Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/617289
Outside the Bryce Jordan Center Dec. 13, one record was broken as the 64-degree temperature was the warmest in State College since that date in 1927. Inside the arena, another streak came to an end. Although 12,862 tickets were sold, which is almost twice the average attendance in Rec Hall, it marked the conclusion of Penn State's string of 27 consecutive home wrestling sellouts, as the top-ranked Nit- tany Lions throttled visiting Wisconsin, 36-7. In winning eight of the 10 bouts, Penn State held the advantage in the takedown battle, 23-3, and claimed bonus points in all but two of the matches. Back-to-back pins from Zain Retherford and Jason Nolf at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively, helped li9 the Nittany Lions to a 25-0 lead at intermission, one that it wouldn't relin- quish. Head coach Cael Sanderson was pleased with the team's performance – "I think overall we wrestled well," he said – but the fact that the streak of sold-out matches came to an end wasn't lost on him. "We were disappointed that we didn't sell the arena out," he said. "Our streak starts over. I think I took it for granted a little bit, thinking it was going to sell out on its own. We need to get out there and do a little bit more. With the team we have and the excitement level, in college wrestling, you're not going to 8nd any- where like this anywhere in the country with the points being scored and the ex- citement. If we can't sell out the arenas, then that is on me. So we'll see moving forward." Penn State's second BJC dual, which is against Ohio State Feb. 6, was on pace as of mid-December to reach capacity. The victory over the Badgers came one week a9er Penn State's solid performance at its own Nittany Lion Open Dec. 6. Sanderson's squad crowned seven cham- pions at the event, which featured more than 300 wrestlers. Nico Megaludis (125), Geno Morelli (165), Bo Nickal (174), Morgan McIntosh (197), Retherford and Nolf all won titles at PSU's open tournament. Redshirt freshman Jered Cortez, who is ineligible this season following his transfer from Illinois, won the 133-pound weight class, edging starter Jordan Conaway in the 8nal, 5-4, in overtime. Heading into a Dec. 19 visit to Rider, the Nittany Lions held a 5-0 overall dual meet record, including a 1-0 mark in Big Ten competition. Four starters – Retherford, Nolf, Nickal and McIntosh – remained undefeated. ■ Lions too hot to handle in BJC dual vs. Wisconsin |