The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team met Michigan in a battle of two of the top teams in the B1G Sunday afternoon in Rec Hall. The annual whiteout match was filled with quality wrestling, ranked opponents, and an electric crowd. Penn State came in undefeated with an 11-0 (6-0 B1G) record. The Wolverines boasted a 10-1 (5-0 B1G) overall record. Michigan’s only loss came to Oklahoma, ranked No. 14 at the time, but the Wolverines knocked off four ranked opponents in a row, showing that they are not a team to go down without a fight. Penn State gave them a fight and then some, as the Nittany Lions won easily 35-7.

How It Happened

Starting at 125, No. 4 Nico Megaludis wrestled Conor Youtsey. Youtsey ran all over the mat to escape Megaludis, but he could not escape defeat as Megaludis won 10-4 to give the Nittany Lions an early 3-0 lead. At 133, Jordan Conaway took on No. 17 Rossi Bruno. It was a closely contested match throughout, however Conaway proved too much for Bruno as he won 8-4. At 141, No. 14 Jimmy Gulibon wrestled George Fisher from Michigan. In another close bout, Gulibon pulled away in the end to win 10-4. He also had an impressive 2:30 of riding time to put Penn State up 9-0.

No. 1 Zain Retherford took on No. 6 Alec Pantaleo at 149 in one of the most anticipated matches of the day. It was close after two periods, but Retherford dominated the third and won by fall. The crowd was electric after the fall as Penn State moved ahead 15-0. Jason Nolf made his return to Rec Hall after knocking off the previously top-ranked wrestler last match. He went up against Brian Murphy in the final match before halftime. Nolf posted another dominant performance as he won by technical fall 23-6, and Penn State led 20-0 at halftime.

In the first match after halftime, Shakur Rasheed wrestled Garrett Sutton at 165. The two were even throughout the match, but Rasheed was able to pull away and keep Sutton on the mat. Rasheed won 6-5 with 1:39 of riding time. In the 174, No. 1 Bo Nickal had a massive take down on Davonte Mahones which injured Mahones. Nickal won by injury default to give Penn State the 29-0 lead.

At 184, Brian Brill made an appearance for the Nittany Lions as he wrestled No. 8 Dominic Abounader. Abounader never let Brill get into the match, and he won easily 9-2 to cut the lead to 29-3. A forfeit win at 197 for Morgan McIntosh made the score 35-3. At heavyweight, Jan Johnson could not overcome the power of No. 4 Adam Coon as he fell 15-5. Penn State still won 35-7.

Wrestler Of The Match

Jason Nolf | Redshirt Freshman | 157-Pound Weight Class

After an astounding performance last week, Nolf was incredible again this week, as he posted a 23-6 technical fall over his opponent. He gets the award for wrestler of the match today.

What’s Next?

Penn State will host its second BJC Dual this Friday at 6 p.m. against No. 3 Ohio State. With its previous defeat of Wisconsin in the first BJC Dual, Penn State hopes to continue its winning ways with another B1G win over the Buckeyes.