Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1454229
M A R C H 2 0 2 2 17 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M FIVE YEARS AGO, 2017 The Nittany Lions set a high bar in the first seven years of Cael Sanderson's ten- ure as their head coach. But even by the program's lofty standards, the perfor- mance they turned in at the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Tournament was spectacular. The Lions sent five wrestlers into the finals of their respective weight classes, and all five emerged victorious. Zain Retherford (149 pounds) and Jason Nolf (157) were both seeded No. 1, and both won handily, Retherford by technical fall and Nolf by major decision. Mark Hall had been seeded fifth at 174, while Bo Nickal was second at 184, and both won deci- sions over higher-seeded opponents. Retherford went on to win Outstand- ing Wrestler honors for the tournament, but the most remarkable performance of the finals was by Vincenzo Joseph in the 165-pound class. Seeded third, Joseph was facing Isaiah Martinez of Illinois, the top seed and two-time defending NCAA champ. Joseph was leading, 6-5, in the third period and had built up more than a minute of riding time, but all that became moot when the redshirt freshman picked Martinez up off the mat and put him on his back for a fall that sent a shockwave rippling through the crowd at the Scot- trade Center in St. Louis. "He's a tough kid," Sanderson said. "You see the look in his eye. He had a great look in his eye during that final match." By the time it was all over, Penn State had compiled 146.5 team points, 36.5 more than second-place Ohio State. It was the team's sixth national champion- ship in seven years. 10 YEARS AGO, 2012 Penn State had shown in 2011 that it was going to be a force under Sanderson, winning the program's first NCAA crown since 1953. In 2012, the Nittany Lions hinted that they had the potential to become a dy- nasty. They won their second consecu- tive national title, compiling 143.5 points in the team race to easily outdistance Minnesota (117.5) and Iowa (107.5). And they did it with a youthful lineup. Of the five Penn Staters who made the finals that year — Nico Megaludis (125), Frank Molinaro (149), David Taylor (165), Ed Ruth (174) and Quentin Wright (184) — only Molinaro was in his final year of eligibility. Taylor and Ruth were both sophomores. Megaludis was only a freshman. Taylor, Ruth and Molinaro each won individual NCAA titles. Molinaro was competing in his final tournament at Penn State. Undefeated and seeded first, he found himself facing a familiar op- ponent in the final in Minnesota's sev- enth-seeded Dylan Ness. The two had met three times already that season, with Molinaro winning all three bouts. He won the fourth, too, building up nearly two minutes of riding time in posting a 4-1 decision for his first national cham- pionship. Taylor and Ruth would be back. Be- tween them, they claimed five individ- ual NCAA titles and were among the top performers on four national champion- ship teams at Penn State. 25 YEARS AGO, 1997 It was a winter of discontent for Penn State basketball. The men's team wrapped up a difficult regular season with a 56-55 upset of vis- iting Ohio State on March 1. The Nittany Lions had won just two of their previous 17 Big Ten games in Jerry Dunn's second season as head coach, but they managed to prevail over the Buckeyes in the fi- nal weekend of the regular season and headed to the conference tournament at the Meadowlands in New Jersey with a bit of momentum. It didn't last. In their tourney opener, Iowa brought a quick and decisive end to the Nittany Lions' season, thrashing them, 81-55. The Lions, who had gone 21-7 and reached the NCAA Tournament in Dunn's first season, finished 10-17. Meanwhile, the Lady Lions didn't just miss out on March Madness; they missed out on March itself. Their season ended on the final day of February, with an 80- 79 loss to Ohio State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. Penn State finished 15-12 and sat out the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in Rene Portland's first 17 seasons as head coach. — Matt Herb This Month in Penn State Athletics History Assistant coach Casey Cunningham led the celebration at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis after Vincenzo Joseph shocked the collegiate wrestling world in 2017 by pinning two-time defending champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois in the 165-pound title match at the NCAA Championships. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS