Wrestling: PSU overcomes 13-point deficit to win DCS national title

It was a 13-point lead that Penn State spotted Oklahoma State, as the Nittany Lions dropped the opening three matches Sunday afternoon. But even that wasn't enough to stop them from winning their 31st straight dual meet and the title of the Dual Championship Series, as they came back to defeat the Cowboys, 27-13, in front of a record crowd (14,059) in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

In the opening match at 125 pounds, standout freshman Nick Suriano hurt his left ankle halfway through the bout and was forced to injury default out of the match against Nick Piccinnini. It gave the home team an initial 6-0 lead. No update on the severity of the injury has been made available yet. After that, Kade Brock beat PSU's George Carpenter at 133 by major decision, 17-6, before Dean Heil slipped past PSU senior Jimmy Gulibon, 3-2, at 141. Gulibon, however, nearly had Heil pinned during a neutral scramble on at least two occasions. The fall was never called.

From there, despite a 13-point deficit, it was all Penn State. In fact, head coach Cael Sanderson's team wouldn't lose another match and surrendered only one more takedown.

"I looked over at (Nick) Nevills after all that happened and he looked at me and just smiled and gave me a little fist pound," junior Matt McCutcheon told Jeff Byers on the Penn State Radio Network after the match. "Then I looked down at Mark (Hall) and he was ready to go and the other guys were in the back getting ready. That's part of our team. When somebody has an off-day or something goes wrong that's not supposed to happen, we're right there to pick each other up. I think that's what makes this team special."

At 149, Zain Retherford picked up Penn State's first win of the dual meet and ended the losing streak for good.

But that wasn't without its challenges, either. Wrestling Anthony Collica, the second-ranked wrestler behind Retherford, Penn State's top-rated junior was called twice for stalling from the top position. But he fought through in order to win, 2-1, with a riding time advantage of 1 minute and 51 seconds.

Penn State only progressed from there. Jason Nolf (157) scored 11 takedowns in the next match to win by technical fall over Joe Smith, 24-9. At 165, Vincenzo Joseph (165) bested another top 10 wrestler and scored more bonus for PSU as he defeated Chandler Rogers by major decision, 12-4.

At 174, Hall brought the team score within one point with a 3-2 decision over Kyle Crutchmer. It's Hall's second win of the season over Crutchmer after beating him in the final of the Southern Scuffle in early January.

Then at 184, Bo Nickal put an exclamation point on the championship. In the first period Nickal defended a single-leg attempt from All-America Nolan Boyd and then countered it with a nearside cradle. Turning Boyd to his back, Nickal earned the fall in 38 seconds and set up McCutcheon to clinch the national championship in the very next match.

Wrestling Preston Weigel, McCutcheon scored the bout's only two takedowns to win 4-3 and put the team score out of reach of the Cowboys.

At heavyweight, Nevills added the final touches for Penn State's victory with a 10-5 decision over backup heavyweight Derek White.

In all Penn State won the takedown battle, 24-7. Following the three consecutive losses to open the bout, PSU only surrendered one more takedown of the final seven matches and that didn't come until the third period of the final bout.

Penn State completes its second regular season in a row with an undefeated record and capping it with a DCS title.

It resumes its post-season schedule in two weeks with the start of the Big Ten Championship tournament in Bloomington, Ind. (March 4-5).

No. 1 Penn State 27, No. 2 Oklahoma State 13

February 19, 2017 – Gallagher-Iba Arena – Stillwater, Okla.

125: No. 11 Nick Piccininni OKST inj. def. No. 2 Nick Suriano PSU, inj. def. (3:34) 0-6

133: No. 3 Kaid Brock OKST maj. dec. George Carpenter PSU, 17-6 0-10

141: No. 1 Dean Heil OKST dec. No. 10 Jimmy Gulibon PSU, 3-2 0-13

149: No. 1 Zain Retherford PSU dec. No. 2 Anthony Collica OKST, 2-1 3-13

157: No. 1 Jason Nolf PSU tech fall No. 6 Joe Smith OKST, 24-9 (TF;7:00) 8-13

165: No. 4 Vincenzo Joseph PSU maj. dec. No. 8 Chandler Rogers OKST, 12-4 12-13

174: No. 7 Mark Hall PSU dec. No. 9 Kyle Crutchmer OKST, 3-2 15-13

184: No. 2 Bo Nickal PSU pinned No. 4 Nolan Boyd OKST, WBF (0:38) 21-13

197: No. 9 Matt McCutcheon PSU dec. No. 8 Preston Weigel OKST, 4-3 24-13

285: No. 3 Nick Nevills PSU dec. Derek White OKST, 10-5 27-13

Attendance: 14,059

Records: Penn State 14-0, 9-0 B1G; Oklahoma State 14-1, 6-0 Big 12)

Up Next for Penn State: Big Ten Wrestling Championships, March 4-5, 2017, Bloomington, Ind.