NOTES MOLINARO, SANDERSON AND ERWIN CLAIM NITTANY LION OPEN CROWNS Penn State won three of the ten crowns at the 2009 Nittany Lion Open on 12/6. All-American Frank Molinaro went 5-0 to win the title at 149, outscoring his opponents 36-6 in the process. All-American Cyler Sanderson went 5-0 at 157 to win the title, including a thrilling 9-7 win over true freshman David Taylor in the finals. Senior David Erwin took the title at 184, going 5-0 in a crowded field, including a win over No. 10 Josh Patterson of Binghamton in the semifinals.
TAYLOR AND PATAKY RUNNERS-UP AT NLO; SIX OTHER LIONS PLACE IN TOP FIVE AS WELL Freshman David Taylor dropped a hard-fought 9-7 decision to All-American teammate Cyler Sanderson in the finals at 157 to take second place at the Nittany Lion Open on 12/6. Junior Brad Pataky also advanced to the finals at 125, losing to No. 9 Jarrod Garnett of Virginia Tech in the finals. All-American Dan Vallimont took third at 165 and All-American Quentin Wright placed third at 184. Sophomore Colby Pisani had an impressive win over No. 8 Tyler Nauman of Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals at 141 and went on to post a strong fourth place finish. James Vollrath (157), Ed Ruth (184) and Cameron Wade (HWT) all placed fifth as well.
SANDERSON DOWNS #2 MOLEY IN WIN OVER BLOOM; 2-0 IN PSU DEBUT TO EARN BIG TEN W.O.W. HONOR Senior Cyler Sanderson made his Rec Hall dual meet debut with a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 2 Matt Moley of Bloomsburg. The victory helped spark the Nittany Lions to a 23-15 win over the visiting Huskies in head coach Cael Sanderson’s home dual debut. Two days earlier, he beat Lehigh’s Sean Bilodeau (5-2) in his PSU dual debut. The outstanding debut effort helped Sanderson earn Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors for the week ending on Nov. 15, 2009. He is Penn State’s first Wrestler of the Week since February of 2008.
VALLIMONT DOWNS #19 SCHMELYUN & #12 GALENTE IN OPENING WEEKEND Senior Dan Vallimont opened up the season with two wins over ranked grapplers. He was dominant in a 5-2 win over No. 12 Mike Galente of Lehigh on 11/13 and then downed #19 Rick Schmelyun of Bloomsburg on 11/15. His win over Schmelyun helped spark PSU to a 23-15 win over the Huskies.
STEADMAN AND WADE HELP SPARK LIONS TO WIN OVER BLOOMSBURG
TAYLOR AND WRIGHT WIN CROWNS AT MAT-TOWN Sophomore Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) and freshman David Taylor (St. Parish, Ohio), both red-shirting and wrestling unattached, claimed individual titles at the 2009 Mat-Town U.S.A. tournament, hosted by Lock Haven University. Six members of the 12 man Penn State contingent placed at the event. Wright posted a perfect 3-0 mark at 184, getting two pins along the way, to claim the title. The 2009 All-American at 184 downed Penn State senior David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) in the finals, pinning his teammate at the 2:38 mark. Erwin was also outstanding at the event, going 3-1 with a major and a pin of his own, to claim second place. Erwin is now 5-1 at his new weight (184). Taylor claimed his second open tournament individual crown, posting a superb 4-0 mark to win the 157 pound crown. Taylor notched three technical falls and a pin in the tournament and improved his unattached record this year to a gaudy 12-1 with eight technical falls and two pins. In addition to Erwin’s second place finish, red-shirt freshman James English (York, Pa.) took second, finishing as the 149 pound runner-up with a 4-1 record. English lost a hard-fought 2-1 (TB) decision to American’s Matt Mariarcher in the finals. Sophomore David Crowell (Easton, Pa.) was also outstanding at the event, posting a 3-2 mark at 184 to take fourth place (including a pin).
PATAKY GOES 3-0 AT SPRAWL AND BRAWLS; NAMED BIG TEN WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore big men Clay Steadman and Cameron Wade each got big wins for Penn State in the Nittany Lions’ 23-15 win over the Bloomsburg Huskies on Nov. 15. In Cael Sanderson’s coaching debut, Steadman posted a key 3-1 win over BU’s Jake Dabashinsky at 197 and Wade pinned Huskie heavyweight Zach Walsh at the 4:42 mark to finish off the dual.
TAYLOR WINS W&J OPEN; KEMERER THIRD Nittany Lion wrestlers David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio) and Jake Kemerer (Greensburg, Pa.) traveled south for the Washington and Jefferson Open, competing as unattached grapplers, and had outstanding days. Taylor was perfect at 157 to claim the title while Kemerer was 5-1 to take third at 165. Taylor, a true freshman red-shirting, won four of his five bouts by technical fall, including a 20-5 win over West Virginia’s Kyle Eason in the finals. Taylor’s other win was a forfeit victory. In all, the Ohio native outscored his opponents 76-16 in his debut at the college level. Kemerer was equally impressive, rolling to a 5-1 mark including two pins and two technical falls. His only loss was a tough 5-3 loss to West Virginia starter Donnie Jones in the semifinals. Also competing at the event was true freshman Andrew Church (Erie, Pa.), who went 1-2 at 174, and red-shirt freshman James English (York, Pa.), who went 1-2 at 149. Both wrestlers were unattached as well.
Brad Pataky was superb in Penn State’s 3-0 showing at the Sprawl and Brawl Duals on Nov. 22. Pataky downed No. 8 Eric Morrill of Edinboro in Penn State’s 22-9 win over then No. 15 Edinboro and then got a pin and another decision to go 3-0 on the day. Pataky was honored as Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for his efforts.
LIONS HAMMER NO. 15 EDINBORO TO CAP OFF 3-0 DAY AT SPRAWL AND BRAWL DUALS Sophomore Cameron Wade trounced No. 19 Chris Birchler of Edinboro in the heavyweight bout to cap off Penn State’s 22-9 win over No. 15 Edinboro at the Sprawl and Brawl Duals on Nov. 22 at Binghamton. Penn state beat Rutgers (18-17) and Harvard (36-6) as well. Four Nittany Lions went undefeated on the day: Brad Pataky went 3-0 at 125, Tyler Saltman went 2-0 at 133, Frank Molinaro went 3-0 at 149 and David Erwin went 2-0 at 184.
WRIGHT CLAIMS ESU OPEN TITLE Sophomore Quentin Wright won the individual title at the East Stroudsburg Open, leading11 Nittany Lions who placed at the event. Wright posted a 4-0 mark at 184 at the event, including two pins and a major. The 2009 sixth-place finisher at 174 met Penn State true freshman Ed Ruth in the finals, where Wright notched a tough 5-2 decision. Ruth’s second place finish included two major decisions as well. Penn State also took third place at 184, with sophomore David Crowell taking third place. Crowell was upset in the first round but bounced back to win six straight in the consolation bracket to take third place. Crowell had two majors as well. True freshman Jake Kemerer was Penn State’s other third place finisher, going 4-1 to take third at 165. True freshman David Taylor took second place at 157 with a 4-1 record, 3-1 against collegiate competition. The Ohio-native got a pin, a tech fall and a major in the process (he also had a pin against a noncollegiate grappler). Kemerer grabbed two majors during the tournament. Senior heavyweight Brendan Herlihy took fourth at the Open, going 5-2 overall, 4-2 against collegiate competition. Red-shirt freshmen James English (York, Pa.) and Nick Fischer each tied for fifth as well. English placed at 149 with a 6-2 mark (6-0 against collegiate grapplers) while Fischer placed at 165, going 4-2 overall (2-2 against collegiate competition). True freshman James Vollrath was tied for seventh at 157 with a 5-2 mark, 1-2 against collegiate wrestlers. Cameron Wade downed 19th-ranked Chris Birchler in Penn State’s 22-9 win over Edinboro at the Sprawl and Brawl Duals in November of 2009.
PENN STATE WRESTLING 2010-2011 50