Penn State learned Sunday that wrestling from behind can be a difficult task against a quality opponent. The Nittany Lions dropped the first four bouts as they ended the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals with a 24-11 loss to Ohio State at the UNI-Dome. Penn State, which entered this weekend ranked No. 1, finished sixth in the 16-team field. The Nittany Lions ended the tournament 3-2, defeating Tennessee-Chattanooga, Cornell and Iowa State, and falling to Nebraska in the quarterfinals. Penn State’s three wins represented the most it has recorded at the national duals since finishing 4-1 at the 1998 event in Iowa City. “It was similar to the Nebraska match,” Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said of Sunday’s loss. “We didn’t take the initiative and we didn’t wrestle with a lot of fire. I’m disappointed with the way we wrestled today. But the positive thing is that it’s January and not March.”

Despite the loss to the Buckeyes, senior 197-pounder Phil Davis reached a milestone as he became the 24th Nittany Lion to record 100 career victories. Davis, a three-time All-American, improved to 100-19 for his career and 10-0 this season, by recording a 10-2 major decision over freshman John Weakley. “It’s a great accomplishment for Phil,” Sunderland said. “If Phil keeps wrestling like he has been, the accolades will continue coming in.” Davis and sophomore 157-pounder Dan Vallimont were the only Nittany Lions (8-2) to finish the weekend 5-0. Vallimont recorded his fifth victory of the weekend and improved to 17-0 by defeating Jason Johnstone 4-1. David Erwin recorded Penn State’s only other win against the Buckeyes by recording a 10-2 major decision over Alex Picazo at 174. Vallimont’s victory ended a strong start for the Buckeyes (13-2), who recovered from an opening-round loss to Central Michigan to place fifth.

The match started with true freshman Nikko Triggas dominating senior Mark McKnight 10-3 at 125. Triggas turned McKnight for back points in all three periods. Reece Humphrey then defeated Tim Haas 8-3 at 133 before Ohio State won two straight bouts involving ranked wrestlers. Penn State junior and secondranked Jake Strayer allowed two takedowns and more than a minute of riding time as he fell to 10th-ranked J Jaggers 6-4 at 141. Fourth-ranked Bubba Jenkins then suffered his first setback of the season after he was thrown to his back for a four-point move during the second period of a 10-7 loss to 10th-ranked Lance Palmer. Jaggers and Palmer are both returning All-Americans. Sunderland said the start “took the air out of his team.” “Triggas is a tough young kid as a freshman,” Sunderland said. “But Mark is a senior and we expect him to go out and start us off. He didn’t wrestle with the fire we need from him and that’s disappointing. Tim needs to be a little more offensive and that was evident in all of his matches, and Strayer is not wrestling the way he’s capable of. Jaggers is tough and they really put us in a hole. “Bubba losing his first match put us further down. But I thought Bubba wrestled a good match against a tough wrestler.”

Ohio State’s recorded its fifth victory at 165 where true freshman Colt Sponseller remained undefeated by handling Dave Rella 9-5. Mike Pucillo padded the lead and secured the team victory with a 15-0 technical fall over Phil Bomberger at 184. Heavyweight J.D. Bergman gave Ohio State its seventh victory when he ended the match with a 12-3 major decision over John Laboranti. The loss was the first of the weekend for Laboranti, who defeated two ranked wrestlers on Saturday. The Nittany Lions resume their Midwest swing next Sunday when they open their Big Ten schedule at Iowa. Penn State has won two straight against Iowa and it defeated the Hawkeyes 21-12 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena two years ago. The Hawkeyes won their fourth national duals title by defeating Nebraska 24-6 in Sunday’s finals. Iowa took eight of 10 bouts from the Cornhuskers. Michigan, which Penn State wrestles next month, defeated Minnesota 23-16 in the third-place match while Iowa State defeated Northwestern 26-16 to finish seventh.

Penn State doesn’t have to wait long to face Ohio State again. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes, who also defeated West Virginia, Hofstra and Northwestern this weekend, meet Jan. 25 in Columbus. “This team is still capable of doing a lot of great things and this weekend doesn’t change that attitude,” Sunderland said. “We’re going to use this tournament as a learning experience.”

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