Senior heavyweight Cameron Wade ranked No. 6 at heavyweight, then took care of No. 16 Peter Capone, posting a 9-0 major with 3:00 in riding time to cap off the 34-9 win.
The Nittany Lions are now 9-1 overall, 5-1 in the Big Ten, while Ohio State falls to 9-3, 3-3. The Nittany Lions dominated the match from start to finish, winning eight of 10 bouts, notching 10 bonus points off two pins, a tech fall and two majors, and winning the takedown war by a gaudy 16-4 margin. Penn State did not give up a single takedown in its eight victories and had five wrestlers get riding time points.
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