The Penn State wrestling team put forth a dominating effort against an overmatched Clarion squad on Saturday night, completing a 44-0 shutout over the Golden Eagles in Tippin Gymnasium.

After Penn State’s first-year grapplers struggled in the win over Pittsburgh on Friday night, all four redshirt freshmen earned victories against Clarion, with three earning their first ever win in a Penn State singlet. In addition to Garrett Hammond’s second career victory, Kade Moss, Cody Law, and Matt McCutcheon exercised complete control over their opponents on the mat to propel No. 7 Penn State to its first shutout since a 34-0 victory at Rutgers on Feb. 24, 2013.

Jordan Conaway, ranked No. 12 at 125, began the match with a masterful performance in a 20-3 tech fall victory over Clarion’s Seth Carr. Jimmy Gulibon continued to shine, as the fifth-ranked sophomore at 133 overwhelmed Clarion’s Matt Liggett before picking up a pin at the 3:47 mark to give Penn State a commanding 11-0 lead. Kade Moss then picked up the first of four redshirt freshmen victories by rolling to a 12-1 major over Clarion’s John Pezze at 141.

Sophomore Zack Beitz, ranked No. 15 at 149, earned his second victory in as many nights with a 15-5 major over over Clarion’s Sam Sherlock, the first of four major decisions of the night for the Nittany Lions. After losing by two points to Pitt’s Ronnie Garbinsky on Friday, Cody Law earned his first collegiate victory with a 5-1 win over Even Delong at 157 to build the lead to 22-0 at the midway point of the dual.

Flanking senior All-American Matt Brown’s pin over Michael Pavasko just 51 seconds into the 174-pound match, redshirt freshmen Garrett Hammond and Matt McCutcheon picked up their first career wins to extend the lead even further. Hammond posted a strong 13-4 major over Clarion’s Slade Horner at 165, while McCutcheon, ranked No. 19 at 184, picked up the team’s fourth major decision over Danny Sutherland.

Fresh off his heroics against Pittsburgh the previous night, Morgan McIntosh racked up three near fall points and an incredible 5:01 of riding time to cruise to a 16-1 tech fall over Ryan Darch at the seven minute mark. Heavyweight Jon Gingrich, ranked No. 7 at 285, capped the commanding dual victory with a 9-4 decision over Evan Daley to complete the shutout.

The four-time defending champions are now a perfect 3-0 to start the season, while Clarion drops to 0-5. After a grueling two-game road trip that featured two matches in 24 hours, Penn State will be off for two weeks before returning home to host the Nittany Lion Open on Dec. 7 in Rec Hall.

Final Results:

125: #12 Jordan Conaway PSU tech fall Seth Carr CUP, 20-3 (TF; 5:41)
133: #5 Jimmy Gulibon PSU pinned Matt Liggett CUP, WBF (3:47)
141: Kade Moss PSU maj. dec. John Pezze CUP, 12-1
149: #15 Zack Beitz PSU maj. dec. Sam Sherlock CUP, 15-5
157: Cody Law PSU dec. Even Delong CUP, 5-1
165: Garett Hammond PSU maj. dec. Slade Horner CUP, 13-4
174: #3 Matt Brown PSU pinned Michael Pavasko CUP, WBF (0:51)
184: #19 Matt McCutcheon PSU maj. dec. Danny Sutherland CUP, 12-3
197: #4 Morgan McIntosh PSU tech fall Ryan Darch CUP, 16-1 (7:00)
285: #7 Jon Gingrich PSU dec. Evan Daley CUP, 9-4