From staff reports
UNIVERSITY PARK - Intermat's No. 1 team showed why on Saturday, as Penn State racked up four pins on its way to a decisive wrestling win over visiting Lock Haven.
The Nittany Lions won nine of ten bouts to roll to a 42-3 victory.
Cael Sanderson's team dominated the competition. All-American Nico Megaludis, ranked No. 2 at 125, got things started in fast fashion by pinning LHU's Bobby Rehm at the 4:10 mark. But it was in the upper weights where the Nittany Lions turned it on, getting three falls and a technical in four straight bouts.
All-American David Taylor, No. 2 at 165, got a second-period pin over Lock Haven's Aaron McKinney, in 4:41. Taylor's pin was followed up by sophomore Matt Brown, No. 3 at 174, pinning Zach Heffner in 1:37 to up Penn State's lead to 28-3. All-American and top-ranked Ed Ruth posted a dominating 17-2 technical fall over Fred Garcia in 4:55. Senior All-American Quentin Wright, ranked No. 3 at 197, pinned Phil Sprenkle at the 6:10 mark.
The Lions also got bonus points from red-shirt freshman Jordan Conaway, who remained unbeaten in duals for Penn State, picking up a 13-3 major decision over Matt Bryer at 133.
Central Mountain products Andrew Alton and Dylan Alton, along with heavyweight Jimmy Lawson, all won their matches.
Lock Haven picked up its lone win over the dual when Dan Neff posted a 9-4 decision over Nittany Lion senior Bryan Pearsall at 141.
Penn State rolled up a 27-6 edge in takedowns in winning nine of ten bouts. The Lions' four pins, tech fall and major gave the team 15 bonus points. Penn State is now 4-0 on the year, 1-0 in Big Ten duals. Lock Haven falls to 1-2.
The Nittany Lions will now prep for defense of their Southern Scuffle title. Penn State will take part in the 2013 Southern Scuffle, featuring perhaps the nation's strongest field in a team-scored in-season tournament, on Jan. 1-2 at UT-Chattanooga. Penn State's next home dual is set for Jan. 13 at 2 p.m. in Rec Hall.
