Cael Sanderson returned to his home-state Saturday night to take on Utah Valley in a rare Saturday night dual. Penn State won 9 of 10 bouts beating the Wolverines 39-3 drawing in almost 5,500 fans for the meet. Frank Martellotti was the only Lion to lose, giving up a tough 3-1 decision to Blake Mangum of Utah Valley. Penn State closed out the road portion of their dual season going undefeated away from Rec Hall. Penn State returns home to take on Pitt next Sunday at 2 p.m. the last dual meet of the season.

Continue reading this post »

Utah Valley?!? Yes, Penn State will head across the country to Salt Lake City to battle the Wolverines of Utah Valley Saturday night at 9:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. local time). It marks the final road dual of the year for Penn State with only a home dual with Pitt left on the regular season schedule.

It may sound like a strange team to schedule but it’s not. Penn State associate head coach Cody Sanderson started the Wolverine program back in 2003 and was the head coach for 3 seasons before joining brother Cael at Iowa State. Scheduling them was most likely a move by the coaching staff to help out a fledgling program. Unlike the world of football where schools never drop the sport, wrestling is always on the chopping block in administrators’ minds thanks to Title IX. There is no women’s wrestling program and wrestling teams don’t make any money so they often fall victim to budget cuts. A major wrestling program like Penn State can help out young programs by bringing them some national attention even if it’s in a small way. Every little bit helps the sport, so good for Penn State.

Match-ups, predictions, and more below.

Continue reading this post »

Thanks to a weekend sweep of No. 7 Nebraska on Friday night and Michigan at Rec Hall on Sunday, the Penn State Wrestling team earned the inaugural Big Ten regular season dual meet title. Unfortunately, thanks to a win over Nebraska Sunday, Minnesota earned a share of that title with Penn State. Both teams finished with identical 7-1 conference records. Penn State hammered Nebraska 31-6 and beat up Michigan with a similar 34-7 score. Penn State lost only 4 matches all weekend and owned a lopsided 49-13 advantage in takedowns. Penn State still has two duals left before the conference tournament in early March but both the Lions and the Gophers are done in conference.

Continue reading this post »

Penn State will travel to Nebraska tonight at 8 p.m. and then return home to Rec Hall to welcome the Michigan Wolverines Sunday at 2 p.m. Both teams are ranked - NU is 7^th and UM is 12^th - so it will be a tough test for the Lions. It’s a big weekend for PSU because these are the last two duals with Big Ten teams and, this season, the Big Ten is officially recognizing the regular season dual meet champion(s), in trophy form. If Penn State wins both duals they will be guaranteed at least a share of that sweet, sweet trophy. This post will also serve as the open thread for the match tonight; I’ll be posting updates throughout the Nebraska dual.

Continue reading this post »

The Big Ten Wrestling championships start in just over a monthbut Penn State is in peak form right now. A week after dismantling Iowa 22-12, the Lions beat Ohio State 34-9 winning 8 of the 10 bouts. It was thorough domination, in its eight victories, Penn State did not give up a single takedown. I predicted a 25-13 victory for Penn State and I thought that was being overly optimistic. The Lions were solid at almost every weight class (except for 133), even Bryan Pearsall wrestled well in his 9-5 loss to 6^th-ranked Hunter Stieber.

Continue reading this post »

After a tough match against a top-5 opponent in Iowa, Penn State welcomes another top-5 opponent in the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes to Rec Hall Sunday for a 2 p.m. Big Ten dual. Penn State and Ohio State are similar in that they both beat Iowa bad. Ohio State won 21-9 a week ago and Penn State won 22-12 last Sunday. Both teams have moved up, Penn State took Iowa’s No 2 ranking and OSU moves to 5. It will be a familiar opponent for Penn State because Ohio State matches up very similar to the way Iowa did. OSU’s meat & potatoes are in their lighter weights, although they are a little more evenly matched than Iowa was. Penn State could be in for a letdown after the emotional win last weekend, hopefully they are ready, the Buckeyes will be a tough test.

Continue reading this post »

When Bill O'Brien announced during his first press conference that he was retaining Larry Johnson, I was sitting at my favorite watering hole and every Penn State fan in the place began spontaneously clapping like infants that just saw a big red ball bounce in front of them. We couldn't help ourselves it was a small nugget of good news in an otherwise pit of self loathing and despair. It got me thinking that maybe... just maybe BOB would also bring back Ron Vanderlinden.

When Vandy became Penn State's Linebacker coach way back in 2001 I was giddy because I loved the guy and knew he was a top-notch coach. When he turned down other coaching offers and chose to stay at PSU, I was downright ecstatic. Imagine how great I felt when, shortly after announcing LJ's return, O'Brien announced the retention of Vanderlinden.

In the world of Penn State football, it was complete for me. All the other coaching changes would come and go, but the two guys that I felt were the core of Penn State's great defenses in the last decade were still on board. Some semblance of normalcy had returned in a chaotic time.

Continue reading this post »

Usually a chance to watch two of the Big Ten’s best go toe to toe makes for a fantastic afternoon. Don’t get me wrong, watching Penn State win 7 matches in a row and beat the 2nd ranked Hawkeyes 22-12 was pure delight, but it couldn’t make up for the news of Joe Paterno’s passing. Penn State has a lot of rabid wrestling fans that follow our beloved Nittany Lions through good times and bad but we all lost a true treasure Sunday morning. Before the match started, Rec Hall had a moment of silence for Paterno that ended in a long standing ovation, it was a small gesture but one that almost brought me to tears.

We will miss you Joe!

Details of the beat-down after the break…

Continue reading this post »

As Penn State football fans there are a select few teams that bring Nittany Nation together in unity rooting for a big win. Sure we want to win every game but there are certain teams you really, really hate to lose to and really love to beat. The Ohio States and Notre Dames of the world just bring on a whole new level of fandom and a whole new level of satisfaction when ‘we’ beat them. I’ve been watching Penn State football since the 80’s and my most memorable game was Ohio State in 2005. It was just special in so many ways and I’ll never forget it.

As Penn State Wrestling fans though, there’s one team and one team only that bring out the best in us, and that team is Iowa. For decades, they were the king of wrestling, they can’t build a trophy case large enough to hold all their national championships and I can’t even count the number of Big Ten championships they’ve had. Beating them is beating the best in the sport, heck you even love to hate their coach with his mat-side antics and referee intimidation that borders on insanity. Yes, Iowa ranked #2 coming into a packed Rec Hall is about as good as it gets for a dual meet and we'll be treated to just that 2PM on Sunday.

Continue reading this post »

Penn State took on two Big Ten teams on the road this weekend and destroyed both of them. The Lions beat Northwestern 38-3 Friday night and then shut out Wisconsin 43-0 Sunday afternoon. It was Penn State’s first dual shutout in their Big Ten history and the first time Wisconsin was shut out in over half a century. Penn State’s only loss on the weekend was a close 2-1 bout between Dylan Alton and #3 Jason Welsh of Northwestern. The numbers are just plain crazy, as a team, Penn State gave up just 6 takedowns combined, while amassing 53. The Nittany Lions had 4 pins, 3 tech falls, 3 major decisions and one bout end on injury default. Penn State combined for 24 bonus points.

Continue reading this post »

The good guys in Blue & White are on the road this weekend to take on two B1G foes. Penn State travels to #17 Northwestern (5-1, 1-1 B1G) tonight at 8:00 pm and they make the trip up to Wisconsin (5-3, 0-2 B1G) Sunday at 2:00 pm. Penn State is coming off of a 36-6 victory at Michigan State, a match they didn’t wrestle real crisply and the huge sold-out home match with Iowa looms over the horizon (January 22^nd). Hopefully Cael has the team focused on the two duals now and not looking ahead to the Hawkeyes.

Continue reading this post »

It’s not often that you consider a 36-6 whitewash victory as somewhat disappointing. Penn State out-wrestled Michigan State by a margin of 25-5 in takedowns and the only points they gave up were a fluke disqualification. If not for those 6 points Penn State would have shut out Sparty, but nonetheless this was a laxidasical win. The team seemed listless and Michigan State was the aggressor. I’m not sure if it was a letdown after the Southern Scuffle or Penn State looking ahead but the Lions will have to wrestle better and have more focus this month especially when Iowa comes to town in two weeks.

Continue reading this post »

The Penn State wrestling team returns to action Sunday at 2 p.m. when they travel to take on Michigan State at Kellog Arena in Battle Creek, Mich. Sparty will have its hands full because the Lions are coming off a major victory, winning the Southern Scuffle outright, outpacing 3rd ranked Minnesota 191.5 to 177.5. After losing badly to Minnesota in a dual meet early in the year, Penn State bounced backed and used 4 champs and two other finalists for the Scuffle championship. The main difference was bonus points and Penn State pinned its way to a 14-point victory.

Continue reading this post »

You mean there's an open thread for Wrestling? Yes, that's how serious we are about wrastlin' here at Penn State. There's precious little coverage of the Southern Scuffle so use this as a collecting point for info we can share. For starters here's the bracket.

Here's another option through TrackWrestling.com.

Coverage is provided by GoPSUSports.com for those of us outside the State College area.

The first round starts at 10:00 AM.

Update - Penn State leads through the evening

Evening Update: Penn State pins it's way to 1st place:

There should be police tape across the entrance to Thomas Field house at Lock Haven University because Penn State murdered Lock Haven 50-0 for their 10th in a row against the Bald Eagles. In every team sport there comes times when all members of that team click at the same time and the team looks unbeatable, Sunday just happened to be one of those occasions for the Nittany Lions. Penn State got bonus points from 9 of the 10 weights, including 4 pins, 3 tech falls, and two major decisions. Not only were the Lions scoring at will but they didn't give much up winning the takedown battle 41-0.

Continue reading this post »

Penn State travels to Thomas Field house to take on longtime neighborhood rival Lock Haven, Sunday at 2PM. It will be the last dual meet of 2011 and a tune-up for the Southern Scuffle beginning January 1st in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 30-team, two-day event will be a team scored tournament which will include powerhouses Cornell, Minnesota, and Missouri. Penn State does not wrestle a home match until January 22nd when Iowa comes to town.

Continue reading this post »

The Penn State wrestling team traveled to #10 Lehigh Friday night and hosted West Virginia on Sunday. Collectively, the team went 14-6 in bouts en route to a 24-12 victory over Lehigh and a 34-6 whitewash of West Virginia. Even with two starters out of the lineup, Penn State had little trouble. Frank Molinaro, David Taylor, and Ed Ruth all remained undefeated going 2-0 on the weekend. The Lions managed 8 major decisions, a tech fall, a pin, and an injury default (Ed Ruth was up 12-1 at the time of the injury). Penn State moves to 3-1 on the season.

Lehigh

Continue reading this post »

The last time we saw our heroes in a dual setting they were getting thoroughly beat by Minnesota. Since then the Penn State Wrestling team bounced back and crowned six champions in the annual Penn State open last weekend. Cael Sanderson takes his team on the road for the first time this season traveling to #10 Lehigh to take on the Mountain Hawks at 7:00 PM tonight. The match marks the 100th time the two teams have faced off, easily the oldest rivalry in Penn State wrestling history. For the record Penn State holds a 62-34-3 lead in the all-time series but Lehigh is a talented team. After Friday night's tussle, Penn State returns home to take on West Virginia at 2PM in Rec Hall. The Mountaineers are 2-0 on the season but enter the match with only 2 ranked wrestlers.

Continue reading this post »

Well, all good things must come to an end and with the Big Ten season over that also means that the Big Ten Blogger's Pick'em is coming to an end as well. Sad I know. The season seemed to fly by this year and although it was a down year for the Big Ten (did Ohio State really finish 6-6?!?!) it was an exciting year of football. I'm not entirely sure if the Daily Gopher will have the Pick'em for the Big Ten bowl games but we are picking the championship game. Wisconsin and Michigan State proved they were the cream of the crop in an otherwise mediocre conference. The game on Saturday should be a good one but before we get that game we have our Thursday night game. Tonight we get a match-up of the Mountaineers of West Virginia and the Bulls of South Florida. WVU is 8-3 and ranked 23rd while Florida is 5-6 and looking to gain bowl eligibility. The game starts at 8:00 and can be seen on ESPN but join us here for our weekly Thursday night open thread.

Stats and our predictions after the break.

Continue reading this post »

So the season comes to an end and we can take a final look back at past opponents on Penn State’s schedule.  When you look at the schedule as a whole, there are very few elite teams on it.  Alabama would be the only team I categorize as an ‘elite’ team; if Wisconsin had one less loss I might throw them in there too, but they aren’t even in the top 10.  However, on the flip side, there was only one true pushover and that would be 1-9 Indiana.  The Hoosiers were the only team on Penn State’s schedule to finish less than .500.  11 of 12 teams have a 6-6 record or better, and 5 have that record.  So what does that all mean?  A lot of mediocrity no doubt, but can we say it was ‘weak’?  There will be no less than 5 bowl teams when the selections come out and there could be as many as 8 although I don’t think you’ll see Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, and Ohio State all get bowls at 6-6.  Point being, the schedule was not as easy as I anticipated at the beginning of the season.  With all that has happened over this season, on and off the field, I’m happy with Penn State’s 9-3 record.  Not satisfied, but happy it’s not worse.

Continue reading this post »

Happy Thanksgiving Penn State nation! By the time you read this I'll be fighting for my life with the hopes of getting my hands on some sweet Black Friday Thursday night deals, drunk on tryptophan (and alcohol).  Don't worry I brought my riot gear and pepper spray.  I'll hopefully catch the tail end of the Thursday night game because we have a good one.  #25 Texas (6-4) takes on cross-state rival Texas A&M (6-5).  Everything's bigger in Texas and hopefully that rings true when it comes to football games. Why Texas at 6-4 is ranked I'll never know but it appears to be a fairly evenly matched game, at least on paper. 

Your Prognosticators had a decent week; BSD went a respectable 5-1 in the Big Ten Bloggers Pick'em.  Hopefully we can maintain the momentum.  Stats and predictions after the jump and as always stop by for your Thursday night open thread.  We'll try and keep you from falling asleep.

Continue reading this post »

So it's the last week of the regular season and we have some answers as far as one half of the Big Ten Championship puzzle.  Put it this way, we know who's not going to be in the championship game which brings us to the Michigan-Nebraska game.  Thanks to Michigan's win over the Cornhuskers we know who will win the Legends division no matter what happens this Saturday and the irony is thick and rich.  First and foremost, Michigan's victory puts little brother Sparty in the Big Ten Championship game.  Secondly, I think it was the first time in the history of Michigan State football where MSU fans were cheering a Michigan win.  Lastly, the "BIG" game that the Big Ten had to protect because it's the most important rivalry in college football now becomes relevant only to the two teams in the game.  We know neither Ohio State or Michigan will win the Big Ten championship.  That will go to either Sparty or the winner of Penn State-Wisconsin game and that my friends, makes things right in the college football world.

As always, a look back at Penn State's schedule after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

That sound you heard Sunday afternoon was the sound of Penn State wrestling fans’ souls being sucked out of Rec Hall.  Ed Ruth brought the crowd to a frenzy with a pin of Minnesota's Alec Ortiz at the 2:28 mark of his match at 174 and tied the score at 14.  With crowd favorite Quentin Wright, the top-ranked wrestler, up and two weights that should have been hotly contested, it looked like Penn State could pull out a win.  It wasn’t to be though as Minnesota won that last three matches and left Penn State with a 23-14 win over the 2^nd ranked team in the country.  Penn State could only manage 3 wins out of the 10 weights and was dominated, especially on their feet.  It was a tough loss for Penn State and a wake-up call, they may be the defending champs but they have a long way to go to get back to championship form the teams on the other side of the mat don’t care about the banners hanging from the ceiling.

Continue reading this post »

The Minnesota Golden Gophers come to town Sunday for a noon dual.  It's a huge early season test for the Wrestling team as a whole and a litmus test for some of Penn State's young wrestlers.  Why the Big Ten scheduled such a big match up of wrestling powerhouses so early in the season is beyond me but whatever the reason the scheduling quirk turns out to be a real treat for fans as this should be a barn burner.  Penn State has 8 of their wrestlers ranked including 3 that are No. 1 and Minnesota has all 10 of their wrestlers ranked in the top 10.

Continue reading this post »

The end of the season is quickly approaching and there are precious few weeks left to make a move in the Big Ten Bloggers Pick'em.  Your prognosticators didn't have such a great week (except me, HA!) but BSD did go 4-2.  This week presents a few challenges so anything's possible.  As always though, we have an open thread for the Thursday night game.  Lots of sports tonight Pittsburgh and Philly take the ice tonight, the NFL is on and we have North Carolina and #8 Virginia Tech tonight at 8:00 PM on ESPN.   Stats and pics after the jump...

Last Week's Results

Continue reading this post »

Last week the Former Foes on Penn State's schedule had a bad week, most of them losing close games.  This week, the boys bounced back as 6 of the the 8 teams that played won. 6 still have bowl aspirations (sorry Indiana) and all but 1 (sorry Indiana) are .500 or better.

Indiana State (6-4)

Beat Missouri State 28-20

After two tough losses in a row the Sycamores rebound with a close win. Indiana State got 206 yards of rushing and 2 TD’s from Shakir Bell and just enough passing from Ronnie Fouch for the victory.  Early in the third the Bears scored when running back Chris Douglas caught a TD pass from quarterback Trevor Wooden to take a slim 1 point lead.  36 of Ronnie Fouch’s 90 yards then came in the form a touchdown pass to Chris Douglas and the Sycamores never looked back.

Next up: Southern Illinois

Continue reading this post »

Over the weekend three seasons started.  The Pat Chambers era started when the Penn State Nittany Lion men’s basketball team beat Hartford 70-55, Cael Sanderson started his third season as head coach of the Wrestling team with a 39-3 tune-up over Bloomsburg, and interim coach Tom Bradley took over for Joe Paterno coming up a little short in a tough 17-14 loss.  While the football game was a tough pill to swallow the basketball and wrestling teams started off on the right foot.  Over 6,000 fans packed Rec Hall to see the defending national champs and, before the match started, the Big Ten and National champion banners raised to the Rec Hall roof.

Continue reading this post »

Penn State opens up their 2011/2012 season Sunday afternoon when they take on the Huskies of Bloomsburg at 2 PM at Rec Hall.  For those of you heading to the match there's a couple changes you should note.  First off the 2011 Big Ten and NCAA title banners will be raised prior to the dual so get there early if you want to be part of the ceremony.  Also, due to the... unpleasantness.... there will be extra security measures in place.   

Bags of any sort, including purses, will not be permitted at the Bryce Jordan Center, Greenberg Ice Pavilion, Jeffrey Field and Rec Hall.

So there's my public service announcement for the day.  With that out of the way let's get to the dual at hand.  Bloom match-ups and commentary after the break.

Continue reading this post »

Week 11 of '11 is here and let's just sit down and forget all the commotion this week and watch some actual football.  What do ya say?!?!  Oh, looky here, what do we have?  A match-up of ranked teams between #10Virginia Tech and 21Georgia Tech.  Some times the Thursday night Gods smile upon us and this week is just such an occasion.  Just to add the cherry to the top of this delicious banana split, the game starts at a reasonable time: 8:00 PM.  Also, for the NFL fans there's Oakland vs. San Diego tonight at 8:20 on the NFL network.  OK, it's Oakland so no one really cares... even people in Oakland.  Open thread and Pick'em results to follow...

Continue reading this post »

Let's take a break from all the... unpleasantness and talk about something fun... like... oh, I don't know, how about the defending national champs?  While one legend's career has come to an end another legend is just starting to brew.  Head coach Cael Sanderson leads a Penn State Wrestling team that enters the season ranked #1.  For those of you that don't remember me from such other blogs as Linebacker-U and The Nittany Line, I'm a big wrestling fan and have covered it ever since my early blogging days.  For those of you that have read my articles in the past you'll recognize the Wrestling Wreport (clever huh, HUH?!?!).  I'm by no means an expert, just a fan that has watched decades of Wrestling.  When BSD was going through her change of life I was asked to come along and at first declined but after some begging from Chris (literally) I decided to bring my love of the sport here.  I don't think Chris asked me to come along because I'm a good writer, I think he just didn't want to learn what riding time was.  Hopefully I'll inspire you to at least keep an eye on the guys wearing the Blue & White singlet if I can't win you over to the the oldest sport known to man.  So let's do this!

Continue reading this post »