An experienced Davis, the No. 2 seed at 197 pounds, enters this year’s NCAA Championships as the Nittany Lions’ best hope to end a seven-year title drought. His national tournament resume includes a 12-5 record, seventh-place finish as a freshman, runner-up performance two years ago and last season’s fifth-place showing. Combined the previous successes with some dominant outings this season, and the result is the most confident athlete among Penn State’s seven-wrestler contingent. “I feel better about it now than I ever did before,” Davis said earlier this week. “I know who I need to beat and I know what I need to concentrate on. I feel good on my feet and better in all three positions than I have in the past. I don’t feel any added pressure.”
How confident is Davis (21-1)? He said he hasn’t thought about not winning a national title. Barring injury, Davis will likely become Penn State’s fourth four-time All-American. He’s 10-1 against wrestlers in this week’s field, and he avenged his only regular-season loss by defeating Northwestern’s Mike Tamillow in the Big Ten finals. The way Davis defeated Tamillow added to his confidence. Davis used a second-period body lock to drag Tamillow down. Many consider neutral Davis’ weakest position. Many consider neutral Tamillow’s best position. “I don’t feel like there’s a big enough area of my game for anybody to exploit,” Davis said. Davis designed his entire season for this week. He has drilled smarter, working exhaustively when a particular area doesn’t feel right. Davis eliminated most of his course credits during his first 41/ 2 years on campus, meaning he has devoted more time to wrestling this semester.
“His weight is in pretty good shape, his conditioning is where it needs to be and he has watched some video of what’s coming with at least some of the opponents we expect to see,” Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. “If there’s something else he needs to do, I’m not sure what it is. It’s just a matter of going at the time.” Davis has trained to avoid the same ending he experienced last season. His junior year can be considered confounding. He won his final 14 regular-season bouts. But he also went 2-2 in the Big Ten Tournament and 4-2 in the national championships. “Obviously, I blame myself,” Davis said. “I take from that a couple of lessons — why it happened, what I needed to change and what I do not need to change. From that, I made up my mind on what I needed to do and I have trained on that all year long.” The national tournament ended a season where Davis experienced a sharp curve. He opened the year at No. 1, received criticism for not making weight at the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic, rolled through Big Ten duals and took three steps down the NCAA podium.
In many ways, this season hasn’t deviated from its midpoint. Davis started the year No. 2 behind returning national champion Josh Glenn (15-0) of American. Glenn is this week’s top seed. Davis also made weight and won his All-Star Classic bout against Tamillow. This month’s victory over Tamillow turned Davis into the fourth Nittany Lion to win multiple Big Ten titles. Two of Penn State’s other three multiple-time Big Ten winners — Sanshiro Abe and Kerry McCoy — parlayed conference titles into national crowns. Davis leads a young team into the national tournament. Sophomores Dan Vallimont (157), Bubba Jenkins (149) and Dave Rella (165), senior Mark McKnight (125), freshman Garrett Scott (141), and junior Phil Bomberger (184) are joining Davis in St. Louis.
Davis is the only All-American returning from a team that finished 11th with 54 points last season. The Nittany Lions’ NCAA Tournament performances this decade range from a sixth-place showing in 2003 to a 35th-place finish in 2002. Penn State finished seventh at the Big Ten Tournament. But Sunderland said he believes his team will peak this week. “There are a lot of different ways that you can look at it,” he said. “You can feel like you’re peaking for Big Tens, but you want that peak for nationals. You don’t want to peak at Big Tens and fall on your face at nationals. I’m optimistic that we are continuing that trend of being where you need to be at that most important time of the year.”
Thanks to Guy Cipriano and the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article