Tuesday, Jan. 14, 1997

Grapplers rebound from early loss, shine in Open

After a loss to No. 1 Iowa, the No. 4 Nittany Lions went undefeated on their West Coast road-trip.

By VITO FORLENZA
Collegian Sports Writer

Heading into the Penn State Open on Dec. 7, the Nittany Lion wrestling team showed it was not going to let the happenings of the preceding day interfere with the rest of the season.

Penn State wrestler Glenn Pritzlaff gains the upper-hand on his Iowa opponent. The Nittany Lions had three first-place finishes in the Penn State Open, and wins on the road over Fresno State and Cal State Bakersfield. (Collegian Photo / Clinton Marchant - click for full size image)

After dropping its opening dual meet of the season the day before to No. 1 Iowa, Penn State, then No. 5, could have responded in one of two ways -- with a quick rebound from the 22-15 loss or with a chain of defeats and disappointments stemming from the Hawkeye setback.

However, the Lions did not see it as devastating.

"We're taught to look ahead and always keep the big picture in mind," said fifth-year senior Kerry McCoy.

The Lions reacted as a top five team should, by grabbing three first-place finishes from freshman Jeremy Hunter, redshirt sophomore Glenn Pritzlaff, who also snatched the Outstanding Wrestler Award, and McCoy. All were a perfect 5-0, and McCoy registered four falls.

Penn State wrestling home page

Penn State also placed two wrestlers second -- junior John Lange and redshirt sophomore Ross Thatcher -- while senior Frank Morici and redshirt Rob Neidlinger finished third in the Open, which included 31 schools and over 400 competitors.

The Lions continued that tear when they faced Hofstra on Dec. 15. They posted a 46-3 win over the Flying Dutchmen, capturing nine of the 10 matches, five of which were pins.

Penn State then jumped to No. 4, where the Lions now remain with a 5-1 record, 2-1 in the Big Ten, and opened the new year with a perfect west coast swing. They defeated No. 19 Fresno State, 19-13, on Jan. 3 and No. 9 Cal State Bakersfield, 21-12, on Jan. 4.

"It was good to go to California and get different competition." Morici said. "They have a different style of wrestling, almost like freestyle."

Fresno State held a 13-6 lead until the Lions won the final four matches in decisions, with McCoy's being a major.

At Bakersfield, the match came down to the heavyweight division, which featured the two top-ranked wrestlers in the class, No. 1 McCoy and No. 2 Stephen Neal. McCoy shut out Neal, 4-0.

"I'm wrestling well and feeling good," McCoy said, "but I'm no where near championship form."

The Lions then traveled to Michigan to take on both Michigan State and Michigan, and won both, 19-18 and 23-13, respectively.

Against Michigan State the Lions saw freshman walk-on Andrew Butville replace the injured Lange at 150 and win the much-needed match, 11-10. Butville was not even on the team at the beginning of the season, but because some wrestlers quit the team, he was able to secure a spot.

"He's a scrappy kid and a hard worker," Lion coach John Fritz said, "and just did a tremendous job."

Later in that match, No. 5 Pritzlaff defeated No. 2 Jeff Catabone, 2-1, and McCoy scored a fall over No. 9 Marco Sanchez.

A few hours later, McCoy took down yet another ranked opponent, this time No. 5 Airron Richardson in a 3-3 overtime ride-out.

"There's not a team in the country who wrestles both in one day four hours apart." Fritz said. "We put our guys in tough situations because that's what they'll face at nationals."