Five Penn State wrestlers earned All-American honors on Friday as Matt Brown, Jimmy Gulibon, Jordan Conaway, Morgan McIntosh and Jimmy Lawson each garnered the prestigious nod. While Brown and Gulibon managed the feat by progressing through their main brackets, Conaway, McIntosh and Lawson did so via the consolation bracket following losses on Thursday.

How It Happened

Matt Brown’s All-American bid came in the most impressive fashion, as he blasted his way into the national finals at 174 pounds. The 2nd-seeded Brown faced off once again with Iowa’s Mike Evans in the national semifinal. The two wrestlers have faced off a number of times now, and unfortunately for Evans, this bout went down in very similar fashion to Brown’s 2-o win over Evans in the Bryce Jordan Center earlier this season. The two great wrestlers found themselves locked in a stalemate for the first period, then Brown quickly took a 1-0 lead after an escape to start the second. The rest of the match saw Brown stifling Evans, coolly grinding out one of the biggest wins of his career on the nation’s biggest stage. After getting the best of Evans once again, Brown will face 8-seed and upstart Tyler Wilps of Pittsburgh in the national final tomorrow evening.

Jimmy Gulibon, Penn State’s other semifinalist, faced off with Iowa’s Cory Clark at 133 pounds. Gulibon took a 2-1 lead in the second period until Clark fired back with a a big takedown towards the end of that period. Clark escaped to go up 4-2 to start the third and then scored a smooth counter takedown to go up 6-2. Clark would hold on to win 7-5, ending an impressive national run for the sophomore. While only the No. 6 seed, Gulibon proved that when he can get his mental game right, he can wrestle with anyone in the nation at his weight class.

Jordan Conaway secured his All-American birth by grinding out an exciting 8-5 victory over American’s David Terao in the round of 12. He lost his next match to Nashon Garrett of Cornell, the No. 2 seed. He will wrestle for 7th place tomorrow. Conaway has posted an impressive showing at the NCAA tournament despite a sometimes up-and-down season.

Morgan McIntosh took on Wyoming’s Shane Woods in his round of 12 match. Morgan bounced back from his loss Thursday by rolling over Woods 8-3 and securing his second All-American birth. He then defeated No. 6 seed Nathan Burak of Iowa to make his way into consolation semifinals. While he has not lived up to the expectations set on him following a Big Ten title, McIntosh has continued to impress nonetheless.

Penn State heavyweight Jimmy Lawson battled Devin Mellon of Missouri for his All-American bid, and posted a 4-1 win to secure that honor. He then fought through a tough match against Ty Walz of Virginia Tech, securing a spot in the consolation semifinals tomorrow. This is Lawson’s first All-American nod.

Standings

1. Ohio State — 86.5
2. Iowa — 73
3. Cornell — 66.5
4. Edinboro — 64.5
5. Missouri — 60
6. Penn State — 58

Tweet of the Day

Matt Brown becomes Penn State’s 24th 3X All-American! #d1wrestle #PSUwr

— pennstateWREST (@pennstateWREST) March 20, 2015

We’ve shown you why Matt Brown is a special wrestler. Now, he has yet another accolade to add to his list.

Looking Ahead

Action resumes Saturday morning at 11 a.m. on ESPN3, with Jimmy Gulibon, Jordan Conaway, and Jimmy Lawson competing in the consolation semifinals. Matt Brown will compete for his first national championship in the evening session, live on ESPN at 8 p.m.

Photo: Mark Selders/GoPSUsports.com