Penn State Hosts Michigan Sunday
Brill May Get the Call
UNIVERSITY PARK – No. 1 Penn State (11-0, 6-0 B1G) returns home for only the second time in six weeks when it hosts No. 10 Michigan (9-1, 4-0 B1G) on Sunday, Jan. 31, in Rec Hall. The sold out dual meet begins at 2 p.m. and has been declared a White Out, with fans encouraged to wear their white Penn State wrestling gear.
Penn State is coming off a 30-15 win at No. 8 Illinois last Saturday. The match was highlighted by three Penn State pins: Zain Retherford at 149, Jason Nolf at 157 (over then-No. 1 Isaiah Martinez) and Bo Nickal at 174 (over unbeaten Zac Brunson). The lop-sided victory kept Penn State as one of three national unbeatens (Iowa and North Carolina State are also perfect on the year).
The Nittany Lions feature one of the country’s most balanced line-ups, and one of its younger ones as well. Senior Nico Megaludis is 20-1 and ranked No. 4 at 125 and classmate Jordan Conaway is 17-3 and No. 5 at 133 (both are returning All-Americans, Megaludis a three-timer). Junior Jimmy Gulibon is 9-4 and No. 14 at 141 while sophomore Kade Moss has seen time at 141 as well and is 15-6. Sophomore All-American Zain Retherford is 20-0 and No. 1 at 149 and red-shirt freshman Jason Nolf is 21-0 and No. 1 at 157.
Red-shirt freshman Shakur Rasheed is 13-6 overall and ranked No. 17 at 165 while junior Geno Morelli, who has also started at the weight, is 16-5. Red-shirt freshman Bo Nickal is 21-1 and No. 1 at 174. Sophomore Matt McCutcheon is 12-2 and ranked No. 9 at 184. With McCutcheon doubtful for this weekend’s dual, Central Mountain High School grad junior Brian Brill (9-2) or freshman Devon Van Cura (7-4) could get the call from head coach Cael Sanderson. Senior Morgan McIntosh is 19-0 and No. 1 at 197, giving Penn State four No. 1-ranked wrestlers (six in the top five, seven in the top ten and nine overall). True freshman Jan Johnson is 1-6 at 285 for the Nittany Lions.
Michigan, which is at Northwestern on Friday night , is 9-1 overall, and a perfect 4-0 in Big Ten duals. The Wolverines’ only loss was a home setback to Oklahoma. Michigan owns Big Ten wins over Michigan State, Ohio State, Illinois and Indiana. Michigan is being led by junior heavyweight Adam Coon, who is 10-0 and ranked No. 4 nationally. Senior Max Huntley is 14-2 and No. 6 at 197, junior Dom Abounader is 14-1 and No. 8 at 184, freshman Davonte Mahomes is 9-7 and No. 13 at 174 and senior Rossi Bruno is 9-5 and No. 17 at 133.
Penn State leads the all-time series 29-24, including five straight. Penn State won the last meeting, 19-15, in Ann Arbor last year on Feb. 1, 2015. Penn State also won the last meeting in Rec Hall, a 34-7 victory on Feb. 5, 2012.
Penn State will host Ohio State in a sold out Bryce Jordan Center on Friday, Feb. 5, at 6 p.m. The second of Penn State’s two BJC Duals, the match-up will also air live on the Big Ten Network.
#1 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (11-0, 6-0 B1G)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 #4 Nico Megaludis Sr. Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 20-1
133 #5 Jordan Conaway Sr. Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford 17-3
141 #14 Jimmy Gulibon Jr. Latrobe, Pa./Derry 9-4
Kade Moss So. South Jordan, Utah/Bingham 15-6
149 #1 Zain Retherford So. Benton, Pa./Benton 20-0
157 #1 Jason Nolf Fr. Yatesboro, Pa./Kittanning 21-0
165 #17 Shakur Rasheed Fr. Coram, N.Y./Longwood 13-6
Geno Morelli Jr. DuBois, Pa./DuBois 16-5
174 #1 Bo Nickal Fr. Allen, Texas/Allen 21-1
184 #9 Matt McCutcheon So. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area 12-2
OR Brian Brill Jr. Lock Haven, Pa./Central Mountain 9-2
OR Devon Van Cura Fr. Washington, N.C./Washington 7-4
197 #1 Morgan McIntosh Sr. Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel 19-0
285 Jan Johnson Fr. Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin 1-6
Wes Phipps So. Grove City, Pa./Grove City 0-2
#10 MICHIGAN WOLVERINES (*9-1, 4-0 B1G)
WT NAME EL HT REC
125 Conor Youtsey Jr. Parma, Mich. 5-8
133 #17 Rossi Bruno Sr. Brandon, Fla. 9-5
141 George Fisher So. St. Charles, Ill. 6-7
OR Zac Hall Fr. St. Johns Mich/St. Johns 4-2
149 #6 Alex Pantaleo So. Canton, Mich. 16-2
157 #9 Brian Murphy Jr. Carol Stream, Ill. 3-2
OR Cody VanderHagen Jr. Hazel Park, Mich./Hazel Park 6-6
165 Garrett Sutton So. Richmond, Ill. 7-7
174 #13 Davonte Mahomes Fr. Oak Park, Ill. 9-7
184 #8 Domenic Abounader Jr. Gates Mills, Ohio 14-1
197 #6 Max Huntley Sr. Emerald Isle, N.C. 14-2
285 #4 Adam Coon Jr. Fowlerville, Mich. 10-0
Team ranking is Intermat Tournament Power Index (TPI) as of 1/26/16
All Individual Rankings are Intermat as of 1/26/16
