NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (16-0, 9-0) closed out day one of the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships in New York's Madison Square Garden in first place. Head coach Cael Sanderson's squad will have six, a full two-thirds of its nine qualifiers, in the national quarterfinals tomorrow morning.
Penn State will send six wrestlers into the quarters with two others still alive in consolation action. Penn State has eight of its nine NCAA qualifiers still alive as day one ends.
Senior Nico Megaludis, the No. 3 seed at 125, took on No. 14 Josh Rodriguez of North Dakota State in the second round. Megaludis gave up an early takedown but responded to score the bout's final four points to post a strong 4-2 win and move into the national quarterfinals. Megaludis went 2-0 with a major on day one.
Senior Jordan Conaway, the No. 5 seed at 133, met returning All-American, No. 12 Ryan Taylor of Wisconsin in round two. Conway gave up the bout's first takedown and then dominated the action from there. The Lion junior notched a takedown in the second and two in the third to roll to an 8-5 win, avenging two losses in the Big Ten tournament, and moving into the quarterfinals. Conaway went 2-0 on day one.
Sophomore Zain Retherford, the No. 1 seed at 149, took on No. 16 Patricio Lugo of Edinboro in round two. Lugo notched the bout's first takedown and then Retherford took over from there. The Lion sophomore led 3-2 after one and 11-4 after two periods. In the third, with Lugo starting down, Retherford steadily worked him over for a four-count and then picked up the fall at the 6:37 mark to move into the quarterfinals and pick up key bonus points for the Nittany Lions. Retherford went 2-0 with a pin and a tech fall on day one.
Red-shirt freshman Jason Nolf, the No. 3 seed at 157, met Penn's May Bethea in the next round. The Lion freshman put on an offensive show, totaling 12 takedowns on his way to a lopsided 25-10 technical fall at the 6:35 mark of the third period. Nolf led 6-2 after one, 15-5 after two and picked up five third period takedowns to end the bout and advance to the quarterfinals. Nolf went 2-0 with a pin and a tech fall on day one.
Red-shirt freshman Bo Nickal, the No. 1 seed at 174,faced No. 16 Micah Barnes of Nebraska in the next round. Like his first round match, Nickal gave up the opening takedown but rebounded to dominate the action. The Lion freshman picked up takedowns in the first and second periods and rode Barnes out in the third to post the 7-2 win and move into the quarterfinals. Nickal went 2-0 with a major on day one.
Senior Morgan McIntosh, the No. 1 seed at 197, took on No. 16 Kyle Conel of Kent State in the second round. McIntosh found himself behind 4-2 early, giving up two first period takedowns. But the top-seeded Lion controlled the rest of the match, opening up a 13-5 lead before turning Conel for a pin at the 6:01 mark to move into the quarterfinals while picking up key bonus points for the team. McIntosh went 2-0 with a major and a pin on day one.
Junior Jimmy Gulibon, unseeded at 141, met No. 12 Chris Mecate of Old Dominion in the second round. Mecate, a returning All-American, hit Gulibon for a quick takedown and then turned him for four near fall points to take a 6-0 lead that would be the bout's final score. The loss dropped Gulibon into consolation action. Gulibon went 1-1 on day one of the tournament, including a tech fall over No. 5 Mike Manley of Missouri in round one.
Junior Geno Morelli, unseeded at 165, faced No. 6 Steven Rodriguez of Illinois in the next round. The Lion junior battled the sixth-seed tough for over nine minutes before dropping a hard-fought 3-1 (SV2) decision. Tied 1-1 after one sudden victory period, Morelli rode Rodriguez out in the first tie-breaker period and nearly escaped twice but could not in his tie-breaker. Rodriguez notched a quick takedown in the second sudden victory period to post the win and drop Morelli into consolation action. Morelli went 1-1 on day one.
Sophomore Matt McCutcheon, the No. 16 seed at 184, met Jack Dechow, returning All-American, in the first round of consolation action Thursday night. The Lion sophomore gave up takedowns in the first and third periods and dropped a 6-1 decision, ending his tournament run with a 0-2 mark.
Penn State leads the team race with 27.5 points while Ohio State and Oklahoma State are in second with 24.0. The Nittany Lions went 14-4 overall on day one, picking up 13.5 bonus points off three pins, three tech falls and three majors. Eight Nittany Lions will continue on tomorrow with six quarterfinalists (Megaludis, Conaway, Retherford, Nolf, Nickal and McIntosh) and two in consolation action (Gulibon, Morelli). Only McCutcheon ended his season today.
The 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships continue on Friday, March 18, at 11 a.m. with session three. Session four is set for Friday at 8 p.m. and the event concludes on Saturday, March 19 at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.