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Penn State dominates, wins NWCA championship

STILLWATER, Okla. — Penn State dominated homestanding Oklahoma State in the title matchup of the 2017 NWCA Dual Championship Series. The Nittany Lions posted a 27-13 victory to claim their second straight national dual meet title.

In a dual meet featuring 18 ranked wrestlers, Penn State’s young lineup, with seven underclassmen, handled the Cowboy squad. The win is the 31st straight dual meet victory for Penn State. The Nittany Lions reeled off seven straight wins after dropping the first three matches to roll to the lopsided victory.

The dual began at 125. True freshman Nick Suriano was leading 3-1 over Nick Piccininni in the second period when an injury forced the Lion freshman to default. Oklahoma State took a 10-0 lead when Kaid Brock posted a 17-6 major over sophomore George Carpenter at 133.

Senior Jimmy Gulibon (141) took top-ranked Dean Heil to the limit, appearing to have him pinned once in the second period and once in the third. But the call never came and Heil posted a 3-2 win to give the Cowboys a 13-0 lead after three matches.

Junior Zain Retherford, ranked No. 1 at 149, downed No. 2 Anthony Collica, 2-1, using 1:51 in riding time to post the winning point. Sophomore Jason Nolf, ranked No. 1 at 157, dominated Joe Smith, rolling up 11 takedowns on his way to a lopsided 24-9 technical fall with 1:49 in riding time. Nolf’s tech fall cut the Cowboy lead to 13-8 at intermission, marking the first time all year Penn State trailed at a dual’s midway point.

Red-shirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph rolled over Chandler Rogers at 165 to start the second half, posting a 12-4 major with 1:39 in riding time. Joseph’s win cut the Cowboy lead to 13-12. True freshman Mark Hall (174) used a third period takedown to beat Kyle Crutchmer for the second time this year, this time with a 3-2 decision. Hall’s win gave Penn State the lead for the first time in the dual, 15-13.

Sophomore Bo Nickal added cushion to the Lion margin, locking up a cradle early and decking Nolan Boyd at the 38-second mark at 184. It was Nickal’s 13th pin of the year. Junior Matt McCutcheon clinched the dual victory at 197 with an impressive 4-3 win over Preston Weigel, using two third-period takedowns to grab the victory. Sophomore heavyweight Nick Nevills capped the dual meet off with a solid 10-5 win over Cowboy Derek White.

Penn State won seven of 10 bouts, completing a dual season that saw the squad win at least seven matches in each dual. The Nittany Lions won a lop-sided takedown battle 24-7, giving up takedowns in only three of the seven bouts. Penn State picked up six bonus points off a pin (Nickal), a tech (Nolf) and a major (Joseph).

Retherford is 19-0 with 13 pins. Nolf is 19-0 with 11 pins. Nickal is 18-0 with 13 pins. The Nittany Lions are now 14-0, 9-0 in the Big Ten, and winners of 31 straight duals. Next up is the 2017 Big Ten Wrestling Championships on March 4-5 at Indiana University in Bloomington.

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