Penn State Ready for Southern Scuffle
UNIVERSITY PARK – No. 1 Penn State (6-0) treks to Chattanooga, Tenn., to take part in the 2016 Southern Scuffle at Chattanooga. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s squad will be looking to defend five straight Scuffle championships. Action begins in Chattanooga’s McKenzie Arena at 9 a.m. on both Jan.1 and Jan. 2, 2016.
Penn State will send 15 wrestlers into action looking to claim its sixth straight Scuffle crown. In addition, three unattached Nittany Lions will compete (each of whom cannot count towards the team score). At the Southern Scuffle, team scoring is weight-by-weight in the same fashion as the NCAA Championships but, if a team has more than one wrestler at a weight, whichever wrestler has amassed the most team points will have his score count towards the team total (meaning that a team does not dictate its starter/scoring wrestler ahead of time).
Penn State’s 15 attached competitors will be: Senior Nico Megaludis (ranked No. 4) and freshman Kenny Yanovich at 125; senior Jordan Conaway (ranked No. 6) at 133; junior Jimmy Gulibon (ranked No. 6) and sophomore Kade Moss at 141; sophomore Zain Retherford (ranked No. 1) at 149; freshman Jason Nolf (ranked No. 3) and junior Zack Beitz at 157; junior Geno Morelli (ranked No. 18), freshman Shakur Rasheed and sophomore Garett Hammond at 165; freshman Bo Nickal (ranked No. 5) at 174; sophomore Matt McCutcheon (ranked No. 13) at 184; senior Morgan McIntosh (ranked No. 1) at 197; and freshman Jan Johnson at 285. Penn State’s three unattached grapplers will be freshman Jered Cortez at 133, freshman Gary Dinmore at 141 and freshman Vincenzo Joseph at 157.
Penn State is coming off a 38-4 win at Rider back on Dec. 19.
The 2016 Southern Scuffle field makes it, once again, the regular season’s top team-scored tournament. In addition to Penn State, Cornell, Edinboro, Lehigh, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Pitt and West Virginia will be among the teams competing.
The Nittany Lions continue an arduous road swing with two Big Ten duals. Penn State visits Purdue on Friday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m., and then rolls into Indiana on Sunday, Jan. 10, for a 1 p.m. match-up. The Nittany Lions’ next home dual is not until Friday, Jan. 15, when the Lions host Nebraska at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.
#1 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (6-0, 1-0 B1G)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 #4 Nico Megaludis Sr. Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 10-1
Kenny Yanovich Fr. Effort, Pa./Pleasant Valley 8-3
133 #6 Jordan Conaway Sr. Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford 9-1
141 #6 Jimmy Gulibon Jr. Latrobe, Pa./Derry 5-2
Kade Moss So. South Jordan, Utah/Bingham 10-2
149 #1 Zain Retherford So. Benton, Pa./Benton 10-0
157 #3 Jason Nolf Fr. Yatesboro, Pa./Kittanning 11-0
Zack Beitz Jr. Mifflintown, Pa./Juniata 9-2
165 #18 Geno Morelli Jr. DuBois, Pa./DuBois 11-2
Shakur Rasheed Fr. Coram, N.Y./Longwood 7-3
Garett Hammond So. Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg 10-1
174 #5 Bo Nickal Fr. Allen, Texas/Allen 11-0
184 #13 Matt McCutcheon So. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area 8-1
197 #1 Morgan McIntosh Sr. Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel 9-0
285 Jan Johnson Fr. Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin 1-1
WRESTLING UNATTACHED/CANNOT COUNT IN TEAM SCORE
EACH ATHLETE IS RED-SHIRTING THIS YEAR
133 Jered Cortez Fr. Carol Stream, Ill./Glenbard North 8-0
141 Gary Dinmore Fr. Skillman, N.J./Hunterdon Central 4-2
157 Vincenzo Joseph Fr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic 4-0
