Penn State Sports Magazine
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lineup who will be making their career post- season debut, and no dominant top-seeded wrestlers, Penn State will enter as an underdog. It is the fourth-ranked team at the tournament a=er redshirting the entire incoming freshman class in addition to returning All-Americans Nico Megaludis and Zain Retherford. It's been what many consider a "reload year" in Rec Hall a=er winning the past four straight NCAA and Big Ten crowns. But PSU can't yet be completely counted out of another title run. All 10 wrestlers have the ability to win at least a couple matches, even if they're in the wrestle-backs, and with smaller bracket sizes compared to the NCAA tourna- ment, the Nittany Lions' depth could be what li=s it into contention. "At the Big Tens [there are] fewer teams, fewer matches, fewer opportunities for bonus points," Sanderson said. "It is a different type of a tour- nament. To win the Big Tens, it helps to have 10 guys scoring points. That helps at the national tournament as well, but to win at nationals you have to have guys placing real high." While half of PSU's wrestlers are seeded in the top five, Iowa and Ohio State both have seven and they each lead the field with three No. 1 seeds. Like PSU, Minnesota has five top- five seeds. It also has the No. 1 seed at 133. Sanderson: Frey is our guy A=er getting the start in two of the final three dual meets, Sanderson confirmed Tuesday that Frey, a native of Montoursville, Pa., will be the postseason option for PSU at 157. In a recent wrestle-off, Frey beat Dylan Alton, who was the postseason starter at this weight for the past three years but has missed most of the year due to injury. "Dylan went in for a takedown attempt right away and you could just see he just didn't have it [in] his arm, his shoulder," Sanderson said as he described the wrestle-off. "His shoulder keeps coming out of place. Dylan, to his credit, finished the match. Luke's our guy. He wrestled tough. He wrestled solid. Our heart goes out to both the Al- tons. They're seniors, and to be injured again, that's unfortunate. It's one small piece of life, wrestling is. Luke's got that opportunity to go wrestle for Penn State now." Sanderson added that they will explore a pos- sible medical hardship waiver for Andrew Alton, who has missed the entire season recov- ering from a knee injury. He also missed last postseason due to a shoulder injury. The chances of gaining an additional year of elig- bility, however, appear to be slim. Lawson to open up Similiar to Frey, Lawson secured the postsea- son heavyweight spot a=er a late-season wres- tle-off against last year's qualifier Jon Gingrich. Instead of it being his debut, though, Lawson returns to the Big Ten tourney for the second time in his career. A=er an eighth-place finish in 2013, Lawson enters 2015 as a No. 5 seed. With a 12-1 record and ranked No. 7 in the country, if Lawson is able to open up his offense there's reason to be- lieve that he can improve upon both his previ- ous finish and his current seed. "He has the potential," Sanderson said. "He has the big double-leg [takedowns]. We haven't seen many of those lately, but generally speaking, if there's action, he's going to come out on top. It's just a matter of throwing him- self in there a little bit more and taking some risks because he can scramble and he can wres- tle. If you stand around, you kind of lose that gi=, you give that gi= away. [We] just have to work on his offense." Beitz ready for the spotlight A=er wrestling to an 11-9 record last season, Beitz lost his starting spot late in the season to eventual 149-pound All-American James Eng- lish. A=er having to watch last postseason from the stands, Beitz is eager for this year's oppor- tunity on the mat. "I got to see the atmosphere and what it was like to actually be at the Big Ten Tournament," Beitz said. "I got excited. I was like, I want to be here next year. So it gave me something to look forward to." Beitz enters this year's tournament as the No. 6 seed at 149 with a 15-7 record and ranked No. 14 in the country. He's also won six of his last seven bouts. As they say, he's peaking at the right time. "That's the plan that the coaches always have for us," Beitz said. "They have a great plan and say, You'll peak when you need to peak, so if I stick to the game plan, it will all work out." Extra five travelers The Big Ten allows each team to bring along five extra teammates as workout partners for practice before and during the conference tournament. For Penn State, redshirts Mega- ludis and Retherford and freshmen Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf will travel. Gingrich will also make the trip. "You have to cover all the weight classes and make sure you have people to warm up all 10 of your guys," Sanderson said. M A R C H 4 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 TOURNEY FACTS WHERE St. John Arena (13,276 ca- pacity) // Columbus, Ohio WHEN March 7-8 Day 1 - Opening Round - 10 a.m. - Semifinals - 6 p.m. Day 2 - Placings and finals - 1 p.m. RADIO Penn State Wrestling Radio Network WEB Live match updates in the Lions Den Message Board at BlueWhiteIllustrated.com TV BTN to air championship round THE FAVORITES Iowa, Min- nesota and Ohio State are consid- ered three of the top five teams in the nation and are favored in the conference tournament, although PSU could be a dark horse. LAST TIME David Taylor (165) and Ed Ruth (184) each won their fourth career conference title as they helped lead PSU to its fourth-straight team trophy. With two champions, the Lions outscored the second-place Hawkeyes, 140.5-135.0. Cael Sanderson was named the confer- ence's coach of the year and Tay- lor earned wrestler of the year honors. DID YOU KNOW? The winner of the past eight Big Ten Championships – either PSU, Iowa or Minnesota – has gone on to win the team title at the NCAA Championships later that month. PENN STATE LINEUP WT NAME REC. SEED 125 Jordan Conaway (20-5) - No. 5 133 Jimmy Gulibon (20-4) - No. 3 141 Kade Moss (17-14) - No. 9 149 Zack Beitz (15-7) - No. 6 157 Luke Frey (12-5) - No. 9 165 Garett Hammond (21-9) - No. 6 174 Matt Brown (22-2) - No. 2 184 Matt McCutcheon (21-11) - No. 8 197 Morgan McIntosh (23-2) - No. 2 285 Jimmy Lawson (12-1) - No. 5