Iowa (17-0, 3-0 Big Ten), which has dropped just four bouts in three conference duals, took control of Friday’s meet when top-ranked Brent Metcalf pinned fifth-ranked Frank Molinaro in the second period at 149. Metcalf, a 2008 NCAA champion, held a 14-4 lead at the time of the fall. Molinaro trailed 10-3 at the end of the first period before taking Metcalf down in the second. Metcalf quickly escaped and took Molinaro to his back. Metcalf’s pin followed the biggest upset of the meet. Penn State (9-5-1, 1-2) trimmed Iowa’s early lead to 7-3 when Adam Lynch defeated fifth-ranked Montell Marion 8-6 in overtime at 141.
Lynch took Marion down in the first, second and sudden victory periods to compile half of the Nittany Lions’ six takedowns Friday. Lynch escaped to begin the third to take a 5-2 lead. Marion took Lynch down twice in the third, tying the bout with 17 seconds remaining. Marion grabbed Lynch’s leg to begin overtime, but Lynch stepped around to gain control of Marion’s shoulders. The victory was Lynch’s second over a ranked opponent in eight days. Lynch (7-9) also pinned then-11th ranked Ryan Prater of Illinois during last week’s conference opener at Rec Hall.
David Erwin gave Penn State its second and final victory Friday by edging seventh-ranked Phil Keddy 6-4 at 184. After allowing the initial take-down, Erwin, ranked 13th, took Keddy down in the first period and again with 55 seconds remaining in the bout. Erwin then rode Keddy out to earn his second victory over a top-10 opponent this month. Erwin also defeated Oklahoma State’s Clayton Foster 9-3 at the Virginia Duals. Iowa, like Penn State, notched an upset as unranked Jake Kerr hit a four-point move in the third period to defeat fifth-ranked Cyler Sanderson 4-2 at 157. The Hawkeyes opened the meet with a convincing victory as fourth-ranked redshirt freshman Matt McDonough handled 12th-ranked junior Brad Pataky 7-2 at 125. McDonough took Pataky down three times and accumulated 3:39 of riding time. Iowa posted its first of two major decisions at 133, where Daniel Dennis took Bryan Pearsall down seven times en route to a 16-7 victory. Later in the meet, Jay Borschel took Justin Ortega down four times and added two sets of nearfall points to produce a 14-2 major at 174.
Iowa won two other bouts involving ranked wrestlers. Fifth-ranked Ryan Morningstar used an escape and 1:55 of riding time to edge eighth-ranked Dan Vallimont 2-0 at 165. The meet then ended with ninth-ranked heavyweight Dan Erekson taking 11th-ranked Cameron Wade down three times to earn a 6-1 victory. Penn State started Clay Steadman over Dave Crowell at 197. But Steadman couldn’t generate offense and was hit with three stall calls in a 5-2 loss to Luke Lofthouse. Penn State doesn’t have long to recover from Friday’s loss. The Nittany Lions visit No. 12 Wisconsin for a 2 p.m. dual Sunday. The Badgers (5-7, 1-1) fell to Minnesota 20-18 on Friday.
Thanks to the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article