Seniors Go Out in Style
Three Nittany Lions took to the mat for one last time on Sunday as Penn State defeated Rider 30-3. Seniors Matt Brown, Jimmy Lawson and Luke Frey wrestled in front of a sold out Rec Hall crowd in their last regular season meet on senior day.
Penn State only dropped one of the 10 bouts and the seniors went out with a bang each clinching major decision wins. The big victory was a good way to end the Lions’ season as they look ahead to the Big Ten Championships.
The first senior on the mat Sunday came at 157 lbs. with Luke Frey. About half way through the first period, Frey worked Rider’s Chad Walsh for a takedown then turned him for back points. After one, Frey was up 5-0 and clinched the riding point. He started down for the second and quickly reversed Walsh for two and again added on two near fall points before Walsh escaped to make the score 9-1. Walsh tacked on a quick takedown towards the end of the second and went into the third 9-3. Walsh chose down to start the third and quickly escaped. Frey worked on a single leg but Walsh countered the takedown and almost took down Frey instead. The Nittany Lion held off the attempt as time ran out and with his added riding time point ended the match 10-4.
The next senior came at 174 lbs., crowd favorite– Matt Brown. He went in attacking and pressed Rider’s Ryan Wolfe backwards twice, which ended in a stalling point for Brown. Brown connected for a takedown and clinched the riding point to end the first 3-0. He chose down to start two and immediately escaped. Brown dominated the second period with three takedowns, giving up two escapes to do so and leading Wolfe 10-2 going into the third. Wolfe chose down and got called on another stalling point. Brown tacked on one more takedown and added in his riding point to win the bout 14-3.
Lastly, Jimmy Lawson ended the duel with the heavyweight match against Rider’s Greg Velasco. Right off the bat Lawson scored three takedowns in the first while giving up two escape points to Velasco with a score of 6-2. Velasco chose down to start the second and Lawson basically rode him out for the period. Lawson chose down for the third, escaped and shot for a takedown. He cut Velasco loose with one-minute left and finished another takedown, then went through the same process again. He cut Velasco loose a third time towards the end but didn’t follow up with a takedown. With the clinched riding point Lawson ended his regular season as a Nittany Lion with a 12-4 major decision win.
BOUT BY BOUT:
125: PSU #9 Jordan Conaway dec. RID J.R. Wert, 8-4
133: PSU #5 Jimmy Gulibon dec. RID Robert Deutsch, 4-1
141: RID Chuck Zeisloft dec. PSU Kade Moss, 3-2
149: PSU #14 Zack Beitz dec. RID B.J. Clagon, 6-3
157: PSU Luke Frey dec. RID Chad Walsh, 10-4
165: PSU #18 Garett Hammond maj. dec. RID Conor Brennan, 13-4
174: PSU #2 Matt Brown maj. dec. RID Ryan Wolfe, 14-3
184: PSU #19 Matt McCutcheon dec. RID Clint Morrison, 6-4
197: PSU #4 Morgan McIntosh dec. RID Donald McNeil, 12-5
285: PSU #7 Jimmy Lawson maj. dec. RID Greg Velasco, 12-4
Penn State ended its regular season with an overall record of 11-4 and a conference record of 6-3. The team takes this week off before heading to the Big Ten Championships set for March 7 and March 8 in Columbus, Ohio.
(All statistics courtesy of www.gopsusports.com)
Penn State only dropped one of the 10 bouts and the seniors went out with a bang each clinching major decision wins. The big victory was a good way to end the Lions’ season as they look ahead to the Big Ten Championships.
The first senior on the mat Sunday came at 157 lbs. with Luke Frey. About half way through the first period, Frey worked Rider’s Chad Walsh for a takedown then turned him for back points. After one, Frey was up 5-0 and clinched the riding point. He started down for the second and quickly reversed Walsh for two and again added on two near fall points before Walsh escaped to make the score 9-1. Walsh tacked on a quick takedown towards the end of the second and went into the third 9-3. Walsh chose down to start the third and quickly escaped. Frey worked on a single leg but Walsh countered the takedown and almost took down Frey instead. The Nittany Lion held off the attempt as time ran out and with his added riding time point ended the match 10-4.
The next senior came at 174 lbs., crowd favorite– Matt Brown. He went in attacking and pressed Rider’s Ryan Wolfe backwards twice, which ended in a stalling point for Brown. Brown connected for a takedown and clinched the riding point to end the first 3-0. He chose down to start two and immediately escaped. Brown dominated the second period with three takedowns, giving up two escapes to do so and leading Wolfe 10-2 going into the third. Wolfe chose down and got called on another stalling point. Brown tacked on one more takedown and added in his riding point to win the bout 14-3.
Lastly, Jimmy Lawson ended the duel with the heavyweight match against Rider’s Greg Velasco. Right off the bat Lawson scored three takedowns in the first while giving up two escape points to Velasco with a score of 6-2. Velasco chose down to start the second and Lawson basically rode him out for the period. Lawson chose down for the third, escaped and shot for a takedown. He cut Velasco loose with one-minute left and finished another takedown, then went through the same process again. He cut Velasco loose a third time towards the end but didn’t follow up with a takedown. With the clinched riding point Lawson ended his regular season as a Nittany Lion with a 12-4 major decision win.
BOUT BY BOUT:
125: PSU #9 Jordan Conaway dec. RID J.R. Wert, 8-4
133: PSU #5 Jimmy Gulibon dec. RID Robert Deutsch, 4-1
141: RID Chuck Zeisloft dec. PSU Kade Moss, 3-2
149: PSU #14 Zack Beitz dec. RID B.J. Clagon, 6-3
157: PSU Luke Frey dec. RID Chad Walsh, 10-4
165: PSU #18 Garett Hammond maj. dec. RID Conor Brennan, 13-4
174: PSU #2 Matt Brown maj. dec. RID Ryan Wolfe, 14-3
184: PSU #19 Matt McCutcheon dec. RID Clint Morrison, 6-4
197: PSU #4 Morgan McIntosh dec. RID Donald McNeil, 12-5
285: PSU #7 Jimmy Lawson maj. dec. RID Greg Velasco, 12-4
Penn State ended its regular season with an overall record of 11-4 and a conference record of 6-3. The team takes this week off before heading to the Big Ten Championships set for March 7 and March 8 in Columbus, Ohio.
(All statistics courtesy of www.gopsusports.com)
