Blue White Illustrated

125 | No. 3 Nico Megaludis 32-3 Sr., Murrysville, Pa. 5-0 // NATIONAL CHAMPION // 4-TIME ALL-AMERICAN RD 1 Chase Tolbert, Utah Valley W 18-5 maj. dec. RD 2 No. 14 Josh Rodriguez, N. Dakota St. W 4-2 dec. QTRS Conor Youtsey, Michigan W 4-0 dec. SEMIS No. 15 David Terao, American W 8-2 dec. FINAL No. 4 Thomas Gilman, Iowa W 6-3 dec. 133 | No. 5 Jordan Conaway 30-8 Sr., Abbottstown, Pa. 4-3 // SIXTH PLACE // 2-TIME ALL-AMERICAN RD 1 Corey Keener, Central Michigan W 6-5 dec. RD 1 No. 12 Ryan Taylor, Wisconsin W 8-5 dec. QTRS No . 4 Cody Brewer, Oklahoma L 8-4 dec. CN 4 Mason Beckman, Lehigh W 5-4 dec. CN QTRS No. 8 Earl Hall, Iowa State W 7-2 CN SEMIS No. 3 Zane Richards, Illinois L 3-2 dec. 5TH PLACE No. 8 Eric Montoya, Nebraska L 7-4 dec. 141 | Jimmy Gulibon 14-11 Jr., Latrobe, Pa. 2-2 // DID NOT PLACE RD 1 No. 5 Matt Manley, Missouri W 17-2 (TF; 7:00) RD 2 No. 12 Chris Mecate, Old Dominion L 6-0 dec. CN 2 Ian Nickell, CSU Bakersfield W 4-2 dec. CN 3 Seth Gross, South Dakota State L 10-6 dec. 149 | No. 1 Zain Retherford 34-0 Soph., Benton, Pa. 5-0 // NATIONAL CHAMPION // 2-TIME ALL-AMERICAN RD 1 Coleman Hammond, CSU Bakersfield W 21-6 (TF; 5:46) RD 2 No. 16 Patricio Lugo, Edinboro WBF (6:37) QTRS No. 9 Justin Oliver, Central Mich. WBF (2:12) SEMIS No. 5 Alec Pantaleo, Michigan WBF (4:49) FINAL No. 2 Brandon Sorensen, Iowa W 10-1 maj. dec. WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT RESULTS going to be a lot of four-time national champions. There are not going to be a lot of Jason Nolfs or Bo Nickals," who are now All-Americans as redshirt freshmen. And with both having three years of el- igibility remaining, it gives credence to the idea that Penn State is a perennial fa- vorite at the national tournament once again a>er a step back last year, when Sanderson opted to redshirt Megaludis, Retherford, Nolf and Nickal in what was considered by many a "reload year." As the Nittany Lions were about to clinch the team title, Sanderson was asked if he's ready to go on another run and possibly secure Penn State's place in history as one of the all-time great programs. Referenced, speci;cally, were Iowa and Oklahoma State, teams that have 23 and 34 team championships, respectively. "I have no idea," Sanderson replied. "We don't talk about past teams. We want to be the best team we can be." On Saturday night, as two or three ;- nalists might concede, they weren't at their best. "We thought coming into the season that this is a team that could po- tentially have 10 All-Americans," Sander- son said. "Not even close to that." But PSU was best throughout the tournament – from the ;rst session to the sixth. Though Sanderson would have favored three more champs, at least, and four more All-Americans, with yet another team crown he's now won ;ve total, a milestone that only ;ve other Division I coaches have reached since 1940. Four of those coaches worked for those two pro- grams – Oklahoma State and Iowa. The day before the NCAA tournament started, in the same media room in which Sanderson and Smith would speak two days later, Sanderson was asked if he thinks Penn State will someday be able to catch a program like the Cowboys in order to match their number of team trophies. It's only 29 more. The question was met with hesitation, and before Sanderson could answer, Smith stepped in. "Most of those championships I didn't win," he said. "I've got a small number [;ve] compared to that, but [Sanderson] has got a ways to catch us. To catch me, I think he just needs one more." ■

• Cover