No. 1 Penn State goes six for ten in win over No. 7 Virginia Tech
After an exciting shutout season-opener on Friday, Penn State travelled to Virginia and clinched its second win over Virginia Tech on Sunday (21-15).
Up against VT’s impressive lineup, the Nittany Lions won six out of ten bouts including two upsets and a tech fall.
The match didn’t exactly start off on the right foot as redshirt senior No. 2 Nico Megaludis fell to Virginia Tech’s No. 6 Joey Dance in a tiebreaker. Tied 3-3 going into the first period of the tiebreaker, Megaludis was unable to break free from Dance for an escape. In the next period, Dance was down to start and successfully escaped. He held off Megaludis’ attempt at a takedown to end the bout 4-3.
Senior No. 8 Jordan Conaway won his 133 lbs. match to tie the team score at 3-3. Senior No. 2 Jimmy Gulibon surprisingly lost to VT’s unranked Solomon Chishko. Gulibon worked for control of Chishko’s leg and shoulders early in the first period but wasn’t awarded the takedown. Then again towards the end of the third period with things tied at 1-1, Gulibon worked for control of a low single, which Chishko countered and worked for a last minute takedown. Coach Sanderson challenged, but the call stood and Chishko took the 3-1 win.
Two more Nittany Lion wins, including redshirt freshman No. 6 Jason Nolf’s upset win over VT’s No. 3 Nick Brascetta put Penn State ahead before the break, 11-6.
Freshman Shakur Rasheed came close but fell to a sudden victory loss at 165 lbs., followed by three Nittany Lion victories to secure the win. Sanderson decided to forfeit the heavyweight match considering the team win was guaranteed even with the six-point forfeit victory for Virginia Tech.
This weekend Penn State takes a trip to the west coast to take on CSU Bakersfield on Friday night at 10 p.m. followed by Stanford on Sunday at 4 p.m.
BOUT BY BOUT:
125: VT #6 Joey Dance dec. PSU #2 Nico Megaludis , 4-3 (tiebreaker)
133: PSU #8 Jordan Conaway PSU dec. VT #18 Kevin Norstrem, 4-1
141: VT Solomon Chishko dec. PSU #2 Jimmy Gulibon, 3-1
149: PSU #2 Zain Retherford tech fall VT #13 Sal Mastriani, 15-0 (4:25)
157: PSU #6 Jason Nolf dec. VT #3 Nick Brascetta, 4-1
165: VT Dave McFadden dec. PSU Shakur Rasheed, 10-8 (sudden victory)
174: PSU #14 Bo Nickal dec. VT #3 Zach Epperly, 6-2
184: PSU #14 Matt McCutcheon maj. dec. VT Zack Zavatsky, 18-4
197: PSU #1 Morgan McIntosh PSU dec. VT #17 Jared Haught, 9-2
285: VT #2 Ty Walz win by forfeit
Up against VT’s impressive lineup, the Nittany Lions won six out of ten bouts including two upsets and a tech fall.
The match didn’t exactly start off on the right foot as redshirt senior No. 2 Nico Megaludis fell to Virginia Tech’s No. 6 Joey Dance in a tiebreaker. Tied 3-3 going into the first period of the tiebreaker, Megaludis was unable to break free from Dance for an escape. In the next period, Dance was down to start and successfully escaped. He held off Megaludis’ attempt at a takedown to end the bout 4-3.
Senior No. 8 Jordan Conaway won his 133 lbs. match to tie the team score at 3-3. Senior No. 2 Jimmy Gulibon surprisingly lost to VT’s unranked Solomon Chishko. Gulibon worked for control of Chishko’s leg and shoulders early in the first period but wasn’t awarded the takedown. Then again towards the end of the third period with things tied at 1-1, Gulibon worked for control of a low single, which Chishko countered and worked for a last minute takedown. Coach Sanderson challenged, but the call stood and Chishko took the 3-1 win.
Two more Nittany Lion wins, including redshirt freshman No. 6 Jason Nolf’s upset win over VT’s No. 3 Nick Brascetta put Penn State ahead before the break, 11-6.
Freshman Shakur Rasheed came close but fell to a sudden victory loss at 165 lbs., followed by three Nittany Lion victories to secure the win. Sanderson decided to forfeit the heavyweight match considering the team win was guaranteed even with the six-point forfeit victory for Virginia Tech.
This weekend Penn State takes a trip to the west coast to take on CSU Bakersfield on Friday night at 10 p.m. followed by Stanford on Sunday at 4 p.m.
BOUT BY BOUT:
125: VT #6 Joey Dance dec. PSU #2 Nico Megaludis , 4-3 (tiebreaker)
133: PSU #8 Jordan Conaway PSU dec. VT #18 Kevin Norstrem, 4-1
141: VT Solomon Chishko dec. PSU #2 Jimmy Gulibon, 3-1
149: PSU #2 Zain Retherford tech fall VT #13 Sal Mastriani, 15-0 (4:25)
157: PSU #6 Jason Nolf dec. VT #3 Nick Brascetta, 4-1
165: VT Dave McFadden dec. PSU Shakur Rasheed, 10-8 (sudden victory)
174: PSU #14 Bo Nickal dec. VT #3 Zach Epperly, 6-2
184: PSU #14 Matt McCutcheon maj. dec. VT Zack Zavatsky, 18-4
197: PSU #1 Morgan McIntosh PSU dec. VT #17 Jared Haught, 9-2
285: VT #2 Ty Walz win by forfeit