Formidable Lion wrestling trio leads teammates by example

One has been perfect. Another has been nearly perfect. Add them to yet another, and their combined mark is 66-6.

That is the record of Penn State's wrestling leaders ( fifth-year seniors Kerry McCoy and Frank Morici and redshirt sophomore Glenn Pritzlaff. Five of those losses belong to Morici, but now that he is on track, it may be tough for opponents to register many more blemishes to their combined record.

- Kerry McCoy
Penn State wrestler

Pritzlaff, ranked No. 5 nationally at the beginning of the season, started red hot and has yet to cool down. He won the 167-pound class at the East Stroudsburg Open, the Mat Town Tournament and the Penn State Open, where he was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler.

"I think with Glenn it's that in his freshman year he qualified for nationals and lost," Morici said. "Last year he redshirted and worked hard and climbed to the top."

Pritzlaff was 5-1 at the Cliff Keen National Duals in Lincoln, Neb., where opponents around the country discovered the Nittany Lions' strength lies at the end of the lineup.

Pritzlaff lost his first match of the season at the duals to then-No. 4 Zac Taylor of Minnesota in the first of their two matches.

However, he was caught in an early five-point move in the loss, then rebounded to defeat Taylor the second time they faced each other.

At 25-1 on the season and ranked No. 2 at 167 pounds, Pritzlaff is determined to finish at the top of his class at the Big Ten and national competitions in March.

"I've never seen anyone work as hard as Glenn," freshman Shad Benton said. "It's amazing."

Pritzlaff is one of the leaders of the team, and being a sophomore allows him to relate to his younger teammates.

"He's really the one the younger guys identify with," McCoy said.

Morici began the season with third-place finishes at the East Stroudsburg and Penn State Opens. He continued wrestling well and opened the dual-meet season by beating Iowa's Tony Ersland.

"Frank leads by example," McCoy said. "He puts forth 100-percent effort to get the job done."

He also had one defeat at National Duals, posting a 4-1 record in the 177-pound class. His loss came against Gloden Gopher Brandon Eggum in the first of their two meetings, but Morici was able to turn it around in the second match.

The highlight of the duals for Morici was his upset of then-No. 3 Barry Weldon of Iowa State. With his accomplishments, Morici looked to get his first national ranking but was left out of the polls, which agitated him.

"The only reason is because it's a big deal for national seeding," he said. "I have to get a couple of big wins and hopefully things will turn around."

Big wins are something McCoy has been getting all season. He too captured the East Stroudsburg and Penn State Opens, which surrounded his title at the Mat Town Tournament. He snatched the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the National Duals, in which he was a perfect 6-0, to go along with the one he took home from East Stroudsburg.

He is the No. 1 heavyweight in the country and repeatedly has expressed his determination to win his second individual NCAA crown. However, he wants a team title as well and is constantly helping his teammates improve their wrestling.

"Kerry's helped me out as a freshman," 118-pounder Jeremy Hunter said. "He's faced a lot of the things that I am facing now."

The three feed off each other as well as the rest of the team, and the opposite is also true.

"My teammates get me pumped," Pritzlaff said. "Everybody's aware of the domino effect."