The top-ranked wrestling team nearly shut out Michigan State last night, winning nine of 10 bouts . David Taylor, Ed Ruth and Morgan McIntosh each had pins in the first half of the match, while Matt Brown had a tech fall in the first half of a match that would end in a 42-3 win over the Spartans.

After No. 4 Dylan Alton had a 8-3 decision in the first bout of the match, top-ranked David Taylor had the first pin of the night. Taylor took Bobby Nash six seconds into the bout and added a five point move. After letting Nash escape, Taylor took Nash down again for a pin at 1:53 for Taylor’s 48th pin in his career.

No. 3 Matt Brown led Nick Kaczanowski 4-1, after two takedowns in the first period. Brown escaped to start the second period. Two more takedowns and a three point near fall led to a 12-2 lead into the third period. Kaczanowski was turned for three back points to start the third. After an escape, a final takedown and the riding time point gave Brown a 7:00 tech fall.

Just 38 seconds into No. 2 Ed Ruth’s bout, Ruth took down and pinned John Rizqallah for the second pin of the match and Ruth’s 43rd career pin.

To continue the bonus scoring trend, No. 7 Morgan McIntosh closed out the first half of the match with the third pin of the night. Despite no score to end the first, McIntosh took advantage of starting down in the second period. McIntosh reversed Nick McDiarmid, and a pin followed soon after at 4:23.

With Jon Gingrich unable to wrestle due to an illness, Nick Ruggear faced No. 7 Mike McClure for the first bout of the second half. Ruggear dropped the only bout of the match in a 5-1 decision.

The fourth pin of the match came from No. 2 Zain Retherford over Brian Gibbs. Retherford had a single takedown in the first period, and he chose to start down in the second period. Retherford reversed Gibbs, added two back points and pinned him at 4:42.

Nico Megaludis did not make the trip, due to illness. Jordan Conaway wrestled at 125 and had a 15-4 major decision over Brenan Lyon. No. 16 Jimmy Gulibon and Andrew Alton each had decision wins as well.

Penn State improves to 12-0 overall and 6-0 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions are back in action on the road Sunday against Michigan at 3:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.