I stopped by the wrestling room earlier this week. Normally on weekday afternoons the mats are filled with either or both the Division I team or the resident athletes with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. This Tuesday, however, the room was nearly empty.
With final exams scheduled for the college team and with the Olympic-level athletes en route to Las Vegas for this weekend’s U.S. Open, it was somewhat of an abnormal week for the Penn State wrestling team’s practice schedule.
So, this isn’t like the weekly notebook I normally do during the season, but before the team heads out to Rider for tomorrow’s away dual meet (4 p.m.; TCN), I still want to share some comments from those I talked to.
Head coach Cael Sanderson on this weekend’s dual vs. Rider…
“Rider is a tough team. They were a tough dual last year (30-3 PSU win). We won a lot of the matches, but they were tough matches and their kids were tough. Their program has continued to get better. They're made up of East Coast kids, tough kids — a lot of Jersey kids who are real tough kids. There are some tough matchups. I think it’ll be a great atmosphere. From what I’ve been told, they sold it out. They did two years ago when we wrestled out there.”
“We’ve got guys who are as fun to watch as you’re going to see now or ever. I think it’ll be a great match. Rider is going to be a strong opponent. It’s a big match for them, too, and it’s obviously a different kind of week. We’re looking at finals week, so getting your guys ready during finals week is kind of a challenge, but I’m guessing they’re in the same boat.”
Gene Morelli (165) on his close 5-4 loss to Wisconsin’s No. 3 Isaac Jordan…
“I went in and watched the match with Casey (Tuesday), and I don’t know. Once I go that takedown (in the third period) I wasn’t exactly sure how much time was left and I got a little flustered. He was obviously coming after me pretty hard. I don’t know - he just caught me. There was one second left, I think. Yeah, it was disappointing, but I’ll learn from it and I’ll come back better next time.”
“There are a lot of things just watching video that I could’ve done better. I didn’t stick to the game plan that I needed to have on top. I need to move a little bit more and try to get the match to open up little bit more. … But there are a lot of things you can take from it. Probably more things you can take from losses than you can from winning matches.”
Matt McCutcheon (184) on his 7-1 start to the season….
“It’s just going out there and wrestling harder. Last year I was kind of tentative and just went out there and tried to win. I think from talking to the coaches this year, they’ve really engrained it in my head just to go there and wrestle the way I can in the room. I think that comes with our team. If you aren’t a guy who goes out there and dominates, you’re considered one of the guys who aren’t one of the best. It’s kind of like the standard to go out and dominate your opponent. That’s anywhere from our freshmen all the way up to our seniors.”
“There are so many good guys on our team that I try to mix it up a lot (in practice). I end up going with Coach Cael and Morgan (McIntosh) as much as possible; Matt Brown when he comes back in. You have so many different techniques and a different variety of wrestlers that you can push yourself every day. Morgan is one of the strongest guys you can wrestle and he’s good in every position.”
Devon Van Cura, a normal 184-pounder, on his jump to 285 vs. Wisconsin…
“It was a lot of fun going out and competing in front of so many people. That’s definitely the biggest venue I’ve ever competed at, especially coming from North Carolina. You wrestle in front of places with like 50 people, so that was good. That was definitely a big change, but it was a lot of fun. I was glad to go out there and represent Penn State. That was the first time I got to put on a Penn State singlet and be in a dual”
“During the match (a 10-0 loss to Brock Horwath) I was pretty focused in, but afterward I could definitely feel the crowd behind me. That was great. We have great fans and they do a great job of supporting us. I really appreciate it.”
A couple quick updates:
- Sounds like there’s a good chance that Jimmy Gulibon (141) is back for the Southern Scuffle (Jan. 1-2). Not sure about this weekend’s match at Rider, as the coaching staff is plenty comfortable with sending Kade Moss out there again. But it sounds like Gulibon’s ankle sprain is close to healed up. One of the, “He could’ve gone if we really needed him Sunday” type of scenarios.
- Still no decision about Jan Johnson at heavyweight for this weekend, or the Southern Scuffle for that matter. Sanderson said Tuesday he’s still not sure who he’ll send out in his place at either event, although Van Cura is listed on the match notes this week at 285.
Projected starters vs. Rider
No. 1* PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (5-0, 1-0 B1G)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 No. 4 Nico Megaludis Sr. Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 9-1
133 No. 6 Jordan Conaway Sr. Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford 8-1
141 No. 6 Jimmy Gulibon Jr. Latrobe, Pa./Derry 5-2
149 No. 1 Zain Retherford So. Benton, Pa./Benton 9-0
157 No. 3 Jason Nolf Fr. Yatesboro, Pa./Kittanning 10-0
165 No. 19 Geno Morelli Jr. DuBois, Pa./DuBois 11-2
Shakur Rasheed Fr. Coram, N.Y./Longwood 6-3
174 No. 5 Bo Nickal Fr. Allen, Texas/Allen 10-0
184 No. 13 Matt McCutcheon So. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area 7-1
197 No. 1 Morgan McIntosh Sr. Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel 8-0
285 Jan Johnson Fr. Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin 1-1
Devon Van Cura Fr. Washington, N.C./Washington 6-4
RIDER BRONCS (3-3, 0-0 EWL)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 Brenden Calas Jr. Clark, N.J./Seton Hall Prep 2-5
133 Zach Valcarce So. Villas, N.J./Lower Cape May 0-3
OR Rob Deutsch Sr. Cherry Hill, N.J./Eastern Regional 4-4
141 Paul Kirchner Jr. Somerville, N.J./Somerville 7-4
149 No. 14 B.J. Clagon So. Toms River, N.J./Toms River South 5-6
157 No. 20 Chad Walsh So. Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic 8-2
165 No. 15 Conor Brennan Sr. Brick, N.J./Brick Township 10-0
174 Wayne Stinson So. Wrightstown, N.J./Northern Burlington 5-5
184 Steve Nelson Jr. Haddonfield, N.J./Haddon Township 0-2
197 Ryan Wolfe Jr. New Castle, Del./Caravel Academy 8-3
285 Mauro Correnti So. Delran, N.J./Holy Cross 6-4
*Team ranking is Intermat Tournament Power Index (TPI) as of 12/15/15
All Individual Rankings are Intermat as of 12/15/15
With final exams scheduled for the college team and with the Olympic-level athletes en route to Las Vegas for this weekend’s U.S. Open, it was somewhat of an abnormal week for the Penn State wrestling team’s practice schedule.
So, this isn’t like the weekly notebook I normally do during the season, but before the team heads out to Rider for tomorrow’s away dual meet (4 p.m.; TCN), I still want to share some comments from those I talked to.
Head coach Cael Sanderson on this weekend’s dual vs. Rider…
“Rider is a tough team. They were a tough dual last year (30-3 PSU win). We won a lot of the matches, but they were tough matches and their kids were tough. Their program has continued to get better. They're made up of East Coast kids, tough kids — a lot of Jersey kids who are real tough kids. There are some tough matchups. I think it’ll be a great atmosphere. From what I’ve been told, they sold it out. They did two years ago when we wrestled out there.”
“We’ve got guys who are as fun to watch as you’re going to see now or ever. I think it’ll be a great match. Rider is going to be a strong opponent. It’s a big match for them, too, and it’s obviously a different kind of week. We’re looking at finals week, so getting your guys ready during finals week is kind of a challenge, but I’m guessing they’re in the same boat.”
Gene Morelli (165) on his close 5-4 loss to Wisconsin’s No. 3 Isaac Jordan…
“I went in and watched the match with Casey (Tuesday), and I don’t know. Once I go that takedown (in the third period) I wasn’t exactly sure how much time was left and I got a little flustered. He was obviously coming after me pretty hard. I don’t know - he just caught me. There was one second left, I think. Yeah, it was disappointing, but I’ll learn from it and I’ll come back better next time.”
“There are a lot of things just watching video that I could’ve done better. I didn’t stick to the game plan that I needed to have on top. I need to move a little bit more and try to get the match to open up little bit more. … But there are a lot of things you can take from it. Probably more things you can take from losses than you can from winning matches.”
Matt McCutcheon (184) on his 7-1 start to the season….
“It’s just going out there and wrestling harder. Last year I was kind of tentative and just went out there and tried to win. I think from talking to the coaches this year, they’ve really engrained it in my head just to go there and wrestle the way I can in the room. I think that comes with our team. If you aren’t a guy who goes out there and dominates, you’re considered one of the guys who aren’t one of the best. It’s kind of like the standard to go out and dominate your opponent. That’s anywhere from our freshmen all the way up to our seniors.”
“There are so many good guys on our team that I try to mix it up a lot (in practice). I end up going with Coach Cael and Morgan (McIntosh) as much as possible; Matt Brown when he comes back in. You have so many different techniques and a different variety of wrestlers that you can push yourself every day. Morgan is one of the strongest guys you can wrestle and he’s good in every position.”
Devon Van Cura, a normal 184-pounder, on his jump to 285 vs. Wisconsin…
“It was a lot of fun going out and competing in front of so many people. That’s definitely the biggest venue I’ve ever competed at, especially coming from North Carolina. You wrestle in front of places with like 50 people, so that was good. That was definitely a big change, but it was a lot of fun. I was glad to go out there and represent Penn State. That was the first time I got to put on a Penn State singlet and be in a dual”
“During the match (a 10-0 loss to Brock Horwath) I was pretty focused in, but afterward I could definitely feel the crowd behind me. That was great. We have great fans and they do a great job of supporting us. I really appreciate it.”
A couple quick updates:
- Sounds like there’s a good chance that Jimmy Gulibon (141) is back for the Southern Scuffle (Jan. 1-2). Not sure about this weekend’s match at Rider, as the coaching staff is plenty comfortable with sending Kade Moss out there again. But it sounds like Gulibon’s ankle sprain is close to healed up. One of the, “He could’ve gone if we really needed him Sunday” type of scenarios.
- Still no decision about Jan Johnson at heavyweight for this weekend, or the Southern Scuffle for that matter. Sanderson said Tuesday he’s still not sure who he’ll send out in his place at either event, although Van Cura is listed on the match notes this week at 285.
Projected starters vs. Rider
No. 1* PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (5-0, 1-0 B1G)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 No. 4 Nico Megaludis Sr. Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 9-1
133 No. 6 Jordan Conaway Sr. Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford 8-1
141 No. 6 Jimmy Gulibon Jr. Latrobe, Pa./Derry 5-2
149 No. 1 Zain Retherford So. Benton, Pa./Benton 9-0
157 No. 3 Jason Nolf Fr. Yatesboro, Pa./Kittanning 10-0
165 No. 19 Geno Morelli Jr. DuBois, Pa./DuBois 11-2
Shakur Rasheed Fr. Coram, N.Y./Longwood 6-3
174 No. 5 Bo Nickal Fr. Allen, Texas/Allen 10-0
184 No. 13 Matt McCutcheon So. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area 7-1
197 No. 1 Morgan McIntosh Sr. Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel 8-0
285 Jan Johnson Fr. Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin 1-1
Devon Van Cura Fr. Washington, N.C./Washington 6-4
RIDER BRONCS (3-3, 0-0 EWL)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC
125 Brenden Calas Jr. Clark, N.J./Seton Hall Prep 2-5
133 Zach Valcarce So. Villas, N.J./Lower Cape May 0-3
OR Rob Deutsch Sr. Cherry Hill, N.J./Eastern Regional 4-4
141 Paul Kirchner Jr. Somerville, N.J./Somerville 7-4
149 No. 14 B.J. Clagon So. Toms River, N.J./Toms River South 5-6
157 No. 20 Chad Walsh So. Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic 8-2
165 No. 15 Conor Brennan Sr. Brick, N.J./Brick Township 10-0
174 Wayne Stinson So. Wrightstown, N.J./Northern Burlington 5-5
184 Steve Nelson Jr. Haddonfield, N.J./Haddon Township 0-2
197 Ryan Wolfe Jr. New Castle, Del./Caravel Academy 8-3
285 Mauro Correnti So. Delran, N.J./Holy Cross 6-4
*Team ranking is Intermat Tournament Power Index (TPI) as of 12/15/15
All Individual Rankings are Intermat as of 12/15/15
