Penn State handed Michigan its first conference loss of the season on Sunday.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- No. 1 Penn State (12-0, 7-0 in conference) dominated No. 10 Michigan (10-2, 5-1 in conference) in front of a sold out Rec Hall crowd on Sunday, rolling to a 35-7 victory. The Nittany Lions won eight of ten bouts in front of a White Out crowd of over 6,500, handing Michigan its first conference loss of the year.
The dual began at 125 where senior Nico Megaludis, ranked No. 4 nationally, dominated Conor Youtsey, rolling to a 10-4 win with 1:58 in riding time. Classmate Jordan Conaway, ranked No. 5 at 133, controlled No. 17 Rossi Bruno on his way to a 9-4 win with 2:27 in riding time to put Penn State up 6-0. Junior Jimmy Gulibon, ranked No. 14 at 141, kept Penn State rolling with a strong 9-4 win over George Fisher, including 2:30 in riding time.
Sophomore Zain Retherford, ranked No. 1 at 149, continued to excel against the nation's best. The Lion sophomore rolled up a big lead over No. 6 Alex Pantaleo before pinning the Wolverine at the 6:35 mark to put Penn State up 15-0. It was Retherford's ninth fall of the year and improved the Lion to 21-0. Red-shirt freshman Jason Nolf, ranked No. 1 at 157, stayed perfect on the year as well (22-0), rolling to a lop-sided 22-6 win over No. 9 Brian Murphy. Penn State carried a 20-0 lead into the mid-dual intermission.
Redshirt freshman Shakur Rasheed, ranked No. 17 at 165, posted a hard-fought 6-5 win over Garrett Sutton to keep Penn State's shut-out alive. Redshirt freshman Bo Nickal, ranked No. 1 at 174, took an early lead on No. 13 Davonte Mahomes before the Wolverine had to injury default, giving Penn State a 29-0 lead. With No. 9 Matt McCutcheonheld out with an injury, junior Brian Brill stepped in at 184 and dropped a tough 9-2 decision to No. 8 Domenic Abounader.
Senior Morgan McIntosh, ranked No. 1 at 197, received a forfeit victory at 197 to remain unbeaten on the year (20-0). True freshman Jan Johnson was game against No. 4 Adam Coon at 285, losing a tough 15-5 major to the Michigan All-American. The final bout sent Penn State home with a lop-sided 35-7 victory, helping it remain unbeaten on the year.
The Nittany Lions are now 12-0, 7-0 in the Big Ten, while Michigan falls to 10-2, 5-1 (suffering its first conference loss of the year). Penn State posted a 22-14 takedown advantage and picked up 11 bonus points off a pin (Retherford), a tech fall (Nolf) and two forfeits (Nickal inj. def.; McIntosh forfeit).
