IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Top-ranked Penn State won the dual 24-12 and won 7 of 10 bouts against No. 3 Iowa in front of almost 14,000 fans in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The dual meet began at 125, where Nittany Lion junior Nico Megaludis, ranked No. 3, got Penn State off to a hot start with a sound 4-1 win against Iowa's Thomas Gilman at 125. Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon, 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, now ranked No. 2 at 141, used a third-period takedown and a long ride out to post a strong 4-2 win against No. 9 Josh Dziewa to tie the bout at 6-6.
At 149, red-shirt freshman Zack Beitz 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 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, ranked No. 1 at 165, gave Penn State a 13-9 lead after intermission with a dominating 12-3 major against No. 4 Nick Moore. Taylor rolled up 4:13 in riding time to post the win. Junior Matt Brown, 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, 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, ranked No. 3 at 197, then clinched the dual meet win with a dominating 16-4 major against Hawkeye Sam Brooks, putting Penn State up 20-9. Junior Jimmy Lawson, 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. Out of his 112 wins, 105 are for bonus points as well. He now has 54 dual meet wins, tied for ninth 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 at 149 and No. 5 Dylan Alton at 157. The twins are slated for a late December return after off-season surgeries.
