Penn State crushes Ohio State in Columbus

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 1 Penn State (11-0, 7-0 B1G) crushed No. 3 Ohio State (8-2, 4-2 B1G) in a Big Ten road dual in Columbus, Ohio. In a match wrestled in front of over 15,000 fans in OSU’s Value City Arena, Penn State won seven of ten bouts, keeping the Buckeye faithful in check, and rolled to a lop-sided 32-12 victory.

In a dual meet featuring 17 ranked wrestlers, Penn State opened up an early lead that Ohio State could not come back from. The Lions won seven of the first eight bouts and coasted to the victory to increase their dual match win streak to 28 straight dating back to the end of the 2014-15 season. Penn State sent seven underclassmen into the bout against the Buckeyes.

The dual began at 125 where Nittany Lion true freshman Nick Suriano (Paramus, N.J.) dominated No. 18 Jose Rodriguez. Suriano picked up six takedowns and built up 2:34 in riding time on his way to a 19-4 technical fall at the 7:00 mark. Ohio State answered at 133 where No. 1 Nathan Tomasello notched a 22-7 tech fall over Lion Sophomore George Carpenter (Chapel Hill, N.C.), tying the dual at 5-5. Senior Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), ranked No. 11 at 141, posted a pivotal 5-3 win over No. 15 Luke Pletcher to give the Nittany Lions an 8-5 lead.

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Junior Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 149, stayed unbeaten with a dominating 20-5 technical fall over No. 5 Micah Jordan. Retherford used four takedowns and two four-point turns to roll to the lopsided win over the fifth-ranked Buckeye. Sophomore Jason Nolf (Yatesboro, Pa.) gave Penn State a 19-5 lead at intermission with a fast fall over Ohio State’s Anthony DeCarlo. Nolf got his 10th pin of the year at the 1:36 mark.

Red-shirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 4 at 165, continued Penn State’s dominance by majoring Cody Burcher 11-1, putting Penn State up 23-5 after six matches. True freshman Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 7 at 174, dominated Buckeye Justin Kresevic, working his way to a 13-3 lead before locking his shoulders and tossing him for a pin at the 5:21 mark. The fall, Hall’s 10th of the year, gave Penn State an insurmountable 29-5 lead. Sophomore Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas), ranked No. 2 at 184, dominated No. 10 Myles Martin from start to finish, picking up three takedowns and a reversal to roll to an 8-2 win.

Junior Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.), ranked No. 9 at 197, lost a hard-fought 9-6 decision to No. 4 Kollin Moore at 197, cutting Penn State’s lead to 32-8. Sophomore Nick Nevills (Clovis, Calif.), ranked No. 3 at 285, took on defending NCAA Champion and top-ranked Kyle Snyder in the dual’s final bout. Snyder posted a strong 19-9 major but Penn State posted the 32-12 victory.

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Penn State posted a slim 26-24 edge in takedowns with Ohio State’s Tomasello and Snyder accounting for 18 of OSU’s 24 (nine each). The Nittany Lions continued to dominate their completion, staying unbeaten and winning each dual meet so far by 15 points (26-11 at Iowa) or more. Sanderson’s squad picked up 11 bonus points off two pins (Nolf, Hall), two technical falls (Suriano, Retherford) and a major (Joseph).

Retherford is 16-0 with 11 pins, a forfeit, two techs and a major. Nolf is 16-0 with ten pins, a major and four techs. Nickal is 15-0 with 11 pins and two majors this season. The Nittany Lions are now 11-0, 7-0 in the Big Ten, and winners of 28 straight duals. Ohio State falls to 8-2, 4-2 in the Big Ten.

Penn State returns to Rec Hall for two home duals next weekend. Action begins with a meeting with Illinois on Friday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions then host Maryland on Sunday at 2 p.m. in their home finale, which will also serve as Senior Day.