Honeycutt knocked off two of Penn State’s best young wrestlers, defeating Ruth 6-4 in sudden victory and Wright 6-5 with a third-period takedown. Erwin rallied to prevent Honeycutt from completing the Nittany Lion trifecta, grabbing an ankle on a late shot attempt and emerging from a scramble with the decisive points. The wrestlers were tied 7-7 when the scramble started, but Honeycutt held an advantage because he accumulated more than two minutes of riding time. Erwin, a two-time Ohio state champion, had never observed his final opponent until watching Honeycutt, a sophomore who went 39-0 during his senior year at Ohio power St. Edward’s, defeat Ruth and Wright. “He had real tight matches with both of them,” Erwin said. “He got the better of them. He’s a tough kid, real strong. I thought Ed and Quentin both wrestled great matches against him.” Erwin’s victory was the best news Penn State received Sunday. The fifth-year senior started the season at 174, suffered a lopsided loss to Lehigh’s Robert Hamlin, missed the home opener against Bloomsburg and then moved up to 184. Erwin, who has never qualified for the NCAA Championships, is 9-1 since the weight change. He went 5-0 Sunday, with a 5-2 semifinal victory over 10th-ranked Josh Patterson of Binghamton. “I still feel like I can put on some more muscle and get a little bigger by the end of the season,” he said. “But I felt fresh throughout the whole match, so that makes a huge difference.”
Molinaro can relate to the feeling. He spent last year at 141, earning All-American honors despite illness and fatigue caused by constant weight-cutting. No such problems exist at 149. Molinaro went 5-0, defeating Virginia Tech’s Brian Stephens 6-0 in the finals. Molinaro, the only undefeated Nittany Lion, won all of his bouts by five or more points and he will enter Friday’s match at West Virginia with a 10-0 record. “To be honest with you, I wasn’t enjoying wrestling at all last year,” said Molinaro, who went 23-19 in 2008-09 and qualified for the NCAA tournament as a wildcard. “It was a grind for me to wrestle, which it shouldn’t be. I have been doing it my whole life. I look forward to it.” Molinaro said similarities exist between his situation and Erwin’s. “It was kind of like me at 141,” Molinaro said. “He was cutting too much weight. He wasn’t focusing on wrestling. He was going into matches just to survive. Now, he’s going out there and not thinking about being tired. He’s wrestling good.”
So is Taylor, the four-time Ohio state champion and nation’s No. 1 recruit. But a 4-1 showing and narrow loss to Sanderson, a fifth-year senior, didn’t satisfy the demanding wrestler. Taylor’s first college loss ended with slight controversy as a stalemate prevented him from receiving an opportunity to finish a deep shot. After hearing the whistle, Taylor rose to his feet and screamed. Three first-period takedowns by Sanderson forced Taylor to wrestle from behind. Sanderson, a 2008 All- American at Iowa State, went 5-0 to win his first Nittany Lion Open. But like Taylor, Sanderson, who defeated Rutgers’ Daryl Cocozzo 4-3 in the semifinals and Virginia’s Eugene Riley 5-4 in the Round of 16, appeared disappointed. “Not very good,” Sanderson said when asked to describe his day. “I kind of had a slow day. But sometimes you have those.”
Junior Brad Pataky advanced to the finals at 125 and cut a 10-1 deficit to a point before being pinned by Virginia Tech’s Jarrod Garnett in 4:49. Wright recovered from his loss to Honeycutt by pinning Patterson to finish third. Dan Vallimont lost to Rutgers’ Scott Winston in the semifinals, but pinned Lehigh’s Dennis Galante to finish third at 165. Colby Pisani (fourth, 141), Jim Vollrath (fifth, 157), Ruth (fifth, 184), Cameron Wade (fifth, heavyweight), Bryan Pearsall (eighth, 133) and Brendan Herlihy (eighth, heavyweight) also placed. Pisani might have solidified the starting spot at 141 by pinning Michigan State starter Collin Dozier and defeating Pitt’s Tyler Nauman 9-3. Nauman entered the tournament ranked eighth. “We had a lot of solid performances,” coach Cael Sanderson said. “We’re coming along. I’m not real patient. I kind of see the errors and mistakes we are making. The overall effort and attitude is improving, but we need to step it up a notch or two. Our guys who have been there before are doing a nice job. We just need to keep moving forward.”
Andrew Alton, a Penn State signee who won the East Stroudsburg and Mat Town opens, went 3-2 and reached the consolation semifinals before withdrawing because for precautionary reasons because of a shoulder injury. Central Mountain begins its season Friday at the Walsh Iron-man Tournament in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Dylan Alton went 1-2 at 149. State College’s Erik Galloway went 2-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals at 133. Bellefonte’s Dan Dreibelbis went 2-2 at the same weight. Marsteller, a middle-schooler from Southcentral Pennsylvania, defeated Penn State’s Tom Reynolds 6-3 in the opening round before losing to Rutgers’ Cullen Isenberg 6-2 in his only other bout. Philipsburg-Osceola graduate Mike Horton went 1-2 at heavyweight, Bellefonte graduates Shane Alterio and Garrett Singer went 0-1 at 141, and Bald Eagle Area graduates Landis Wright and Mike Cook each went 1-2 at 197 and heavyweight, respectively. Missouri’s Todd Schavrien (141) and Nick Marable (165), Penn’s Bryan Ortenzio (133), Virginia’s Chris Henrich (174), Maryland’s Hudson Taylor (197) and Lehigh’s Zach Rey (heavyweight) also captured titles.
Thanks to the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article