But when Ortega awoke Sunday morning, he felt different. He could nimbly left his legs again, even with a fading clock and determined opponent staring upon him. Ortega rallied from a daunting deficit to help the Nittany Lions begin 2010 by thumping Lock Haven 32-6 Sunday at Thomas Fieldhouse. The most entertaining 7 minutes, 10 seconds occurred at 174 pounds, where Ortega compiled an 8-6 overtime victory over Derek Caldwell. As Ortega juggled a handful of snacks purchased from a vending machine after the match, he looked nothing like a wrestler whose between-holiday festivities included demanding afternoons on an empty campus. “I was sore the whole week,” he said. “Today I felt great when I woke up. The coaches really know what they are doing when they give us our breaks and when they work us hard.”
In the solitude of the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, the Nittany Lions (6-1-1) were pushed hard, especially on developing offense. The prodding continued Sunday, including at one point during Dan Vallimont’s 165-pound bout against Kevin Dufresne. Coach Cael Sanderson told Vallimont late in the third period he wanted two more takedowns, although Vallimont had accumulated more than three minutes of riding time and needed just one more for a major. Vallimont gave his coach two takedowns and won 16-6. “We had a good break,” Sanderson said. “They trained hard. Competition days should be the easiest days of the week. You have to go out there and enjoy it and use every second of those seven minutes. That’s what we want those guys to do and we are getting closer to that.”
Finishing shots will become tougher as the second semester progresses, but it’s difficult finding alarming flaws in Sunday’s performance. Penn State had 36 takedowns to Lock Haven’s four. Penn State earned bonus points in five of its eight victories, while Lock Haven never came close to igniting the scoreboard. Nittany Lions hustled to the center between whistles. Some Bald Eagles trudged toward restarts.
The Nittany Lions also looked solid at their weaker weights. Bryan Pearsall lost 7-4 to John Trumbetti at 133, but two thirdperiod takedowns provided optimism. Adam Lynch, the newly-entrenched starter at 141 because Sanderson said Colby Pisani left the team this past weekend, majored Justin Loudon for his first dual-meet victory. Lynch and Pisani had been competing for a starting spot. Sanderson said the spot will now go to Lynch, who attended nearby Mifflinburg High School.
Ortega added a confidence-building performance at 174. After surrendering a four-point move in the first period, Ortega displayed hidden offense, circling around Caldwell and then transferring his weight 180 degrees to push his way into a thirdperiod takedown. With Ortega squeezing his ankles, Caldwell squirmed away, tying the bout with three seconds left. Caldwell then dove at Ortega’s ankles to begin overtime, and Ortega countered for the winning takedown and improve his record to 5-7. “That was good for him to find himself down early,” Sanderson said. “He’s pretty conservative when he wrestles. When he finds himself in a situation where he’s down, you can’t ask for a better opportunity for him.” Caldwell’s grit encouraged Lack Haven coach Robbie Waller. Caldwell, a Curwensville graduate, entered the lineup when starter Aaron Ernest, who leads the Bald Eagles in pins, was ruled ineligible for the second semester. “He trained all fall semester like any guy in the lineup,” Waller said of Caldwell. “I expect him to keep improving. I was happy with his effort.”
Lock Haven’s other victory came at heavyweight, where Dan Craig countered a Cameron Wade shot in the first period, hit a four-point move and powered his way to a 6-1 victory. Trumbetti had the Bald Eagles’ other two takedowns. “For the most part, we came out to fight,” said Waller, a former PIAA and NCAA champion who replaced Rocky Bonomo in November. “We made some mistakes. That’s going to happen when you wrestle another team that is well-coached and well-conditioned.”
Lock Haven (0-3), which competed at last week’s Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C., entered a precarious position 50 seconds into the match, when Penn State’s Brad Pataky used a cement mixer to pin George Ester at 125. Pataky’s move didn’t enter the scripted portion of last week’s practices. “I have never done a cement mixer in my life,” said Sanderson, a four-time undefeated NCAA champion. “Fundamentals win matches, but it’s nice to have big moves like that. We are focusing on the fundamentals, but if you get a chance, and it’s there, take it.”
Penn State’s other seven victories, which also included Frank Molinaro’s 11-2 major of former PIAA Class AA champion Brock Parker at 149, Cyler Sanderson’s 24-9 technical fall against Seth Creasy at 157 and decisions by David Erwin and Clay Stead-man at 184 and 197, respectively, featured less flash. But they validated last week’s calculated workouts. “Our past week of practice was real intense,” Ortega said. “They were good practices, they got us ready for the match and in good shape, so it was good.”
Thanks to the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article