Wrestling: PSU holds lead, advances 5 to semifinals

NEW YORK – Penn State finds itself with a commanding 14.5-point lead halfway through the NCAA Championships at Madison Square Garden, and senior leader Morgan McIntosh, who secured his third career All-America honor, wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

"I couldn't ask for a better place to be than this right now today," McIntosh said after his quarterfinal match, in which he beat, for the third time this season, Nebraska's Aaron Studebaker – this time by a 16-4 score. "It's a lot of fun and a great crowd up there, great atmosphere, tough opponents making for good matches, so it's a ton of fun. I'm really grateful to be here."

Along with McIntosh at 197 pounds, Penn State crowned four other All-Americans during Friday's first session, which saw 17,899 fans file into Madison Square Garden. In addition to McIntosh, PSU's semifinalists include Nico Megaludis (125), Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157) and Bo Nickal (174), and they will all wrestle Friday night, fighting for a berth in Saturday night's championship round. Additionally, Jordan Conaway (133) is still alive for his All-America citation in the consolations after falling to defending champion Cody Brewer of Oklahoma, 8-5.

After three sessions, Penn State's 68.5 team points outpaces Ohio State (54), Iowa (48.5) and Oklahoma State (46).

Megaludis secured his fourth All-America honor, becoming the ninth wrestler in school history to do so, with a 4-0 win over Connor Youtsey of Michigan. Retherford came next, earning his second All-America citation when he pinned Central Michigan's Justin Oliver in 2 minutes and 12 seconds.

Following Retherford, freshmen Nolf and Nickal secured their first All-America citations with semifinal wins. Nolf plowed through Oklahoma State's Joe Smith to win 11-3, in spite of a tight 2-0 first period. Then Nickal, meeting Oklahoma State's Chandler Rogers, used an eventful 15-4 major decision, in which throws and tosses were aplenty, in order to advance to the final.

Despite it being Nolf's and Nickal's first national tournament, McIntosh isn't surprised by their early run to success, and it's just another reason why he's enjoying to the maximum his final national tournament.

"I couldn't be happier with the way these (freshmen) are wrestling, and just how mature they are, coming into a big tournament like this and not taking no for an answer and just stepping out there and wrestling like they're seniors," McIntosh said. "They're ready for a grind and they're good enough to win this whole thing. It's just cool to see those guys who are that young but also that mature and have the knowledge to know what it's like to be in a big tournament like this."

While five will wrestle in the semis Friday, in addition to Conaway's consolation match, two more Nittany Lion wrestlers bowed out of the tournament, shy of the coveted All-America honors.

Jimmy Gulibon (133) won his first consolation match of the day, beating Ian Nickell of Cal-State Bakersfield, 4-2. During his second, however, he fell to Seth Gross of San Diego State, 10-6. Despite jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, Gulibon gave up a reversal, a takedown and then four near-fall points when Gross caught him in a two-on-one tilt, falling 10-6.

Geno Morelli (165) also earned a victory in his first match of the day, topping Duke's Jake Faust, 5-2. Then Morelli also dropped an early 2-0 lead in his second consolation before falling to Virginia Tech's Dave McFadden, 14-3.

MATCH-BY-MATCH AGATE

125: No. 3 Nico Megaludis, Sr., Murrysville, Pa. - All-American

Rd 1: Chase Tolbert, Utah Valley – W, 18-5 maj. dec.

Rd 2: No. 14 Josh Rodriguez, North Dakota State – W, 4-2 dec.

QF: Conor Youtsey, Michigan – W, 4-0 dec.

SF: David Terao, American

133: No. 5 Jordan Conaway, Sr., Abbottstown, Pa.

Rd 1: Corey Keener, Central Michigan -- W, 6-5

Rd 2: No. 12 Ryan Taylor, Wisconsin -- W, 8-5 dec.

QF: No. 4 Cody Brewer, Oklahoma – L, 4-8 dec.

Cn 4: Mason Beckman, Lehigh

141: Jimmy Gulibon, Jr., Benton, Pa.

Rd. 1: No. 5 Matt Manley, Missouri – W, 17-2 (TF; 7:00)

Rd. 2: No. 12 Chris Mecate, Old Dominion -- L, 0-6 dec.

Cn 2: Ian Nickell, CSUB - W, 4-2 dec.

Cn 3: Seth Gross, South Dakota State – L, 6-10 dec.

149: No. 1 Zain Retherford, So., Benton, Pa. - All-American

Rd. 1: Coleman Hammond, CSU Bakersfield -- W, 21-6 (TF; 5:46)

Rd. 2: Patricio Lugo, Edinboro -- WBF (6:37)

QF: No. 9 Justin Oliver, Central Michigan - WBF (2:12)

SF: No. 5 Alec Pantaleo, Michigan

157: No. 3 Jason Nolf, Fr., Yatesboro, Pa. - All-American

Rd. 1: Kamaal Shakur, Chattanooga – WBF (3:34)

Rd. 2: May Bethea, Penn -- W, 25-10 (TF 7:00)

QF: No. 6 Joe Smith, Oklahoma State – W, 11-3 maj. dec.

SF: No. 15 Chad Walsh, Rider

165: Geno Morelli, Jr., DuBois, Pa.

Rd. 1: No. 11 John Staudenmayer, North Carolina – W, 5-3 dec.

Rd. 2: No. 6 Steven Rodriguez, Illinois -- L, 3-1 (SV) dec.

Cn 2: Jake Faust, Duke – W, 5-2 dec.

Cn 3: No. 14 David McFadden, Virginia Tech – L, 3-14 maj. dec

174: No. 1 Bo Nickal, Fr., Allen, Texas - All-American

Rd. 1: Josef Johnson, Harvard – W, 10-2 maj. dec.

Rd. 2: No. 16 Micah Barnes, Nebraska -- W, 7-2 dec.

QF: No. 9 Chandler Rogers, Oklahoma State – W, 15-4 maj. dec

SF: No. 12 Nathan Jackson, Indiana

184: No. 16 Matt McCutcheon, So., Apollo, Pa.

Rd. 1: Tom Sleigh, Bucknell – L, 3-4 dec.

Cn. 1: Jack Dechow, Old Dominion -- L, 1-6 dec.

197: No. 1 Morgan McIntosh, Sr., Acton, Calif. - All-American

Rd. 1: Ryan Wolfe, Rider – W, 11-3 maj. dec.

Rd. 2: No. 16 Kyle Conel, Kent State -- WBF (6:01)

QF: No. 8 Aaron Studebaker, Nebraska – W, 15-4 maj. dec

SF: No. 4 Nathan Burak, Iowa

TEAM SCORES (# of semifinalists)

1. Penn State - 68.5 (5)

2. Ohio State - 54 (4)

3. Iowa - 48.5 (4)

4. Oklahoma State - 46 (3)

5. Missouri - 42.5 (3)