Pennsylvania Studs Help Penn State Take lead at NCAA National Tournament
ST. LOUIS – The first day of the NCAA Tournament couldn’t have gone much better for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions went a combined 15-1 on the day, including two wins apiece by Pennsylvania’s Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph and Matt McCutcheon. Even Jimmy Gulibon, who had struggled in the Big Ten Championships, turned things around to go 1-1.
The performance helped the Nittany Lions, who are seeking their sixth NCAA title in seven seasons, take a 4.5-point lead over Ohio State after Day 1 – 30.5 to 26.
“I think our team is fired up,” McCutcheon said. “We’re wrestling great and we have a lot of guys doing well.”
Mark Hall, Bo Nickal and Nick Nevills also went 2-0 for Penn State, which learned a day earlier that Nick Suriano, the third seed at 125 pounds, would not be able to compete because of an ankle injury.
McCutcheon, wrestling in the NCAA Tournament at 197 pounds for the first time after a pair of appearances at 184, looked plenty comfortable.
The Kiski Area grad pinned Purdue’s Christian Brunner in the first round, then beat No. 12 seed Frank Mattiace of Penn 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.
Unlike last year, when McCutcheon was limited by a knee injury, he’s healthy and ready to go.
“I feel great,” he said. “Just have to take it one match at a time. Focus on the next one.”
The fifth-seeded McCutcheon will take on No. 4 Jared Haught of Virginia Tech on Friday.
Piling up Points
Retherford, the defending champion at 149 pounds, steamrolled his way to the quarterfinals. The Benton Area graduate beat Josh Maruca of Arizona State, who went to Franklin Regional, 19-2 in the first round, then blasted Princeton’s Jordan Laster 16-0 in the second round.
Retherford will face unseeded Alex Kocer of South Dakota State in the quarterfinals.
Nolf scored 46 points in his two matches on Thursday. The Kittanning alumnus beat N.C. State’s Thomas Bullard 22-7, in the first round, then won 24-9 over Bucknell’s Victor Lopez in the second.
B.J. Clagon of Rider, a former All-American who who wasn’t seeded this year, in the quarterfinals. Clagon beat Arizona State’s Josh Shields, another Franklin Regional graduate, in the second round.
Joseph, a redshirt freshman from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, avenged one of his four losses on the season by beating Stanford’s Keaton Subjeck 5-1 in the opening round. Joseph followed that up with a 12-4 major decision over No. 14 Branson Ashworth of Wyoming.
The third-seeded Joseph will face No. 6 Daniel Lewis of Missouri on Friday.
After putting up five points in the final minute of an 8-2 first-round victory, Hall just kept scoring on the way to a first-period technical fall in the second round. Nickal had a technical fall and a fall, while Nevills recorded two decisions.
Helping Hands
Gulibon gave his team a lift by scoring a technical fall over Michigan State’s Javier Gasca III – the same wrestler who pinned him in the Big Ten Championships. Gulibon lost 6-3 to fourth-seeded Matthew Kolodzik of Princeton in the second round.
“Jimmy wrestled well,” McCutcheon said. “He’s got to come back through for us.”
Gulibon will face Timmy Box of Northern Colorado in the consolations on Friday.
The Nittany Lions also got some outside help in the team race, as Ohio State and Oklahoma State – the schools expected to push them in the title chase – each suffered upsets.
Rutgers’ Kenny Theobald knocked of second-seeded Anthony Collica at 149 pounds by a 5-3 score. Colllica was 21-2 on the season and gave Retherford one of his most difficult matches of the season.
Ohio State’s chances took a hit when returning national champion Myles Martin – who was the sixth seed at 184 pounds this year – lost 14-9 to Illinois’ Emery Parker. Martin is responsible for two of Nickal’s three career losses, and Penn State fans celebrated the removal of a possible obstacle on his path to the finals.
Even Southern Illinois-Edwardsville helped out, as Jake Residori took out seventh-seeded Kyle Crutchmer of Oklahoma State in the first round.
As much as he’d love to win another team title, McCutcheon said he doesn’t get updates on the team standings.
“I don’t really look at it, but if we just keep doing what we’re doing, it will take care of itself,” he said.