The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team was back on the mats again Saturday afternoon as the Nittany Lions traveled to take on Rider. The Nittany Lions entered the match with a 5-0 record and a 1-0 record in the B1G. Rider came in with a 3-3 record and an 0-1 record in the EWL. Penn State rolled to an easy 38-4 victory to remain perfect and most likely still the No. 1 seed heading into the holiday break.

How It Happened

No. 4 Nico Megaludis opened the match in the 125 against Rider’s Brenden Calas. Megaludis won by technical fall to give Penn State the first points of the match and go ahead 5-0. No. 6 Jordan Conaway was next in the 133, and he was also impressive, as he won by major decision 18-4.

Kade Moss entered the match for the Nittany Lions in the 141, as he faced Paul Kirchner. Moss recorded his second win in a row for Penn State, winning 13-6. No. 1 Zain Retherford in the 149 took on No. 14 B.J. Clagon form Rider in one of the most hard-fought bouts of the night. Retherford won 2-1 with 1:52 of riding time after initially falling behind 1-0 to Clagon. The big win from Retherford propelled the Nittany Lions to a commanding 15-0 lead. Jason Nolf, the redshirt freshman ranked No. 3 in the 157, won by an 18-7 major decision over No. 20 Chad Walsh. At the intermission, Penn State had a dominating 19-0 lead.

The start of the second half showcased the return of Shakur Rasheed. Rasheed did not disappoint as he recorded a pin on No. 15 Connor Brennan to give Penn State a 25-0 lead coming out of the half. Bo Nickal also recorded a pin quickly in the second period of his match to give Penn State another six points.

Matt McCutcheon shut out his opponent by a 3-0 decision in the 184, and Morgan McIntosh won by major decision 10-1 in his match to give Penn State a 38-0 lead. Caleb Livingston entered the match in the 285 for the Nittany Lions. Although he lost by a 17-6 major decision, Penn State still rode to a 38-4 victory.

Wrestler Of The Match

Shakur Rasheed gets wrestler of the match honors for this one. After sitting out the last couple of duals for the Nittany Lions, Rasheed came in to face the No. 15 ranked wrestler in his weight class. Rasheed showed what he could do by getting a pin, which ultimately sealed the victory for Penn State.

What’s Next?

The Southern Scuffle is next for the Nittany Lions. They will travel to Chattanooga, Tennessee on January 1 and 2 to take on some of the best wrestlers in the nation in the open tournament. It will be a good time to see how some of the top ranked Penn State wrestlers match up against other top wrestlers in the nation.