Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/797655
S ophomore Jason Nolf =nished as one of two individual champions for Penn State at the Big Ten tournament in Bloomington, Ind., March 5-6. He also was honored as the Big Ten Wrestler of the Year. A?er his =nal bout, however, the 157-pounder wasn't entirely satis=ed with the outcome. "I don't think I did a great job in that match," he told BTN a?er beating Iowa's Michael Kemerer, 8-2, in the champi- onship round. "I didn't get any bonus points." In the end, though, it would have mat- tered little. The Nittany Lions needed more than another bonus point or two to claim their second consecutive confer- ence crown. It was an uphill battle Sunday in order to catch up to Ohio State, which =nished the =rst day with an 18.5-point lead, and PSU wasn't able to make up the ground. Two Penn State wrestlers won ti- tles – Nolf and 149-pounder Zain Rether- ford – and =ve others placed among the top three, but the Lions =nished second in the team race with 130 points. Ohio State won the championship with 139.5 points, while Iowa was third with 112.5. Retherford was dominant throughout. A?er pinning his =rst three opponents during the =rst two sessions on Saturday, he won by technical fall, 16-1, against Micah Jordan of Ohio State in Sunday's =nal. A?erward, Retherford was named the tourney's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Nolf pinned his =rst two opponents be- fore topping Kemerer by decision in the =nal. Freshman Mark Hall (174) was PSU's third and last =nalist of the tournament. Facing Ohio State All-American Bo Jor- dan for the title, Hall scored the =rst takedown and nearly had a second, but it was waived o>. Jordan tied the match, 4- 4, and forced it into overtime, eventually scoring the decisive points for a 6-4 win. In the =nal round of the consolations, PSU =nished with a 4-0 record, as all of its wrestlers who competed placed third. A?er falling in the semi=nals Saturday night, Vincenzo Joseph (165) rallied in the consolations Sunday. He pinned his =rst opponent, Nick Wanzek of Minnesota, in 5 minutes, 47 seconds to advance to the third-place match. Pitted against return- ing Big Ten champion Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin, a wrestler to whom he had lost during the dual meet season, Joseph pulled o> a 5-2 victory. Bo Nickal (184) also rebounded for a third-place =nish a?er faltering against Ohio State's Myles Martin in the semi=- nals. He =rst beat Emery Parker of Illi- nois, 8-2, in the consolation semis before topping Nebraska's T.J. Dudley, 14-9, to =nish third. Matt McCutcheon (197) overcame a semi=nal loss to Minnesota's Brett Pfarr by winning twice by a score of 3-2 in the consolations. His =rst win came against Ricky Robertson of Wisconsin before he edged Aaron Studebaker of Nebraska in the third-place match, also avenging a loss earlier in the season. Nick Nevills (285) capped the day for Penn State when he beat Michael Kroells of Minnesota, 2-0, for third place a?er pinning Razohnn Gross of Rutgers in the preceding bout. With his win over Gross, Nevills became the eighth PSU wrestler to earn an automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA championships. Penn State was expected to earn a ninth quali=er when the at-large bid selections were announced March 8. Freshman 125- pounder Nick Suriano su>ered an ankle injury Feb. 19 and wasn't healed in time to compete in full at Big Tens. He bowed out early a?er a planned injury default in his opening-round match. As a gold-standard competitor, according to NCAA guidelines, Suriano was a top choice to receive one of six wildcard selections. The recovery from his ankle injury will be the ultimate indica- tor of whether he'll compete at the national tournament. –TIM OWEN Nittany Lions finish second at Big Ten tournament