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starting to open up, and I knew I was going to get to my attack soon." Upon the restart, Joseph quickly es- caped. Then with 20 seconds remaining in the first period, he spun behind Mar- tinez to go ahead, 3-2. Martinez quickly escaped to knot the score and then es- caped again at the start of the second to retake the lead, 4-3. But Joseph wouldn't be denied. He hit a slick pass- by for his second takedown and a 5-4 lead. Martinez escaped again to tie it heading into the third period, but the escape didn't come fast enough to negate Joseph's riding time, which sat at exactly 1 minute. Soon Joseph rendered any riding time advantage moot. In a neutral scramble in the third period, he stuck Martinez to his back, and when the referee slapped the mat for the pin, the 19,657 in attendance went ballistic. "He's a tough kid," Sanderson said of Joseph, who went 22-4 in his debut sea- son and became the first Nittany Lion freshman to win an NCAA title. "You see the look in his eye. He had a great look in his eye during that finals match." MARK HALL A regular international freestyle com- petitor, one who has won a junior world championship, Hall has wrestled in some of the toughest venues on the planet. When he shed his redshirt halfway through the season, it was against Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and he lost. But that setback didn't deter him. Nor did the atmosphere at the NCAA championships, even if it was unlike any- thing else the fifth-seeded 174-pounder had experienced. "I've wrestled a lot of places," he said. "This is one of the tougher places." But he was able to take it in stride. He won his first match with an 8-2 decision over David Kocer of San Diego State be- fore picking up bonus points in his next two matches, including a 10-2 major de- cision against returning All-American Zach Epperly of Virgina Tech. Then came a tight and dramatic 4-3 victory against top-seeded Zahid Valencia in the semifi- nal, in which a late Valencia takedown was overturned after it was ruled that he had illegally tugged on Hall's headgear. The result set Hall up for a rematch against Ohio State's Bo Jordan, who was seeded No. 3 and had beaten Hall in the Big Ten final two weeks earlier. This time Hall was ready. But like his semifinal, it wasn't without controversy. After a score- less first period, Jordan shot in and nearly scored a takedown at the start of the sec- ond. It was so close that Buckeye head coach Tom Ryan publicly voiced discon- tent over it a few days later, but instead it was Hall who came out on top for the de- cisive score. Although Hall was warned for stalling later in the match – and Ohio State fans had clamored for another as time expired – he was able to score one more time for a 5-2 win. It was a savvy ef- fort that improved the true freshman's record to 31-3, and it might not have been possible without his previous experience. "He's been wrestling on big stages his entire life," Cunningham said. "Since he FRESHMAN PHENOM Sanderson cele- brates with Joseph after the 165-pounder be- came the first freshman in school history to win an individual national champi- onship. Joseph pinned two-time defending champ Isaiah Martinez of Illi- nois in the final. Photo by Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

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