Three unattached wrestlers made a strong showing at the Nittany Lion Open in Rec Hall last weekend.
By Christopher Woytko
Collegian Staff Writer
Of the 29 Lions competing in the Nittany Lion OpenSunday, 10 wrestlers from Penn State made it into the semifinals in their respective weight classes — a strong showing for the team in a tournament that touted over 600 wrestlers, several from 12 top-30 ranked teams.
Two of the 10 were Lions who were wrestling unattached in the Open.
Freshman Dave Rella fared the best of the two, only falling by a score of 4-1 to Penn’s Brock Wittmeyer in the finals at 165.
Last weekend, Rella was among 19 wrestlers from Penn State who competed at Lock Haven in the 2006 Mat-Town U.S.A. Tournament on Nov. 25.
There, Rella earned a first place finish in the 165-pound weight class.
“I thought Rella getting second after winning Mat-Town last week [was a good thing for him], “Penn State head coach Troy Sunderland said.
Two other Nittany Lions wrestling unattached also earned top-five finishes in Sunday’s tournament.
Competing at 125, Brad Pataky finished the day with a record of 5-1. His only loss came in the semifinals at the hands of No. 5-ranked Franklin Gomez of Michigan State. Gomez defeated Pataky by a score of 17-1.
Despite losing by a major decision, he came back in the consolation bracket, by defeating James Nicholson of Old Dominion in a close, 5-3, match to take third place.
The Lions’ other unranked competitior was David Erwin at 184. Erwin, who also took first place honors at the Mat-Town U.S.A. Tournament last weekend, went 5-1,en route to a fifth-place finish.
The sophomore, who is redshirting this season after competing last year at 165, defeated Kurt Brenner by pinfall early in the third period.
Although he is redshirting, rules stipulate that he can compete unattached in bouts.
Erwin’s only loss came in the third round to the eventual winner of the Open in the 184-pound weight class, Joe Williams of Michigan State.
According Sunderland, the unranked Lions held their own against a slate of tough opponents, but they still have some work to d prior to the start of the dual meet season this weekend.
“We have some things to work on and that’s where the young guys are at, “Sunderland said. “They have to come back [this week] with a fresh focus and mindset to work on the things they need to improve on and really have that eagerness to learn and get better.”
As for preparations this week, the Lions will take it easy leading up to the weekend at they get ready for their meets against No. 24 Lehigh on Friday at Rec Hall and at No. 5 Hofstra on Sunday.
“We’re going to give them a couple of days, “Sunderland said. “We’ll bring them in and loosen them up and stretch them out and get some massage work done. Then, we’re going to give them a day or two to recover after that.”
Wrestling Gear
