Maybe the victory will have the same impact on Penn State, which squandered a lead Friday at Ohio State and lost on a final-bout defensive fall. The Nittany Lions won seven bouts against the Hoosiers (11-4, 0-2) to snap a three-match losing streak that started with a loss to Ohio State at the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals. Penn State defeated Indiana, which has four returning All-Americans, without its best wrestler in the lineup. Senior 197-pounder Phil Davis, a three-time All- American and bonus-point producer, missed the match to attend the funeral of a family member in Chicago. “It was kind of like a foreshadowing of next year and who’s going to step up,” Penn State coach Troy Sunderland.
Multiple wrestlers filled the void Sunday. But Rella’s victory over Coughlin was the primary source of post-match chatter. Rella, a mega-recruit who wrestled last year as a true freshman, entered his bout against Coughlin with a 9-10 record. Rella has suffered the majority of his losses in January. He went 1-4 at the national duals and then lost to Ohio State true freshman Colt Sponseller for the second time in two weeks Friday. Rella’s recent past seemed forgotten against Coughlin, who defeated Penn State sophomore Dan Vallimont in the NCAA 149-pound Round of 12 last season. Rella and Coughlin traded escapes during regulation and neither wrestler scored during the one-minute sudden victory period. Rella chose down to begin the first 30-second tiebreaker and he needed 11 seconds to escape. Coughlin chose down to begin the second 30-second tiebreaker and Rella clutched his opponent’s left leg to prevent the tying escape. “I just needed one to get me off the little slump that I was in,” Rella said. “That was pretty much the one. It feels good wrestling like I know how.” Rella’s victory turned a dual meet, where Penn State held a 10-6 lead at intermission, into a rout. “It’s definitely kind of like icing on the cake,” Sunderland said. “We were looking for Rella to get that breakthrough match. He’s so close a lot of times and for him to beat Coughlin is a great step forward.”
Coughlin, who placed seventh in the nation last year, wasn’t the only Indiana All-American to fall. Senior Brandon Becker, a two-time All- American, fell to Vallimont 8-5 at 157. Vallimont recorded four takedowns and two reversals to improve to 20-0. Vallimont’s afternoon then became more enjoyable when he watched Rella defeat Coughlin. “That was great,” Vallimont said. “That was the kid that beat me in the Round of 12, so I was glad to see him lose. Everybody, including Dave, can use this as a big momentum builder because we have had so many downs as of late. Everybody wrestled well even in the matches we lost.” Penn State made Indiana exert itself to record three victories. Junior Jack Decker, who started his career as a 149-pounder, filled Davis’ weight and held Joe Fagiano to a 4-0 victory, senior Mark McKnight limited national title contender Angel Escobedo to a 5-1 decision at 125 and Tim Haas displayed strong work from the top and bottom positions during a 6-4 loss to All-Ameican Andrae Hernandez at 133.
Penn State started the match with two straight victories as David Erwin recorded five takedowns to defeat Trevor Perry 13-3 at 174 and Phil Bomberger returned from an injury to defeat Marc Bennett 12-10 at 184. The Nittany Lions also received a decision from heavyweight John Laboranti, a major decision from Jake Strayer at 141 and a technical fall from sophomore Bubba Jenkins at 149. The outcomes of close bouts — Jenkins, Erwin and Strayer were the only wrestlers on either team to record bonus points — prevented Indiana from swiping a win against a Penn State lineup missing Davis. The Hoosiers are 0-13 all-time against the Nittany Lions. “He’s by far their best wrestler at least at the national level,” Indiana coach Duane Goldman said of Davis. “When he’s out, we need to take advantage of that. Obviously, we weren’t able to.”
Notes:Sunderland said that Strayer and freshman Garrett Scott will wrestle-off for the 141-pound spot this week. An injury to Scott and the death of Strayer’s grandmother prevented a wrestle-off from occuring the past two weeks. Strayer (10-4), an All-American last year, and Scott (12-3), a three-time PIAA Class AA champion, have split time this season.
Thanks to Guy Cipriano and the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article