Nittany Lions steamroll Boilermakers

By Andy Elder

UNIVERSITY PARK — With five weeks to go until the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, the Penn State wrestling team finally looks like it is establishing its place within the conference.

With Sunday’s 32-7 win over Purdue in front of 1,704 Rec Hall fans, the No. 19 Nittany Lions evened their conference mark at 2-2 and crept back to better than .500 overall at 8-7. And they are gaining valuable wins over Big Ten foes, which are crucial to Big Ten tournament seeding.

“Any time you win eight matches and they win two, you have to be pretty pleased, “Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. “I felt a lot of our guys came out and stepped it up a notch.”

Purdue, which slipped to 7-8 and 1-2 in the conference, was coming off a 21-12 win over Ohio State on Friday night. So, it looked like the Boilermakers might be a handful for the Nittany Lions.

“Anytime you win you hope you develop momentum. That’s really what you try to develop as a coach. Looking at the matchups, yeah, I thought we had an opportunity to win. It just all started wrong, “Purdue coach Jessie Reyes said. “We had to steal some from the bottom, whether it was 125 or 133. You look to steal from the bottom, even 141, which was a match we were very capable of winning. But when you get behind that much, it’s not going to happen.”

Penn State swept the first three bouts, taking away any chance Purdue had of gaining early momentum. No. 16 125-pounder Adam Smith put on a takedown clinic, scoring six, in a 14-6 major decision over Brandon Tucker. At 133, No. 20 Bryan Heller notched three takedowns of his own in a dominating 8-2 win over Sean Schmaltz.

That was the start of a recurring theme for Penn State. The Nittany Lions amassed a 24-4 edge in takedowns on the day.

That continued at 141 where No. 20 DeWitt Driscoll’s two takedowns and a three-point near fall had him leading Rene Hernandez 7-0 when Driscoll pinned him in 3 minutes, 33 seconds.

“I thought 141 was going to be a critical match. Hernandez has given (former Nittany Lions All-American) Josh Moore fits in the past, “Sunderland said. “I think after that first takedown it just changed the perspective of the match.”

Purdue sliced into Penn State’s 13-0 lead with a major decision at 149 and a decision at 165 sandwiched around Nate Galloway’s solid 8-4 win at 157.

After that, it was all Nittany Lions.

James Yonushonis had secured five takedowns and an escape in leading Dan Bedoy 11-1 before Yonushonis barred an arm and pinned him in 4:25 at 174.

“I hope that’s a turning point and gets him focused in the right direction, “Sunderland said. “He’s worked as hard as anybody can. It’s just a matter of small details coming together. Hopefully, that will get him over the hump in winning some close matches.”

With Penn State leading 22-7, No. 6 Eric Bradley sealed the win with a 3-1 overtime win over No. 19 Ben Wissel. A takedown 12 seconds into the one-minute sudden victory period won it.

“He’s hard to get in on. He’s got a weird style. I have to pick it up a little, maybe shoot more to the outside. He keeps his one leg back, so my high crotch isn’t really there, “Bradley said. “It gets frustrating. I’m not a big fan of his. I want to get in there and brawl a little bit. He’s hard to get coming at you.”

Then, at 197, redshirt freshman Phil Davis continued his torrid streak, posting a dominating 8-0 major decision over Nathan Moore, who was coming off an upset of No. 4 J.D. Bergman of Ohio State.

“That’s definitely going to help my seed, because he beat two guys I lost to, especially, since I majored him. That will count big-time at Big Tens, “Davis said. “I feel like I’m right where I need to be. I’m wrestling a little different style now. Not necessarily more conservative, but a little bit different, to protect my ankle. One thing opens the door to another.”

Sunderland, too, likes the way Davis is wrestling.

“I’m really pleased with where Phil is right now. He has a presence on the mat. The one thing you really like to see as a coach is with time running out, he works for back points to get the bonus points and major decision, “Sunderland said.

And, at heavyweight, Joel Edwards posted his first win over a Big Ten opponent with a 6-0 win over Jake O’Brien.

Penn State has less than a week to prepare for its next Big Ten dual, a 7 p.m. Friday showdown with Iowa in Rec Hall.