COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After losing two of the first three matches, No. 10 Nebraska (9-1, 3-1 Big Ten) won six of the last seven en route to a 28-12 victory against No. 11 Ohio State at St. John Arena on Friday night.
Redshirt freshmen Tim Lambert (125) and TJ Dudley (184) each earned pins for the Huskers, while No. 1 James Green (157) added more back points with a major decision. Lambert’s win came in the first bout of the night as he took down No. 16 Nick Roberts in 4:56. Lambert, the No. 9 wrestler by InterMat, improves to 17-6 and picks up his second fall of the season.
No. 5 Jake Sueflohn earned Nebraska’s next victory of the night in the fourth match and started a streak of five consecutive Husker wins. Sueflohn battled No. 18 Ian Paddock to a 4-4 tie after two periods before the Husker junior exploded in the third period for a 9-4 triumph. Sueflohn started the period in the down position and earned a reversal before adding near fall points and tacking on a riding time point.
At 157 pounds, Green used seven takedowns in his 16-4 major decision against Randy Languis. Green, a two-time All-American, is 23-0 on the season and picked up his sixth major decision.
Austin Wilson snapped a three-match losing streak by taking down Ohio State’s Joe Grandominico at 165 pounds. Wilson, a sophomore, earned an early takedown and battled to a scoreless second period to take a 2-0 lead into the final two minutes. Starting the third period in the down position, Wilson escaped before earning a takedown and tacking on an additional point for riding time in a 6-0 win.
Fourth-ranked Robert Kokesh (174) continued Nebraska’s momentum in the following match by defeating No. 14 Mark Martin by a 6-2 margin. The grapplers entered the third period in a tie at zero before Kokesh earned an escape and two takedowns for the final score. Kokesh picks up his 25th win of the season and improves to 10-0 in duals.
At 184 pounds, No. 11 Dudley extended Nebraska’s lead to 25-9 with his pin against No. 8 Kenny Courts in 2:29. The fall marks Dudley’s eighth of the season to tie Kokesh for first among Nebraska starters. Dudley is 21-4 on the season and improves to 9-1 in dual competition.
Collin Jensen capped the NU victory at heavyweight with a 10-4 decision againstNick Tavanello. Jensen, a redshirt freshman, trailed Tavanello 4-1 after the first period before reeling off nine consecutive points against the Buckeye. Starting the second period in the down position, Jensen managed a reversal and near fall before a takedown in the third period and one final near fall.
The Huskers suffered losses at 133, 141 and 197 pounds to ranked Buckeyes. Shawn Nagel dropped a 2-1 decision to No. 5 Johnni DiJulius at 133 pounds before Colton McCrystal was pinned by two-time defending national champion Logan Stieber at 141 pounds. At 197 pounds, No. 20 Caleb Kolb fell by a 3-1 sudden victory to No. 8 Nick Heflin.
No. 1 Penn State 31, No. 15 Illinois 3
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Another standing room only, capacity crowd packed Rec Hall as top-ranked Penn State Nittany Lion took care of No. 11 Illinois in Big Ten wrestling action. Nearly 6,500 fans, the 17th consecutive home sell out for Penn State, cheered on as head coach Cael Sanderson's team win nine of ten bouts to roll to a 31-3 Big Ten dual-meet victory.
Junior All-American Nico Megaludis, ranked No. 2 at 125, got Penn State off to a hot start in a rematch of last year's NCAA title bout. The Lion took down No. 4 Jesse Delgado 5-4 to put Penn State up early and bring yet another capacity crowd to its feet. At 133, Lion freshman Jimmy Gulibon, ranked No. 15, nearly upset No. 11 Zane Richards but the Illini connected on a takedown in extra time to post the 3-1 (sv) decision, briefly tying the dual at 3-3.
Unbeaten true freshman Zain Retherford, ranked No. 2 at 141, majored John Fahy 15-3 to put Penn State up 7-3. Red-shirt freshman Zack Beitz then took down yet another ranked opponent, using a third period reversal to post a 4-2 win against No. 19 Caleb Ervin. Junior All-American Dylan Alton, ranked No. 4 at 157, then took care of No. 12 Zac Brunson 5-2 in only his second dual meet of the year. Alton, who has been slowly returning to action after off-season surgery, stayed unbeaten with the win.
After halftime, senior All-American David Taylor majored No. 12 Jackson Morse 11-3. Taylor, ranked No. 1, at 165, stayed unbeaten with the win. Junior All-American Matt Brown, ranked No. 3 at 174, majored Illinois senior Tony Dallago 12-2 and Penn State was out to a 21-3 lead.
Senior All-American Ed Ruth, ranked No. 2 at 184, rolled to a 14-3 major against Nikko Reyes to continue Penn State's string of bonus points and put the Lions up 25-3. At 197, sophomore Morgan McIntosh, ranked No. 7 at 197, then posted a 10-3 win against Illinois' Jeff Koepke. With 12th-ranked Jimmy Lawson out with an injury, junior Jon Gingrich got the nod at 285, making his second dual meet appearance of the year. Gingrich stepped up in a big way with a strong 6-1 win against Illinois' Chris Lopez, cementing the 31-3 final score.
Penn State stays unbeaten on the year with an 11-0 mark, 4-0 in Big Ten action.
No. 5 UNI 24, No. 7 Missouri 10
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- UNI wrestling stayed perfect with a 24-10 win against No. 7 Missouri on Friday in front of a sold-out crowd at the West Gym.
The Panthers were looking to win a battle they lost last year to Missouri on Military Appreciation night. UNI is among just three teams in the top 10 that remain undefeated (7-0). The only other two teams are Penn State and Cornell.
No. 6 Dylan Peters (125 pounds), No. 1 Joe Colon (133 pounds) and No. 14 Joey Lazor (141 pounds) protected their undefeated status and gave the Panthers a 12-0 lead.
“Those guys having been doing that all year long,” UNI head coach Doug Schwab said. “They set the tone for meet.”
Cooper Moore, a redshirt freshman, continues to knock off ranked opponents with his win against No. 8 Zach Toal, a three-time NCAA qualifier.
UNI ended the night with wins from No. 18 Cody Caldwell at 174 pounds and Blaize Cabell, heavyweight.
All-American Ryan Loder was the only Panther to earn bonus points win his 25-second pin. Loder returned to the regular dual lineup and continues to be undefeated. He hasn’t ever given up bonus points in a match, and he hasn’t lost a dual since the 2011-12 season.
“Getting him back is huge for us,” Schwab said of Loder. “He is a leader for our team.”
Cabell beat Devin Mellon, an NCAA qualifier who is ranked second in the Mid-American Conference.
“Our guys are feeling it. They are believing,” Schwab said.
No. 8 Pittsburgh 25, No. 13 Virginia 9
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh (10-1, 4-0 ACC) won the final four bouts of the day and used a pin from Mikey Racciato to cruise past ACC foe Virginia (13-3, 2-1 ACC) 25-9 on Friday at Fitzgerald Field House.
Anthony Zanetta started the Panthers out with a win at 125 pounds. The senior and UVa’s Nick Herrmann were knotted at 1-1 with a minute to go in the bout before Zanetta struck on a nice high single for the takedown to take the 3-1 lead and rode out Herrmann for the remainder of the period to give Pitt an early 3-0 lead.
The Cavaliers were able to tie the match at 3-3 with a decision at 133 pounds, setting up a key match between Virginia’s 16th-ranked Joe Spisak and 19th-ranked Edgar Bright. Spisak scored the lone takedown of the opening frame to hold a 2-0 lead going into the second. In the second, Bright started on bottom but was able to gain a reversal to even the match. Following a stalemate call, Spisak was called for his third caution on bottom awarding Bright a point. Spisak was able to escape in the third to once again tie the match early in the third before Bright struck on a double near the edge of the mat with a mere 10 seconds left to bring the Fitzgerald Field House to its feet and give Pitt a lead it would not relinquish.
Racciato helped push the Panther lead to nine points after four bouts when he pinned Justin Van Hoose at the 6:46 mark. Racciato was on Van Hoose early, scoring a pair of takedowns in the first and another in the second to lead 6-3 going into the third. Racciato then started down in the third and quickly escaped and went on the offensive, adding yet another takedown. As Van Hoose tried to escape, Raccaito was able to catch him out of position and turn him to his back for the fall.
Virginia earned a pair of decisions at 157 and 165 pounds to cut the Pitt lead to a mere three points before No. 7 Tyler Wilps put in a dominating performance at 174 pounds in a 12-4 major decision against No. 12 Stephen Doty. Wilps scored five takedowns during the match, including a key go-behind near the Virginia bench with under 20 seconds left to push his edge to eight points for the major decision.
The Panthers picked up decisions from Max Thomusseit and Nick Bonaccorsi at 184 and 197 pounds respectively to put the match out of reach at 22-9.
While the final match would not decide the dual this time, P.J. Tasser once again pulled out a thrilling overtime victory. With a quick escape in the first tie breaker period, Tasser went on top and was able to ride out the Cavalier’s Ethan Hayes, who weighed 60 pounds more than Tasser, for the final 30 seconds for the 2-1 decision to finalize the Panther victory 25-9.
No. 9 Oklahoma State 29, No. 18 Iowa State 3
STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State captured a 29-3 win against Big 12 rival and No. 18 Iowa State on Friday in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The win was the Pokes’ first of the season against a ranked opponent.
The Cowboys won nine of the night’s ten bouts and picked up two bonus-point wins.
"In some of those key matches, the ride outs were important,” coach John Smith said. “Although the score was lopsided, it looked like we didn't want to scrap and fight and head-butt and make the match bloody. We were too conservative, with too many 0-0 first periods. It wasn't bad; it just looked like the chemistry isn't there right now. Even with the 29-3 score, some of the matches that we won were not what we need at this point. We need a little bit more than what we're getting."
Action started at 174 pounds with Chris Perry, ranked No. 2 in the nation, taking on No. 16 Tanner Weatherman. Perry scored a first period takedown and Weatherman was not able to recover as Perry took the match 6-4.
At 184 pounds, No. 20 Nolan Boyd battled Lelund Weatherspoon in a match that went into overtime due to a takedown by Weatherspoon with seven seconds left in regulation. In a major scramble with just seconds left in the first sudden victory, Boyd came out on top, defeating Weatherspoon, 11-9.
The Cowboys threw out Kyle Crutchmer to battle the No. 2-ranked and returning All-American Kyven Gadson at 197 pounds. Crutchmer, who weighed in at 179 pounds, gave Gadson a fight. Despite a 17-pound advantage, Gadson was not able to take down Crutchmer until the final 30 seconds of the match, where he walked away with a 3-1 win.
After the tough loss, Austin Marsden and Eddie Klimara answered with a pair of decisions at 285 and 125 pounds, respectively. The two only allowed their opponents a combined total of two points.
Fifth-ranked 133 pounder Jon Morrison gave the Cowboys their first bonus-point win of the night with his 20-6 major decision against Shayden Terukina. The senior collected five takedowns a two three-point nearfalls to secure the win.
No. 18 Anthony Collica added another win for the Cowboys, shutting out Gabe Moreno 4-0 at 141 pounds. All of Collica’s points were scored in the second period, when he escaped after 50 seconds of Moreno on top and then snatched a takedown with 15 seconds left in the period. Collica was also awarded a riding time point to make it four.
Josh Kindig, the nation’s 11th-ranked 149 pounder, defeated Luke Goettl 8-5,and now leads the series between the two 3-0.
Sophomore and third-ranked Alex Dieringer was the other Cowboy to put bonus points on the board. Dieringer defeated John Nicholson 14-3 thanks to his four takedowns and only giving up three escapes.
Finishing of the dual was No. 5 Tyler Caldwell, who faced No. 16 Mike Moreno. Caldwell scored a first period takedown and chose down to start the second. He reversed Moreno and rode him out the rest of the period, contributing to the riding time point he earned.
