Both wins carried loads of symbolism, considering the week the Nittany Lions (11-5, 3-3 Big Ten) endured. For the past five days, Laboranti heard coach Troy Sunderland’s voice more than any other Nittany Lion. Sunderland wasn’t enthralled with how Laboranti performed against John Wise during Sunday’s three-point loss at Illinois. Sunderland didn’t conceal his displeasure even after the long bus ride from Champaign, Ill. caused by a canceled flight. “He challenged me,” Laboranti said. “He called me out a couple of times in practice, saying, ‘You let us down.’ And I did. I wanted to come in here and get a boost which is what I needed.” Still, the final conversation between the duo before Laboranti faced Bleske with his team holding a 17-14 lead might have been the tamest of the week. The conversation lasted less than 10 seconds, but it helped Sunderland regain some confidence in his heavyweight.
“Prior to stepping on the mat against Illinois he said he froze,” Sunderland said. “I stepped on the mat (Friday) and he said, ‘I know I feel good.’ That was on the mat and he wasn’t freezing. He smiled, relaxed a little bit, went out and wrestled.” Laboranti didn’t make the following eight minutes easy on teammates, coaches and fans. He took a sloppy first-period shot that led to a Bleske takedown. Laboranti tied the bout by driving for a second-period takedown. He tied the bout again with a third-period escape. Laboranti then grabbed an ankle with 20 seconds remaining in the sudden-victory period. He worked to keep Bleske in the circle, and with one second remaining, referee Joe Bartell awarded the decisive takedown. Mat judge Bruce Haselrig agreed with the call. “It felt good,” said Laboranti, who improved to 20-6 overall and 6-5 in dual meets. “Any time you can seal a win it’s a good thing. I went out a little slow. But better than normal. I get so nervous especially at home. It’s scary what wrestling can do to you.”
Michigan coach Joe McFarland also experienced the sport’s emotions after the takedown. He stormed toward Bartell and Haselrig who immediately fled the scene. McFarland then stormed off the mat and into the Michigan locker room after shaking hands with the Nittany Lions. “I’ll be honest with you,” McFarland said 20 minutes later, “I thought the buzzer was going off before he put the two up. It was a close call either way. I will have to go back and review the film. To lose like that was disappointing.” Despite the ending, McFarland said things started unraveling for the Wolverines (15-5, 2-2) in the lightweights. The Nittany Lions earned three decisions from 125 to 141 — Mark McKnight’s 3-1 over Michael Watts at 125, Tim Haas’ 8-3 over Chris Diehl at 133 and Scott’s — to take a 9-0 lead.
Scott’s victory came in a tossup bout that included a three-time PIAA Class AA champion facing Russell, a former Blair Academy standout who won junior and senior national titles before arriving in Ann Arbor. Scott, who received the starting spot when All-American Jake Strayer sustained a rib injury during a wrestle-off Wednesday night, allowed a takedown one minute into Friday’s bout. Scott (14-3) then demonstrated why he’s never nervous on a wrestling mat. He rolled out from beneath Russell to record an escape. He added another escape in the second period before tilting Russell, who ascended to No. 1 at 141 last month, for two points in the third. “I felt pretty confident going into the third period with it tied,” Scott said. “I knew he was going to take down and I knew that I could tilt him from top and that’s what I did. I was pretty excited about it.”
Penn State also received a decision victory from Dan Vallimont at 157 and a major decision from Phil Davis at 197. But the Nittany Lions gained an additional spark from two losing wrestlers. Bellefonte graduate Mike Lorenzo replaced the injured Dave Rella and held All-American Eric Tannenbaum to a 13-1 major decision despite spending more than two minutes on his back at 165. Two bouts later, Phil Bomberger fought off his back to hold All-American Tyrel Todd to a 16-5 major. “Michael was in a situation where he could have put his shoulders down, gave up on himself and quit.” Sunderland said. “But he didn’t. Obviously, in the dual meet, and for the team, that was big. That last minute seemed like an eternity and I’m sure it was a lot longer for him.” Michigan’s other wins came at 149 where returning national finalist recorded three take-downs to defeat fourth-ranked Bubba Jenkins 9-3 and 174 where All-American Steve Luke’s early takedown produced a 3-2 decision over David Erwin. “These were two really good teams going after it,” McFarland said. “Sometimes one coach is going to walk off really happy and sometimes another a coach is going to walk off unhappy like myself.”
Thanks to the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article