Both Frank Molinaro and Cyler Sanderson are All- Americans for the second time. But after their performances Saturday at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, they probably feel differently about that development. Molinaro, a sophomore 149-pounder, placed fifth after going 1-1 in Saturday morning’s fifth session. Sanderson ended his collegiate career by dropping a pair of lopsided decisions. Molinaro capped his second straight All-America season (he placed eighth last year as a freshman 141-pounder) Saturday by going 1-1. He started with a disappointing 7-1 loss to rival Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin, the No. 4 seed and fourth-place finisher, in the consolation semifinals. Molinaro finished with a 10-1 rout of Edinboro’s Torsten Gillespie, his second win of the tourney over the Fighting Scot, in the fifth-place bout. “I think Frank had a great year,” Penn State first-year coach Cael Sanderson said. “With his consistency and his coming in with the uncertainty of moving up a weight class, I think he’s done an outstanding job. “He wanted, obviously, to do better. He did well. He finished out there with a major decision in the fifth-place match, which is a big deal.”

Cyler Sanderson’s finish wasn’t quite as positive. He was pinned by unseeded Justin Lister of Binghamton in 4:04 in the consolation semifinals. Then, in the fifth-place match, he lost a rematch with American No. 5 seed Steve Fittery 15-6. Fittery had defeated Sanderson in the quarterfinals 9-4. Advertisement “You want to be the national champion, but he is an All-American and that’s something to be proud of. He’s got a lot of reasons to be happy,” Cael Sanderson said of his youngest brother. Even taking finalist Dan Vallimont’s record out of the equation, the other five Nittany Lions — Molinaro, Sanderson, Brad Pataky, Dave Erwin and Cameron Wade — combined for a 14-11 record, none worse than .500: 125-pounder Pataky (2-2), Molinaro (4-2), Sanderson (4-3), 174-pounder Erwin (2-2) and heavyweight Wade (2-2). Both Pataky and Wade hope to build on this NCAA experience next season, when both figure to reclaim starting positions. Pataky, for the second consecutive season, finished one win short of gaining All-America status. Sanderson said Pataky is close to breaking through. “Brad’s doing a good job. He came in here and had two upset wins the first two rounds,” he said. “He’s just gotta keep doing what he’s doing. He’s working hard. Nobody’s outworking Brad Pataky. He’s got little things like everybody else. “He’s got to relax and just wrestle, trusting his training and trusting your fight is the goal and do your very best. He’s figured that out. I thought he wrestled well here.”

Sanderson seemed to indicate Wade needs to discover the belief that Pataky already possesses. “He’s just got to decide that he can win,” Sanderson said. “He’s big and strong and he’s got potential. He’s just got to believe. “He’s right there. He lost in the first round in overtime to the third-seeded kid. He’s right there with all of these guys. He’s definitely not a kid that any of these guys wants to draw. It’s time to take it up a step and be a guy that’s contending for the national championship. That’s what we expect out of him.”

Facts and figures

Iowa fans like to crow that they own wrestling, almost as if they invented the sport. Well, every year Pennsylvania leads, by far, in number of qualifiers. This year was no different. However, this year Iowa can lay claim to supremacy in one area — number of finalists. The Hawkeye State had the most finalists, four. Two other states have two each — New York and New Jersey. Twelve other states also claim a finalist. A total of 15 states produced the 20 finalists. For the first time in recent memory, Pennsylvania won’t have a finalist. The Keystone State does lead in number of All-Americans with eight. New York and New Jersey are next with seven each. Iowa has six, followed by California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota with four each. A total of 26 states, and Russia, produced the 80 All-Americans. This year’s All-Americans are comprised of 34 seniors, 21 juniors, 16 sophomores and nine freshmen. The Big Ten, again, sets the pace with number of All-Americans with 27. The Big XII is next with 15, followed closely by the EIWA (12) and then Pac-10 (7), MAC (6), ACC (5), EWL (3), West Region (3) and CAA (2).

Do seeds really matter?

That’s a fair question since 13 unseeded wrestlers will leave Omaha as All-Americans: Purdue 125-pounder Cashe Quiroga, Ohio State 125-pounder Nikko Triggas, Ohio 141-pounder Germane Lindsey, Edinboro 149-pounder Torsten Gillespie, American 149-pounder Kyle Borshoff, Northern Colorado 157-pounder Justin Gaethje, Binghamton 157-pounder Justin Lister, Oklahoma 165-pounder Tyler Caldwell, Stanford 165-pounder Nick Amuchastegui, Old Dominion 165-pounder Chris Brown, Penn 174-pounder Scott Giffin, Northern Iowa 174-pounder Jarion Beets and Oklahoma State 197-pounder Alex Gelogaev. The interesting part is ODU’s Brown is the only senior among the baker’s dozen.

Status doesn’t matter, either

Nine former national champions started the tournament — Cornell’s Troy Nickerson, Indiana’s Angel Escobedo, Michigan State’s Franklin Gomez, Edinboro’s Jarrod King, Ohio State’s Mike Pucillo, Missouri’s Mark Ellis, Minnesota’s Dustin Schlatter, Iowa’s Brent Metcalf and Iowa State’s Jake Varner. Only two even made it back to the finals — Metcalf, a three-time finalist, and Varner, a four-time finalist.

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