Wrestling: Nittany Lions topple Terps in home opener
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by InterMat
The Nittany Lions opened up their season by winning nine of ten bouts in a 34-3 victory over Maryland at Rec Hall. Maryland dropped to 2-2 on the season with the loss, but a 31-point spread was, again, not indicative of how competitive the bout was.
“Pat (Santoro) has done a tremendous job, being competitive, building a team,” said Penn State assistant coach Matt Dernlan following the match. “We knew we were going to have a scrap on our hands, and we did. None of those guys backed down, they didn’t have any quit in them, and they just kept coming and coming.”
“There’s four or five matches that could have gone either way,” said Santoro.
The match opened with Penn State’s Mark McKnight battling for an 8-7 victory over Brendan Byrne at 125 pounds. Maryland tied the score at three after Steve Bell topped Tim Haas in the tiebreaker at 133 pounds in a wild bout.
Bell scored eight points on four reversals, three in regulation and a fourth at the buzzer at the end of the second 30-second tiebreaker period.
Jake Strayer gave the Penn State lead some distance, dominating 20th-ranked Charlie Pinto with a 14-0 major decision.
Bubba Jenkins’ debut in the Penn State lineup at 149 pounds gave the Rec Hall crowd much to cheer about as Jenkins broke open a close match with true freshman Eric Medina, hitting a cement mixer early in the second and pressed Medina to the mat for the fall.
“That’s my arch-nemesis Eric Medina,” said Jenkins. “It felt good to get that win.” The last two the pair wrestled was in the Beast of the East during Jenkins’ junior year at Cox High School and Medina’s sophomore year at Blair. “I’ve got the last two," added Jenkins.”
“I didn’t go out there and expect to do that,” he said.
“They’ve got a history and they were both excited to see each other,” said Santoro.
Dan Vallimont celebrated his birthday with a 13-4 major decision over another true freshman in the Maryland lineup, Brian Letters. Vallimont had some problems with Letters in the first two periods, but in the third picked up the pace and registered the win.
Maryland wrestled without starters Mike McGill (165) and Mike Letts (174), but the two subs filled in admirably.
Ryan Kennett battled Penn State’s Dave Rella tough the whole bout, but Rella rallied from a 3-0 deficit and broke a 5-5 tie with a takedown on the edge with under a minute to go.
Mark Friend matched the 7-5 outcome with a victory over Brad Nielson at 174 pounds.
Phil Bomberger was strong in a 12-6 victory over Josh Haines, who made his first appearance in the Maryland lineup this season. Haines did have as much as four minutes of riding time during the match, but Bomberger’s double leg takedowns extended the lead. Attempts to notch a final takedown to score a major decision were denied.
The dual’s most anticipated bout came at 197 pounds where Penn State’s three-time All-American Phil Davis took to the mat against sophomore Hudson Taylor, a Round of 12 guy at last year’s NCAA championships.
Taylor didn’t have any time to get his offense going as Davis pounced ferociously, putting Taylor on his back three times in the first two periods, and earned a dominant 18-2 technical fall in 4:12.
“I want to separate myself from the rest of the pack,” said Davis. “The guy who comes in second isn’t necessarily close to first all the time. I definitely wanted to get some distance.”
Taylor, a dangerous wrestler in his own right, was blown away from the opening whistle.
“I didn’t really give him a chance to open up on any of his offense. I wanted to take control early and break him mentally for anytime we wrestle again,” said Davis.
Dernlan and staff loves having Davis in big-match situations.
“He looked sharp,” said Dernlan. “(Davis) didn’t let (Taylor) breathe.”
Santoro agreed.
“Phil comes to wrestle hard every time and we knew we had to weather the storm in the first three or four minutes and we didn’t,” said the Maryland coach. “We knew what he was going to do and he did it to us.”
What makes Davis dangerous in high-profile matches is his proficiency for scoring.
“The ability to score those points and also he embraces that moment,” said Dernlan. “He loves it. The bigger the stage, the bigger he steps up. He wants that responsibility placed on his shoulders, ‘I’m going to step up.’”
Penn State finished the bout with a 3-2 victory at heavyweight by Stephan Tighe over Pat Gilmore.
“That’s the tone we need to have, either nine wins or 10 wins. Everything else, we’re not working at our best level,” said Davis of his team’s performance.
Despite the outcome, both teams feel there’s much to be worked on this early in the season.
“We’re taking a lot of positives away from this,” said Dernlan. “We have to get ready for Hofstra next week. We’re going to have our hands full, in some ways, they might be tougher than they were last year, they’re solid all the way through.”
The Terps, who have wrestled four duals in the first two weeks rather than hitting open tournaments, have a different plan of action with the young squad.
“In tournaments, you’re not sure who you’re going to wrestle,” said Santoro. “The way the seeding goes, we have a young team and we’re not going to get seeded at some of these tournaments. This way, we know we’re going to get All-Americans. It’s designed to have our freshman and sophomores starting.”
“I’m not happy with this outcome, but our kids fought hard,” continued Santoro. “We gave a lot of opportunities away. We pushed too hard and gave up position. We have to learn fast and a new level each week.”
