Cael Sanderson’s next match as Penn State wrestling coach will return him to his Big 12 days. Penn State advanced to the semifinals of the 30th Virginia Duals by defeating Virginia Tech 26-9 and Kent State 22-13 on Friday at the Hampton Coliseum. The two victories arrange a semifinal meeting with fourth-ranked Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. today. Sanderson went 3-1 against the Cowboys as Iowa State’s head coach. But legendary Oklahoma State coach John Smith has reloaded, a fact proven by a 36-6 victory over Liberty and 42-6 rout against Clarion in the first two rounds. Oklahoma State, the tournament’s top seed, enters the semifinals 6-0-1 and its lineup Friday featured eight ranked wrestlers. “It’s the same thing with them,” Sanderson said during his post-meet radio interview Friday. “We want to push the pace. We know they are real talented, pretty explosive and athletic.” The 14th-ranked Nittany Lions (8-1-1) should enter the match with momentum. They haven’t lost since falling to Lehigh in their opener on Nov. 13 and the 13th-ranked and balanced Golden Flashes (7-1) are the highest ranked team Sanderson has defeated in his brief Penn State tenure.

Penn State won six bouts against Kent State, receiving a major lift from senior 141-pounder Adam Lynch. With the Nittany Lions trailing 4-3 after two bouts, Lynch found himself tied with Chase Skonieczny 4-4 in the third period. Lynch, who received the 141-pound spot when Colby Pisani left the team last weekend, reversed Skonieczny to take a 6-4 lead. Lynch then took Skonieczny to his back, earning an unexpected pin at the 6:36 mark to give Penn State a 9-4 lead. Frank Molinaro’s 8-2 decision over Tommy Sasfy at 149, Cyler Sanderson’s 19-7 major of Mallie Shuster at 157 and Dan Vallimont’s 6-2 victory over Ross Tice at 165 widened the lead to 19-4. Kent State won three of the final four bouts with Penn State’s only victory coming at heavyweight, where Cameron Wade edged Brendan Barlow 3-1 in sudden victory. Lynch’s pin lifted major suspense from the ending. “I’m real proud of Adam,” Cael Sanderson said. “He fought through the match and pushed the pace. You could tell he had that look in his eye. That was a huge deal and a huge momentum swing.”

Brad Pataky and Cyler Sanderson controlled the tempo against their respective opponents. Pataky took Troy Opfer down two seconds into the 125-pound bout and won 9-4 while Cyler took Shuster down two times in the first 30 seconds. Pataky also aided the convincing victory against short-handed Virginia Tech as he opened the tournament with a 12-6 victory over Jarrod Garnett. Pataky was pinned by Garnett in last month’s Nittany Lion Open. The Lions Nittany dropped the next two bouts, and Cyler, ranked second, struggled from the bottom position in a 5-4 loss to seventh-ranked Jesse Dong. Penn State recovered by winning the final five bouts. The Hokies competed without four starters because of injury of illness. Virginia Tech coach Kevin Dresser pulled heralded freshman Brian Stephens from his redshirt to wrestle Molinaro at 149. Molinaro won the bout 6-1. Dresser was also forced to forfeit to Justin Ortega at 174 and move 197-pounder Tim Miller to heavyweight. Wade took advantage of the size difference to earn a 15-0 technical fall.

The two victories ensured Penn State will place no worse than fourth in the 16-team tournament. Lehigh and Oklahoma wrestle in today’s other semifinal. The consolation finals and finals are scheduled for 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively. Penn State competed alongside Oklahoma State during last month’s Reno Tournament of Champions, an event the Cowboys easily won. Penn State starters went 2-3 against Oklahoma State wrestlers in Reno. Molinaro defeated Quinten Fuentes 6-2 and Vallimont edged Alex Meade 8-4 in a tiebreaker. Cowboy victories included Jamal Parks’ 13-3 major of Lynch, Chris McNeil’s 8-4 decision over Ortega and Alan Gelogaev’s 5-2 victory over Clay Steadman at 197. Penn State placed third in Reno. Oklahoma State holds an 11-5-1 advantage in the all-time series. Penn State won the last meeting 21-18 on Dec. 9, 2007 in Stillwater, Okla. The teams shared the 1987 Virginia Duals title when coaches Rich Lorenzo and Joey Seay elected against a coin flip when their teams were tied 18-18 after six criteria.

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