Philadelphia – Senior captain Dustin Wiles won both matches on Saturday evening as the No. 22 Penn wrestling team defeated crosstown rivals Drexel, 21-15, and fell to No. 13 Penn State, 25-6, at The Palestra.
Against the Nittany Lions, Wiles and freshman Matt Dragon won their matches at 184 lbs and 149 lbs., respectively. The Quakers were challenged early, but kept their matches close. The Quakers only gave up bonus points on one match, while five of the Quakers losses were by three points or less.
Wiles defeated Neil Bretz of PSU , 7-4, before earning a major decision against Justin Terhune of Drexel (17-6). Junior Gene Zannetti fell to Penn State’s Nate Galloway, 4-3., who is ranked 16th in the nation at 157 lbs. His brother Jeff, met up with David Erwin at 165 lbs., falling 9-4. Sophomore Lior Zamir hung tough with No. 8 James Yonushonis, falling 6-5 at 174 lbs. At 125 lbs. Andrew Gold dropped a 5-2 decision to Tim Haas, while No. 6 Matt Valenti lost a tough battle with No. 19 Jake Strayer, 3-2. At 141 lbs., freshman Cesar Grajales fell to No. 15 Dewitt Driscoll, 7-2. Dragon closed out the meet with a 9-2 win against Jason Lapham.
In the second dual meet of the evening, Penn won three weight classes with bonus points and gave up bonus points on only one match.
The Red and Blue opened the meet winning the first two weight class. Zannetti earned a 5-4 victory over Ryan Hlushak at 157 lbs. and freshman Colin Hitschler topped Scott Hunter, 5-3, at 165 lbs. At 174 lbs. Zamir dropped a tought match to Nick Kozar, 3-2. After Wiles put the Quakers ahead 10-3 with bonus points, senior captain Paul Velekei defeated John Oplinger, 6-5, to give the Quakers a 10 point lead. Drexel’s heavyweight Chris Cowen scored a takedown late in third period against Bowlsby to give the Dragons their second win of the night. Gold came back with a 13-9 win over Steve Mytcyh. The Red and Blue shutout their next two opponents when Valenti won by major decision over Zach Makovsky, 11-0., and Grajales put the Quakers up 21-9 with a 9-0 win over Ed Giosa. The Dragons earned bonus points when Chris Renninger pinned Penn’s Rob Hitschler at 149 lbs.
The Quakers are 1-1 on the season under first-year Head Coach Zeke Jones. Penn returns to action on Jan. 7 against Maryland at The Palestra. The meet is slated to start at 1 p.m.
Penn State 25, Penn 6
157 “No. 16 Nate Galloway def. No. 19 Gene Zannetti, D; 4-3
165 “David Erwin def. Jeff Zannetti, D; 9-4
174 “No. 8 James Yonushonis def. Lior Zamir, D; 6-5
184 “No. 18 Dustin Wiles def. Neil Bretz, D; 7-4
197 “No. 6 Phillip Davis def. No. 18 Paul Velekei, D;6-0
285 “Aaron Anspach def. Jayson Bowlsby, MD; 19-9
125 “Tim Haas def. Andrew Gold, D; 5-2
133 “No. 19 Jack Strayer def. No. 6 Matt Valenti; D; 3-2
141 “No. 15 Dewitt Driscoll def. Cesar Grajales: D:7-2
149- Matt Dragon def. Jason Laphram, D; 9-2
Penn 21, Drexel 15
157 “No. 19 Gene Zannetti def.Ryan Hlushak, D; 5-4
165 “Colin Hitschler def. Scott Hunter, D; 5-3
174 “Lior Zamir def. Nick Kozar, D: 3-2
184 “No. 18 Dustin Wiles def. Justin Terhune, MD; 17-6
197 “No. 18 Paul Velekei def. John Oplinger, D; 6-5
285 “Chris Cowen def. Jayson Bowlsby, D; 3-1
125 “Steve Mytcyh def. Andrew Gold, D; 8-5
133 “No. 6 Matt Valenti def. Zach Makovsky, MD; 11-0
141 “Cesar Grajales def. Ed Giosa, MD; 9-0
149 “Chris Renninger def. Rob Hitschler, F; 4:42
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