EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Penn State remained unbeaten on the year, pinning its way to a 42-3 win at Michigan State on Friday night. Head coach Cael Sanderson's crew recorded four falls in the Big Ten road win.
The dual began at 157 pounds, where junior All-American Dylan Alton, ranked No. 4 at 157 pounds, stayed unbeaten with a solid 8-3 win against Roger Wildmo. All-American David Taylor, ranked No. 1 at 165 pounds, remained unbeaten as well with a first-period pin of Bobby Nash. Taylor got the fall at the 1:53 mark, his 11th of the season and the 48th of his career.
All-American Matt Brown, ranked No. 3 at 174, then dominated Spartan Nick Kaczanowski, rolling to an 18-3 technical fall at the 7:00 mark, including 4:48 in riding time. All-American Ed Ruth, ranked No. 2 at 184 pounds, matched Taylor with a first-period pin of his own, getting a quick pin of John Rizqallah at the 0:38 mark. Sophomore Morgan McIntosh, ranked No. 3 at 197 pounds, continued Penn State's pin-parade, locking up a second-period cradle to pin Nick McDiarmid at the 4:23 mark. The win sent Penn State into intermission with a 26-0 lead.
Junior Nick Ruggear got the nod at 285 and led into the third period against No. 7 Mike McClure. But McClure rallied late for the 5-1 decision, putting the Spartans on the board. At 125 pounds, Nittany Lion Jordan Conaway stepped in for second-ranked Nico Megaludis. Megaludis did not make the weekend trip after being sick all week. Conaway, a national qualifier last year at 133 pounds, dominated MSU's Brenan Lyon, posting a 15-4 major decision.
Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon, ranked No. 16 at 133 pounds, followed with strong performance of his own in a 10-3 decision with more than 2:00 in riding time. Undefeated true freshman Zain Retherford, ranked No. 2 at 141, stayed unbeaten, pinning Brian Gibbs at the 4:42 mark. Junior Andrew Alton took to the mat at 149 pounds and closed out a dominant Penn State performance with a 9-5 victory against Spartan Nick Trimble.
Penn State posted a lop-sided 23-2 edge in takedown and notched four pins, the most in a dual this year for the Nittany Lions. The Nittany Lions move to 12-0 on the year, 6-0 in Big Ten action, while Michigan State falls to 5-9, 0-6 Big Ten.
No. 3 Iowa 31, No. 19 Northwestern 6
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Cory Clark and Tony Ramos opened with bonus points and Iowa won eight of 10 matches to defeat No. 19 Northwestern 31-6 on Friday night inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Clark opened with a major decision, Ramos followed with a pin, and Iowa (12-2, 5-1) won eight of 10 matches to win its ninth in a row in the series and improve to 5-0 on the road against top 25 teams.
Clark -- who was making his first appearance since Dec. 30 -- used two takedowns, a reversal, three nearfall points and 3:34 of riding time to win his Big Ten debut, 10-1, at 125.
Ramos, ranked No. 3 at 133 pounds, led 2-1 after the first period before scoring five takedowns in the second to build a 13-5 lead. He started on top in the third and locked up an inside cradle to record a fall in 5:24. It was his team-high 10th pin of the season.
Ninth-ranked Josh Dziewa had a takedown erased after at the end of regulation, but he escaped at the 18-second mark of the first tiebreak to win 5-4 at 141 pounds.
Fourth-ranked Jason Tsirtsis put the Wildcats on the board with a 5-2 win against No. 12 Brody Grothus at 149 pounds. Top-ranked Derek St. John then extended Iowa's lead to 16-3 with an 8-3 decision at 157 pounds. St. John used three takedowns and 1:46 of riding time to earn his 97th career win.
Following the intermission, fourth-ranked Nick Moore and No. 16 Nathan Burak both earned wins against ranked opponents. Moore never trailed in his 7-3 win against No. 6 Pierce Harger, and Burak finished a single-leg in the first sudden victory to defeat No. 17 Alex Polizzi 3-1.
Northwestern (6-6, 1-6) forfeited at 174 pounds, and Ethen Lofthouse returned to the lineup with an 11-5 win at 184 pounds. Lofthouse, who was making his first appearance in nearly four weeks, scored two takedowns in the first, two in the second, and piled 2:30 of riding time.
Northwestern won the final bout when No. 3 Mike McMullan defeated top-ranked Bobby Telford 3-1 in overtime.
No. 9 Oklahoma State 28, No. 10 Missouri 6
STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State beat down the No. 10 Missouri Tigers 28-6 in front of almost 3,000 fans at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Friday.
The night was highlighted by four major decisions coming from Eddie Klimara (125 pounds), Tyler Caldwell (165 pounds), Chris Perry (174 pounds) and Jordan Rogers (184 pounds).
"We've had a bit of a tougher schedule, and it's hard to get on a roll when you're losing a match, winning a match, losing a match like we did," coach John Smith said. "You just have to work that much harder. You have to recognize it's within us to do these things that we're talking about. We just have to make sure we execute in practice and understand that it's a mental game from this point forward."
