Rutgers Wrestling: Not a completely unexpected bruising at Penn State

Penn State wrestling is averaging just over 36 points per match. It’s given up as many as ten points only twice and it has shut out two opponents on its way to a 7-0 dual match record.

Rutgers sort of fell right in line as it dropped a 37-6 contest at Rec Hall on Friday night.

The two wins for the Knights came from Scott DelVecchio (13-6) at 133 and Anthony Ashnault (15-3) at 141. The Knights only had the lead once, after Ashnault’s win over No. 12 Jimmy Gulibon.

Besides the strength up and down the PSU lineup (nine ranked wrestlers), the Knights lost an uncharacteristic six bouts via bonus points (one major, three techs, two falls).

On the positive side, besides the two bouts won by RU, Phil Bakuckas and Matt Correnti wrestled tough bouts. Bakuckas was in the bout to the end and giving up riding time to extend the PSU win. Correnti, the true freshman, lost by a point to No. 11 junior Mat McCutcheon.

Rankings

The loss to Penn State didn’t hurt the Knights as they hold the No. 11 spot in the NWCA Poll. There are still nine Big Ten schools in the top 18; Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan each moved up a spot.

No. 1 met No. 3 over the weekend and the Cowboys put a hurtin’ on the Hawkeyes, giving Iowa its first loss, 24-11. Iowa was not hurt by the loss.

On an individual level, the two Scott’s picked up a spot at their respective weights in two different polls. Everyone else held steady.

Around the Big Ten

Co-Wrestlers of the Week

Stevan Micic, Michigan || 133 pounds – Fr.

• Led the Wolverines with a pair of individual wins, helping Michigan defeat Maryland
• Eighth-ranked Micic claimed a 11-4 win over Billy Rappo of Maryland and a 13-7 victory over third-ranked Eric Montoya of Nebraska

Nathan Tomasello, Ohio State || 133 pounds – Jr.

• Helped lead the Buckeyes to a win over No. 12 Illinois
• The second-ranked wrestler picked up a 12-4 major decision over No. 4 Zane Richards of Illinois
• Remains unbeaten on the year, sporting a 9-0 record

Standings

Upcoming Schedule

The Knights return to the RAC this Friday for a non-conference match against Oregon State. Last season, the Scarlet traveled west and defeated the Beavers, 24-12. In last week’s polls, Oregon State had junior 149-pounder Joey Delgado and sophomore 197-pounder Corey Griego ranked by InterMat, The Open Mat and the Amateur Wrestling News. Delgado (11-6) was ranked No. 13 by The Open Mat and Amateur Wrestling News, and No. 19 by InterMat. Griego (13-7) was ranked No. 14 by The Open Mat, No. 18 by InterMat and No. 20 by Amateur Wrestling News. Junior heavyweight Cody Crawford (13-4) was ranked 15^th by The Open Mat.

Rutgers stays at home on Sunday for a Big Ten match against Purdue, starting at noon. The first NFL conference championship game isn’t until 3:05, so come to the match and you’ll have plenty of time to get home for football.

The Purdue match is big. Rutgers swept its Indiana trip last season, topping Indiana, 30-9 and Purdue, 24-15. Both teams have identical conference and overall records. It is a battle for bragging rights and, perhaps more significantly on an individual level, seeding at the Big Ten Tournament.

Penn State Match Results

No. 2 Penn State 37, No. 11 Rutgers 6

125: No. 3/3/3 Nick Suriano (PSU) major dec. over Brandon Paetzell (RU), 16-2

133: Scott DelVecchio (RU) dec. over George Carpenter (PSU), 11-4

141: No. 6/6/6 Anthony Ashnault (RU) dec. over No. 12/18/19 Jimmy Gulibon (PSU), 4-1

149: No. 1/1/1 Zain Retherford (PSU) wins by fall over No. 14/17/14 Ken Theobold (RU), 5:33

157: No. 1/1/1 Jason Nolf (PSU) tech fall over No. 16/13/15 John Van Brill (RU), 22-4

165: No. 4/6/4 Vincenzo Joseph (PSU) tech fall over Willie Scott (RU), 19-3

174: No. 14/NR/15 Geno Morelli (PSU) dec. over Phillip Bakuckas (RU), 5-3

184: No. 2/2/2 Bo Nickal (PSU) wins by fall over No. 14/13/14 Nicholas Gravina (RU), 4:27

197: No. 11/8/8 Matt McCutcheon (PSU) dec. over Matthew Correnti (RU), 4-3

HWT: No. 5/5/4 Nick Nevills (PSU) tech fall over Ralph Normandia (RU), 24-9

Rankings (-/-/-): InterMat / FloWrestling/The Open MatNR denotes not ranked