2011 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP THU.-SAT., MARCH 17-19, 2011 PHILADELPHIA, PA.
means Taylor is the 2011 National Runner-Up at 157. The freshman AllAmerican went 4-1 at his first NCAA tournament and posted a superb 38-1 overall record, with 34 of his wins earning bonus points.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS -- TOP TEN 1: PENN STATE – 107.5 2: Cornell -- 93.5 3: Iowa -- 86.5 4: Oklahoma State -- 70.5 5: American -- 65.0
6: Arizona State -- 62.5 7: Minnesota -- 61.0 8: Lehigh -- 58.5 9: Boise State -- 57.5 10: Wisconsin -- 54.5
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS AGATE: (# listed is tournament seed) 125
#1 Anthony Robles ARIZ ST. dec. #2 Matt McDonough IOWA
133: #1 Jordan Oliver OKLA ST. dec. #2 Andrew Hochstrasser BOISE ST.
7-1
8-4
141: #1 Kellen Russell MICH dec. #3 Boris Novochkov CAL POLY
3-2
149: #4 Kyle Dake CORNELL dec. Frank Molinaro PSU
8-1
157: #4 Bubba Jenkins ARIZ ST. WBF #3 David Taylor PSU WBF (4:14) 165: #1 Jordan Burroughs NEB maj. dec. Tyler Caldwell OKLA
11-3
174: #1 Jon Reader IOWA ST dec. #7 Nick Amuchastegui STAN
10-3
184: #9 Quentin Wright PSU dec. #2 Robert Hamlin LEH
5-2
197: #4 Dustin Kilgore KSU WBF #2 Clayton Foster OKLA ST.
WBF (4:56)
285: #1 Zach Rey LEH dec. #3 Ryan Flores AMER
2-1
The Penn State Nittany Lions won the 2011 NCAA Wrestling national championship in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. It is the school’s first title since 1953 and becoming the first east coast school to win the crown since that year. Sophomore Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.) claimed the individual national crown at 184 as Penn State outdistanced Cornell and Iowa for the championship. Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson, the 2011 Big Ten Coach of the Year, earned his first collegiate national team title as a coach or wrestler as the Nittany Lions won the team race with 107.5 points. Cornell took second place with 93.5 and Iowa was third with 86.5. FINALS RECAP: Junior Frank Molinaro (Barnegat, N.J.), now a three-time All-American, opened up Penn State’s championship session in the title tilt at 149. Molinaro took on Cornell’s Kyle Dake but found the footing rough against last year’s national champion at 141. The Cornell grappler notched an early takedown in the first, three back points in the second and a reversal and riding time point to notch an 8-1 win. The loss means Molinaro ends the season as the 2011 National Runner-Up at 149 pounds. He is Penn State’s 19th three-time All-American, having finished 8th at 141 in 2009, 6th at 149 last year and 2nd at 149 this year. Molinaro ends the campaign with a 32-3 record after going 4-1 at this year’s tournament. Molinaro heads into his senior season with an 88-29 overall record. Red-shirt freshman David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), a first time All-American for Penn State, took on Arizona State’s Bubba Jenkins in the championship bout at 157. The duo wrestled evenly for the first period with Taylor taking two shots that Jenkins managed to counter and turn into stalemates. Taylor took down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. The Lion freshman then got in on a single leg that Jenkins countered once more, forcing a scramble that Jenkins used to catch Taylor in a cradle. Jenkins pinned Taylor at the 4:14 mark, ending Taylor’s unbeaten season. The loss
Sophomore Quentin Wright (Wingate, Pa.), now a two-time All-American, battled Lehigh’s Robert Hamlin in the national final at 184, coming away with a convincing 5-2 win. Wright and Hamlin battled each other evenly for the first period, with neither man scoring any point in the opening three minutes. Wright chose down to start the second period and escaped quickly to a 1-0 lead. From there the floodgates opened for the Penn State sophomore. He quickly took Hamlin down for a 3-0 lead and then, after a Hamlin escape, took the Mountain Hawk down one more time. Wright rode the 5-2 lead through the third period and claimed the 2011 NCAA National title at 184. Wright ends a stunning March with a 21-6 record after a perfect 5-0 run through nationals. Now a two-time All-American, Wright will head into his sophomore year with a 54-19 record. Penn State ends the 2011 National Championships with a superb 29-10 overall record. The Nittany Lions collected 16.5 bonus points from six pins, three majors and a tech fall. Penn State’s five All-Americans up the all-time total at Penn State to 171 and is the most All-Americans for Penn State in one year since the team had five in 1998. The record is eight set in 1987. The 107.5 points scored is a new school record, breaking the old mark of 95.75 (1987) by nearly 10 points. While Penn State is the first east coast team to win the championship since the Nittany Lions won it in 1953, the only other team east of the Mississippi river to win a national title since that year was Michigan State, which won the crown in 1967. Freshman All-American Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.), the third place finisher at 174, won the tournament’s Gorriaran Award, given to the wrestler who has the most pins in the least amount of time. Ruth had two pins in 1:06, including one in :24. The following is a weight-by-weight breakdown of Penn State’s tournament to date: 125: Brad Pataky, Sr., (Clearfield, Pa.) unseeded – 12-7 overall 1st Rd: L, 7-13 dec. #12 Jarod Garnett, Virginia Tech Cons Rd. 1: W, 6-1 dec. Jason Lara, Oregon State Cons Rd. 2: L, 1-8 dec. Sean Boyle, Michigan Senior Brad Pataky, unseeded at 125, battled 12th-seed Jarod Garnett tough but dropped a hard-fought 13-7 decision to the seeded Hokie in Penn State’s first bout of the day. Pataky, Penn State’s only unseeded grappler, moves into consolation action where he took on Oregon State’s Jason Lara. Pataky used two takedowns, an escape and a riding time point to roll to a convincing 6-1 win over Lara. Pataky then met Michigan’s Sean Boyle in the next consolation round but dropped a tough 8-1 bout. Boyle countered a number of early Pataky shots for takedowns to grab the victory. Pataky went 1-2 in his third trip to NCAAs and posted a 12-7 record during an injury plagued season. 133: Andrew Long, So. (Creston, Iowa) 3rd seed – 20-2 overall 2011 ALL-AMERICAN – THIRD PLACE 1st Rd: W, 8-1 dec. Casey Cruz, Northern Colorado 2nd Rd: W, 7-5 (sv) dec. David Thorn, Minnesota Quarters: WBF over #11 Scotti Sentes, Central Michigan (2:46) Semis: L, 4-7 dec. #2 Andrew Hochstrasser, Boise State Conso Semis: WBF #8 Mike Grey, Cornell (4:59) 3rd Place: W, 7-5 dec. #11 Scotti Sentes, Central Michigan Sophomore Andrew Long, the third seed, dominated Northern Colorado’s Casey Cruz 8-1 in his opening round match, getting a late takedown in each of the three periods to coast to the win. Long moved into the second round to face Minnesota’s David Thorn. Long broke out to an early lead on Thorn and was the pace setter in the match. But Thorn caught the Lion sophomore with a shoulder toss in the third period for a quick takedown and two near fall points, taking a 5-3 lead. Long, who already had the riding time point secured, escaped and went to sudden victory with Thorn where he used a scrambling takedown at the :30 mark to clinch the 7-5 win. The Iowa native became a Penn State All-American with a pin over Central Michigan’s Scotti Sentes in the quarterfinals. Now a two-time All-American, Long used a thrilling first period move to grab the pin. Sentes notched an early takedown in the bout and controlled Long for much of the first period, but the third seeded sophomore worked his way into a quick reversal and pin of Sentes at the 2:46 mark. In the national semifinals, Long battled second seeded Andrew Hochstrasser hard for seven minutes but came up short in a 7-4 loss. Hochstrasser notched a takedown and two near fall points to break open a lead that Long could not come back from. Long met Cornell’s Mike Grey, the eighth-seed, in a key consolation semifinal bout to start Penn State’s session. The two-time All-American continued his quest for a third place finish by catching Grey with one arm, pushing him to his back and getting a thrilling pin with just one second left in the second period (4:59).
In the third place match, Long, who pinned Sentes in the quarterfinals on Friday, battled the CMU grappler hard again and used a third period takedown and riding time to notch a key 7-5 win and take third place. Long came back from a 4-1 deficit in the first period to claim the bronze medal and keep Penn State rolling towards a team title. Long, who was the third seed, claimed third place with a 5-1 record with two pins. His only loss was a tough 6-4 decision to second-seeded Andrew Hochstrasser of Boise State. 141: Andrew Alton, Fr. (Mill Hall, Pa.) 6th seed – 30-10 overall -- ‘round of 12’ 1st Rd: WBF over Anwar Goeres, Binghamton (2:20) 2nd Rd: W, 13-4 maj. dec. #11 Michael Mariarcher, American Quarters: L, 0-2 dec. #3 Boris Novochkov, Cal Poly Conso Rd. 4: L, 4-5 dec. #12 Zach Kemerer, Penn True freshman Andrew Alton entered his first NCAA tournament as the 6th-seed at 141. The first year grappler made a superb NCAA tournament debut, pinning Binghamton’s Anwar Goeres at the 2:20 mark. Alton took Goeres down three times in the first period before finishing off the match with the fall. Alton met 11th-seed Michael Mariacher of American in the second round. Alton dominated the 11th-seed, collected five takedowns and two near fall points on his way to a 13-4 major. The major gives Alton three bonus points through two bouts. The Penn State freshman then dropped a hard-fought 2-0 decision to No. 3 seed Boris Novochkov of Cal Poly in his quarterfinal bout. Neither wrestler had a takedown, but Novochkov rode Alton out in the second period and then picked up an escape in the third for the 2-0 win. Alton, the sixth seed, then suffered a tough 5-4 upset loss to 12th-seeded Zach Kemerer of Penn in the ‘round of 12’. Alton gave up a first period takedown and a third period takedown and could not break through Kemerer’s defensive style to notch any of his own. The loss ends Alton’s tournament just one win shy of All-America status. The true freshman went 2-2 in his first trip to NCAAs with a pin and a major and ends his freshman season with a 30-10 record. 149: Frank Molinaro, Jr. (Barnegat, N.J.) 2nd seed – 32-3 overall 2011 ALL-AMERICAN – NATIONAL RUNNER-UP 1st Rd: W, 9-0 maj. dec. Zac Cibula, Rider 2nd Rd: W, 6-3 dec. Derek Valenti, Virginia Quarters: W, 4-2 dec. #7 Mario Mason, Rutgers Semis: W, 4-1 dec. #6 Jason Chamberlain, Boise State Finals: L, 1-8 dec. #4 Kyle Dake, Cornell Two-time All-American Frank Molinaro is the No. 2 seed at 149 and the New Jersey native finds himself wrestling before something of a home crowd in Philadelphia. Molinaro was dominant in a 9-0 major decision over Rider’s Zac Cibula, amassing 3:45 in riding time and taking the Bronc grappler down three times. Molinaro moved into the second round where he battled Virginia’s Derek Valenti. Molinaro controlled the bout with Valenti and rolled to a 6-3 win thanks to two takedowns, an escape and a riding time point. The three points for Valenti are the first scored on Molinaro during the post-season (Big Ten and NCAAs). Molinaro became a three-time All-American with a solid 4-2 decision over seventh-seed Mario Mason of Rutgers in the quarterfinals. The Nittany Lion junior used a first period takedown and two escapes to offset a late Mason takedown. Molinaro becomes Penn State’s 19th three-time All-American. The Lion junior then moved into his first NCAA final with a dominating 4-1 win over sixth-seed Jason Chamberlain of Boise State. Molinaro notched a takedown, an escape a plenty of riding time to roll to victory. In national final, Molinaro, now a three-time All-American, opened up Penn State’s championship session. He took on Cornell’s Kyle Dake but found the footing rough against last year’s national champion at 141. The Cornell grappler notched an early takedown in the first, three back points in the second and a reversal and riding time point to notch an 8-1 win. The loss means Molinaro ends the season as the 2011 National Runner-Up at 149 pounds. 157: David Taylor, Fr. (St. Paris, Ohio) 3rd seed – 38-1 overall 2011 ALL-AMERICAN – NATIONAL RUNNER-UP 1st Rd: W, 13-2 maj. dec. Robert Erisman, Oklahoma State 2nd Rd: W, 20-3 tech fall over David Bonin, N. Iowa (TF; 5:49) Quarters: W, 6-3 dec. #6 Derek St. John, Iowa Semis: W, 7-1 dec. #2 Steve Fittery, American FINALS: LBF #4 Bubba Jenkins, Arizona State Red-shirt freshman David Taylor took an undefeated 34-0 record into his first NCAA Championship and was the third seed at 157. Taylor met unseeded Big 12 champion Robert Erisman of Oklahoma State in the first round and used a flurry of near falls in the second period to roll to a 12-3 major over the Cowboy senior. Taylor turned Erisman twice after a reversal to start the period.
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