Wrestling: Penn State battles to 34-7 win over Illinois

Steve Manuel/GoPSUSports.com

Another match, another victory.

With a 34-7 win over Illinois Friday night, Penn State has now won 29 in a row and is one dual meet away from claiming the Big Ten regular-season championship for the second consecutive year. PSU will face Maryland Sunday (2 p.m.) in order to lay claim the championship, and will do so wearing commemorative black and pink singlets.

Winning eight of the 10 bouts against the Illini, the Nittany Lions scored bonus in six of their matches, including a pin from Zain Retherford at 149 pounds and three technical falls from Jason Nolf (157), Mark Hall (174) and Bo Nickal (184).

Nick Suriano (125) and Jimmy Gulibon (141) added major decisions.

What follows are the three most notable takeaways from the Nittany Lions' latest win.

1) Joseph pushes two-time NCAA champ Martinez to the wire

In arguably the most anticipated match of the dual meet, PSU redshirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph squared off against two-time national champion Isaiah Martinez. Despite Martinez winning, 5-2, Joseph tested him until the end.

After Martinez scored the opening takedown in the first period, Joseph fended off a couple deep shots – takedown attempts that Martinez normally lands – in order to keep the score close. It was a one-point match, 3-2, in the third period, but as time wound down, it became more urgent for Joseph to score. On a last-ditch takedown attempt with fewer than 10 seconds remaining, Martinez countered Joseph and slipped behind to clinch the win.

"Martinez is obviously hard to score on," Sanderson said. "He’s good at scrambling if you get to his legs. We knew that. Joseph knew that going into the match. The difference was a slide-by. It was nice, but I think Joseph comes away confident that he can win that match but you’ve got to do it.”

Suriano, a fellow freshman, can relate. He'd previously fallen to Iowa's Thomas Gilman, a national title contender who, like Martinez, is ranked No. 1. Now both he and Joseph are eager for their next shot after falling just short in their first try.

"That's what we live for," Suriano said. "Those are the ones in March that we have to come out on top. I can kind of relate to where Cenzo is at. We're going to get them both at Big Tens. ... Coming back from losses is important."

2) In first Rec Hall action, Hall tech falls three-time NCAA qualifier

The top recruit in the country one year ago, Hall was set to make his Rec Hall debut two weeks ago against Northwestern. A forfeit gave him the win, but it wasn't until Friday that he wrestled his first action in front of the home crowd.

"I was a little nervous then it changed to excitement and then from excitement it goes to spirited," Hall said about his feelings before the match. "I was just real relaxed and real calm and just ready for whatever is going to happen in the match."

Hall opened the scoring against Illinois' Zac Brunson, who is a three-time national qualifier, by scoring a takedown in the first period. Brunson nearly scored next, while almost putting Hall to his back, but the takedown was overruled by replay review. From there, it was all Hall.

He countered Brunson's next shot and then turned him for four back points to increase his lead to 9-1. He scored four-more near-fall in the third period along with his third takedown to win by technical fall, 16-1.

Hall had made his lineup debut just shy of a month earlier, a match against Iowa in which he lost to Alex Meyer. A few weeks before that, Meyer actually had been defeated by Brunson, 9-5.

In working to improve everyday since that loss to Meyer, Hall has seen his confidence grow and his comfort level increase as he's adjusted to the regimen of the Big Ten grind. His tech fall over Brunson Friday night reinforced it.

"I've made the changes in my wrestling, in my diet to keep my weight up and I just teched a guy who beat (Meyer)," Hall said. "I didn't even know that. It's just all about progress and enjoying the process of wrestling."

3) Nevills avenges loss that ended his 2016 season

After making a late debut in the lineup last year as a redshirt freshman after battling injury, heavyweight Nick Nevills wrestled nine matches, including three at the Big Ten tournament. In the second consolation round, he fell to Brooks Black, 5-3, and the loss effectively ended his season.

In a rematch Friday night, it was a different outcome. Nevills scored two escapes, rode out the entire second period and then scored a third-period takedown in order to win, 5-0.

"He's made a lot progress, obviously," Sanderson said. "More than anything he's just strong and healthy confident in his body, that his body is going to hold up. He can wrestle and he can do what makes him special. We would've liked to him seen him attack a little bit more, but he did a nice job and beat a tough kid tonight."

BOX SCORE

No. 1 Penn State 34, No. 11 Illinois 7

February 10, 2017 – Rec Hall – University Park, Pa.

125: No. 2 Nick Suriano PSU maj. dec. Travis Piotrowski ILL, 17-6 4-0

133: No. 6 Zane Richards ILL maj. dec. George Carpenter PSU, 19-7 4-4

141: No. 11 Jimmy Gulibon PSU maj. dec. Mousa Jodeh ILL, 10-2 8-4

149: No. 1 Zain Retherford PSU pinned No. 19 Eric Barone ILL, WBF (4:09) 14-4

157: No. 1 Jason Nolf PSU tech fall No. 12 Kyle Langenderfer ILL, 26-11 (TF; 6:45) 19-4

165: No. 1 Isaiah Martinez ILL dec. No. 4 Vincenzo Joseph PSU, 5-2 19-7

174: No. 7 Mark Hall PSU tech fall No. 12 Zac Brunson ILL, 16-1 (TF; 7:00) 24-7

184: No. 2 Bo Nickal PSU maj. dec. No. 12 Emery Parker ILL, 18-5 28-7

197: No. 9 Matt McCutcheon PSU dec. Andre Lee ILL, 3-1 31-7

285: No. 3 Nick Nevills PSU dec. No. 15 Brooks Black ILL, 5-0 34-7

Attendance: 6,645 (34th straight Rec Hall sell-out)

Records: Penn State 12-0, 8-0 B1G; Illinois 8-3, 5-3 B1G

Up Next for Penn State: home vs. Maryland, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2 p.m. in Rec Hall