BlueWhiteIllustrated.com - Fans get their first look at Lion grapplers

November 6, 2009

Andy Elder
BlueWhiteIllustrated.com Assistant Editor

The matches didn't count for anything but experience and there was no team score, but that didn't prevent 2,400 fans from streaming into Rec Hall on Thursday evening for the unofficial start to the Cael Sanderson Era.

In a departure from years past, when varsity wrestle-offs served to help set the lineup and whet the appetites of Penn State wrestling fans, Sanderson introduced the intrasquad dual meet, where the top two healthy wrestlers at each weight, plus one exhibition bout, squared off in blue and white singlets.

Each wrestler had to get down to scratch weight. One team wore the traditional blue singlets. The other team wore the recently introduced white singlets.

While a majority of the matchups were clearly mismatches between established starters and young backups, there were four matches that piqued the interest of fans and one that produced the biggest surprise of the night.

What follows is a weight-by-weight analysis of the night's 11 bouts:

174 pounds
David Erwin vs. Justin Ortega

Erwin, the expected starter who is coming off season-ending shoulder surgery last year, led 2-1 after one period. In the second, however, Ortega escaped to tie the match and then scored a go-ahead takedown late in the period. Erwin chose bottom to start the third and Ortega kept him there the entire period. A stall point and another for riding time gave Ortega, a redshirt freshman from Oxford High School in southeastern Pa., a 6-2 win over the fifth-year senior.

"I didn't expect that, not as far as the winning and losing, but the way that it happened," Sanderson said. "It's something we need to address right away."

184 pounds
J.R. Brown vs. Ed Ruth

Brown, a sophomore from nearby Bellefonte, Pa., who saw spot duty filling in last season, was no match for the true freshman from Harrisburg, who attended Susquehanna Township and then Blair Academy. Ruth showed his tremendous potential in piling up four takedowns, an escape and a riding time point in posting an easy 10-1 major decision.

184 pounds
Quentin Wright vs. David Crowell

Wright, a returning All-American who will redshirt this year, met Crowell, the expected starter at 184 pounds who will not be eligible under NCAA transfer rules (he transferred last year from Pitt) until spring semester.
Wright, who recently weighed as much as 203 pounds, he said, dominated with a takedown in each period, an escape and a riding time point in a controlled 8-2 decision.

197 pounds
Clay Steadman vs. Luke Macchiaroli

Steadman, the starter here a year ago, couldn't mount any offense against another of the four true freshmen that make up Sanderson's first recruiting class. Macchiaroli, a three-time Arizona state champion, used two takedowns and an escape for a 5-3 win.

Heavyweight
Cameron Wade vs. Brendan Herlihy

Wade, the returning starter, overwhelmed Herlihy, a career backup from Connecticut. Wade, looking more trim and muscular than a year ago, was in control from the start in a 15-0 technical fall.

125 pounds
Brad Pataky vs. Tom Reynolds

Pataky, another returning starter, appeared in midseason form in rolling up a 16-1 technical fall (at the 3:17 mark) over Reynolds, a true freshman from New Jersey. After scoring a quick initial takedown, Pataky went to work with his patented tilt and led 13-1 at the end of the first period.

133 pounds
Bryan Pearsall vs. Tyler Saltsman

It will be interesting to see who emerges as the starter here as the 6-4 overtime outcome in favor of Saltsman was marred by a couple questionable calls by the referee. Pearsall, a redshirt freshman from Lititz, Pa., and Saltsman, a redshirt sophomore from New Hampshire were a contrast in styles and physiques. Saltsman was more muscular and a bit more explosive on his feet. Pearsall, tall and lanky, piled up 2:56 in riding time by riding with legs in.

141 pounds
Colby Pisani vs. Adam Lynch
Lynch, a senior from Mifflinburg, Pa., won by injury default over Pisani, a sophomore from Ridgway, Pa., after Pisani suffered what Sanderson characterized as a cramp in his right calf. The end came with just 48 seconds left in the first period and Lynch leading, 2-0.

149 pounds
Frank Molinaro vs. James English

Another contrast in physiques, with the short, muscular Molinaro, a returning All-American, vs. English, who is taller and leaner. Molinaro dominated, scoring five takedowns, an escape and a point for 3:14 in riding time. Molinaro didn't seem bothered by shifting up a weight from a year ago. English, a redshirt freshman who had to sit out last season with a neck injury, was dominated but didn't back down.

157 pounds
Cyler Sanderson vs. David Taylor

In one of the more anticipated bouts of the night, Sanderson a fifth-year senior who transferred from Iowa State to wrestle for his brother, Cael, met the gem of this year's recruiting class, Taylor, who was rated the No. 1 overall recruit in the country. Sanderson showed his explosiveness on his feet by taking Taylor down to his back twice in the first period and adding another takedown for a 10-3 first period lead. Sanderson added an escape in the second period. In the third, Taylor showed his huge potential by choosing top to start and riding Sanderson the whole period to settle the final at 11-4.

"He's obviously very good on top, especially for a freshman," Sanderson said. "Most young guys aren't very good on top. That's something he already has under his belt."

165 pounds
Dan Vallimont vs. Jake Kemerer

In another anticipated bout, Vallimont, an All-American in 2007 and a fifth-year senior, fell to true freshman Kemerer (from Greensburg, Pa.), 4-3. Kemerer converted a high crotch shot into a double leg as time ran out for the winning points. Kemerer, who originally committed to Oklahoma then decided to transfer to Penn State, will also redshirt this season.

"It's a big confidence booster knowing I beat an All-American," Kemerer said. "That's something I can take into the season that will make me work harder."

With a week to go before the Nittany Lions open the season at Lehigh (7 p.m.), Sanderson and his staff clearly have some decisions to make at several weights. And, even when those decisions are made, Penn State won't field its most competitive lineup until late December or early January.

"We are going to try to put the best team we can out there," Sanderson said. "Sometimes we will be wrong and sometimes we will be right. Those guys make those decisions every day with their attitude and how they are working."

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