They were ready to don the Nittany Blue singlets, the ones they have been wearing for 100 years and will probably wear for 100 more. Penn State wrestlers then gathered for nourishment before Friday’s dual against Cornell and received a major surprise. Coach Troy Sunderland handed his starters white singlets, a move designed to add spice to the 100th anniversary match against an opponent Penn State started wrestling in 1909. The singlets also symbolized how these Nittany Lions have performed through five dual meets. They are white hot. Penn State made a fashion statement and continued its impressive start by hammering a curiously injury- depleted Cornell team 35-10 before 3,264 fans at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions improved to 5-0, but this match will be remembered for two off-the-mat occurrences. First, Penn State wore white singlets for the first time in, well, anybody’s memory.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a one-time thing,” Sunderland said, “but it’s not going to be happenstance. We’re going to pull them out for different occasions. The guys didn’t know anything about it. Not a whole lot of people outside the staff knew we were going to wear the singlets.” The anniversary of Penn State’s first dual meet — a loss to the Big Red — also included some major details nobody outside of Cornell’s coaching staff knew before Friday. Cornell’s desire to protect some of its wrestlers prevented two signature matchups.

Penn State’s Garrett Scott, the three-time PIAA Class AA champion from Juniata Valley, received a forfeit in his Rec Hall dual meet debut. Scott replaced 149-pounder Bubba Jenkins who Sunderland rested for precautionary reasons because of a knee injury. But the Big Red (0-2) never sent anybody out to face Scott, a move that puzzled many fans and a live television audience. Cornell 149-pounder D.J. Meagher missed the match because of a concussion. Koll’s other option at 149 was starting 141-pounder Adam Frey, but Frey didn’t practice this week because of a knee injury. “Adam couldn’t defend himself,” Koll said. “If it came down to the last match, I might have put him in.” The confusion carried into the next bout as Dan Vallimont faced Cornell reserve Drake Hovis. Vallimont, ranked No. 11, was scheduled to wrestle seventh-ranked Jordan Leen, a returning All-Ameircan. Koll said an ankle injury sustained at last week’s Southern Scuffle prevented Leen from wrestling. Vallimont breezed to a 12-3 major-decision victory over Hovis.

Despite the injuries, Leen and Frey weighed-in and both wrestlers participated in pre-match introductions and warm-ups. “All of the injuries are in the same area of the lineup,” said Koll, a former State College High School standout. “It’s winter break and I don’t even have a whole lot of kids in the room right now. It wasn’t something that I wanted to do.” By contrast, Penn State, which was competing for the first time since its victory over Oklahoma State on Dec. 9, gave white singlets to 10 rested starters eager to compete.

After Cornell 133-pounder Mike Grey defeated Tim Haas 6-1 in the opening bout, Penn State junior Jake Strayer pinned Eric McGill in the final second at 141. Strayer’s pin started a rout that included three pins, two major decisions and an upset. “We really wanted to come out and just dominate this match because it’s a rival,” Strayer said. “We don’t really like each other that much. I think everybody wrestled really well and we got what we needed to get done.” Perhaps no Nittany Lion accomplished more than sophomore David Erwin. Penn State’s 174-pounder went 16-2 during November and December. Yet, Erwin ended the first semester with a major-decision loss to Oklahoma State’s Brandon Mason and he finished 1-2 in duals. A second-period flurry Friday showed that Erwin’s slide from the national rankings might be temporary. Trailing 2-0 to eighth-ranked Steve Anceravage, Erwin hit a five-point move at the end of the second period. He received another point when Anceravage was called for locked hands. Erwin parlayed the points into a confidence-building 6-4 victory. “I just feel like I’m getting back into wrestling like I know how,” said Erwin, who went 23-8 as a true freshman in 2005-06 and redshirted last season. “I’m moving throughout the match and scrambling like I used to.”

Erwin and Strayer weren’t the only Nittany Lions who sent a Cornell wrestler to his back. Phil Davis needed just 2:15 to pin Matt Panasevich at 215, Mark McKnight pinned Mike Rodriguez in 3:37 at 125 and Phil Bomberger turned Michael Moore for three second-period back points during a 14-6 victory at 184. Heavyweight Zach Hammond and 165-pounder Mack Lewnes joined Grey as Cornell’s winners. Hammond recorded a takedown with 10 seconds remaining to edge John Laboranti 3-1 while Lewnes defeated Dave Rella 12-4. “We are down five starters right now and our starters actually wrestled pretty well,” said Koll, whose team was also missing 184-pounder Josh Arnone and 197-pounder Taylor Moore. “You can’t wrestle Penn State with a full team and expect to win all the time. You have to have a full team and you still have to wrestle great.”

Thanks to Guy Cipriano and the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article