No. 2 Penn State returned to Rec Hall for its first dual of 2018 when the Nittany Lions hosted Purdue Friday night.  After forfeiting the first bout, Penn State won the last nine matches and dominated the Boilermakers with a 28-0 takedown advantage. The Nittany Lions pinned four and scored bonus points in seven bouts in their 39th straight dual win, a new program record.

How It Happened

Penn State trailed Purdue 6-0 after the Nittany Lions forfeited the 125 lb. bout to No. 12 Luke Welch. Corey Keener put Penn State on the board with a 3-2 decision win over Ben Thornton. Trailing 1-0 heading into the third period, Keener escaped and took down Thornton and then avoided a last second takedown to secure Penn State’s first three points.

Fresh off a big weekend in Michigan after burning his redshirt, No. 7 Nick Lee made his Rec Hall debut against Nate Limmex. Lee rattled off five takedowns and reversed Limmex en route to a 14-4 major decision win that put Penn State up 7-6. No. 1 Zain Retherford followed with the 50th fall of his career by pinning Austin Nash. Retherford took down Nash six times in the first period before recording the fall at the 2:27 mark.

No. 1 Jason Nolf completed the backend of the nation’s best 1-2 punch by pinning Cole Wysocki to give the Nittany Lions a 19-6 advantage halfway through. Despite being a year younger than Retherford, Nolf is right behind him on the all-time falls leaderboard. He now has 43 pins.

After the break, No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph continued the flurry of bonus points by tech falling Jacob Morrissey 18-3. Joseph was looking for the pin at the end of the second period but came away with four near fall points and the 15-point win.

The 174 lb. match actually went the full seven minutes, when No. 2 Mark Hall majored No. 12 Dylan Lydy 11-3. Hall led 5-1 after two periods but used a pair of third period takedowns, a stalling point, and a riding time point to open up his lead enough for a major decision.

The pin party resumed after Hall’s major decision. Bo Nickal and Shakur Rasheed each quickly recorded six points for the Nittany Lions with first period falls over Max Lyon and Kobe Woods, respectively. Rasheed, who’s fighting for the starting job at 197 lbs., made a statement with his fall. He attacking Woods quickly and aggressively before pinning him at the 1:42 mark.

No. 8 Nick Nevills concluded the dual by grinding out a 4-2 decision win over No. 15 Shawn Streck. Nevills trailed Streck 1-0 after two periods but grabbed the victory with an escape, a takedown, and a riding point after riding out the Boilermakers’ heavyweight for a decent part of the third period.

Wrestler of the Dual

Shakur Rasheed, Redshirt Junior, 197 lbs.

Perhaps the hottest wrestler in the country, with seven straight wins, including four falls in that span, Rasheed made an even more convincing case for the job at 197 lbs., demonstrating yet again that he fits in well with the rest of Murderer’s Row. Rasheed’s win was his first action at home since last December’s dual against Lehigh and the 38th straight Rec Hall sellout appropriately welcomed his aggressive style with booming cheers.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions go back on the road to visit former Nittany Lion and two-time national champion Kerry McCoy’s Maryland Terrapins at 4 p.m. Sunday.