Grapplers sweep weekend series

Following his team's worst disappointment of the season, a 28-7 loss at Minnesota on Feb. 9, Penn State wrestling coach John Fritz felt it was imperative for the No. 4 Nittany Lions to bounce back quickly and effectively against Ohio State and Clarion over the weekend in order to get back onto their quest for the national title.

"It was bringing back memories of Minnesota," Lion 150-pounder Shad Benton said.

But the Lions charged back, snatching six of the remaining seven bouts en route to a 25-16 victory.

Saturday at Clarion was not much different, as the Golden Eagles took three of the first four matches and jumped out to an 11-6 lead before the Lions conquered the final six classes in spanking the Golden Eagles, 31-11.

"I think their attitude was, 'Hey, we've got something to prove. We have to be more dominant,' " Fritz said about the turnaround.

At 142 pounds, Lion Biff Walizer was essential in swinging the meet in Penn State's favor against Ohio State. With the Buckeyes ahead 10-0, Walizer pinned Brian Roskovich 3:29 into the match. Walizer was wrestling at 142 because Clint Musser had been suspended for the weekend for a violation of team policy. Fritz would not elaborate on the subject. Instead, he shifted the focus to Walizer's match, saying he was pleased with his wrestler's performance.

"He needed something like that," Fritz said. "Things weren't going real well for him after the (elbow) injury, but he's working his way out of it."

The Lions were able to take the next three matches and a 16-10 lead, but No. 8 Mitch Clark of Ohio State pinned Frank Morici 6:35 into the match to tie the meet at 16. The Lions came right back, as Rob Neidlinger took an 11-7 decision to regain the lead, 19-16.

"That was a real big match and a good one for Rob," Fritz said. "We feel he can be one of the top 190-pounders in the country."

Saturday, the Lions had to wait an additional match for the momentum. At 150, Benton registered a 12-4 major decision against Stan Spoor, pulling the Lions within one at 11-10. John Lange followed with a major decision of his own, 12-1, over Brad Harris.

"Benton and Lange did a nice job," Fritz said. "(Benton) had to rally to get things going."

The Lions' upper weight wrestlers were stellar in both meets, winning seven of eight matches. Clark's pin of Morici was the lone bout they lost, in part because Morici rebounded Saturday in getting the 4-1 decision over Clarion's Joel Gilbert.

Penn State's Glenn Pritzlaff, No. 2 at 167 pounds, upped his record to 30-2 with a pair of wins, including a major decision and a technical fall.

"I feel I'm progressively wrestling better," Pritzlaff said.

Kerry McCoy, No. 1 at heavyweight, continued his tear, pushing his record to 30-0 with a pin of Buckeye Nick Nutter, his 11th of the year. McCoy added a 4-1 decision over No. 4 Bryan Stout of Clarion. With the victories, McCoy extended his dual-meet streak to 56 straight victories, winning 120 of his last 121 collegiate bouts.

"McCoy wrestled a great match against Stout, who is tough to score on," Fritz said.

Fritz explained one of the reasons for the team's control of both matches was the work of the assistant coaches, Hachiro Oishi and Sanshiro Abe.

"They've been working with individuals on different things," Fritz said, "and it's starting to show up in the matches."

Those techniques may be showing up at the right time as the Lions enter their final week of regular-season competition, ending with a pair of home matches this weekend against No. 16 Lock Haven on Friday and No. 24 Lehigh on Saturday.

Notes:

n  With the pair of weekend wins, Fritz now has 98 career victories. In his fifth year as coach of Penn State, Fritz has 65 wins, which ranks fourth in school history.

n  Lion 158-pounder Brian Romesburg will likely miss the remainder of the season with cartilage damage in his knee which required surgery. The surgery was considered successful and the knee is healing satisfactorily.