Billman, Musser key Lion upset

Before No. 5 Penn State's 21-13 upset of No. 3 Minnesota Friday at The Bryce Jordan Center, there was concern over how much of an advantage the home fans could provide the Nittany Lions.

People said the noise in the cavernous yet only quarter-filled center would pale in comparison to a sold-out Rec Hall, where Penn State usually hosts its dual meets -- especially against an opponent as publicized as the Golden Gophers.

The factors people didn't count on, however, were Jamarr Billman and Clint Musser.

Billman and Musser, the Lions' ferocious middleweight tandem, made the largely vacant arena sound like a standing-room only crowd with stunning wins at 142 and 150 pounds.

hen Musser, ranked No. 3 at 150, upended the Gophers top-ranked and undefeated Chad Kraft 3-1.

And that really got the faithful rockin'.

"I love it when the crowd is vocal," Penn State's No. 8 167-pounder Glenn Pritzlaff said. "When I was warming up I could hear them going nuts when Jamarr put his guy on his back. And even when I left the room to go warm up back in the locker room, I could hear them going crazy when Clint was wrestling."

The middleweight wins -- which gave Billman and Musser co-ownership of the Ridge Riley Award for the Lions' best individual performance -- made Penn State's run for an upset of the Gophers all the more realistic. And the fans knew it.

The crowd, silenced by No. 19 134-pounder Biff Walizer's 2-1 double-overtime loss to Minnesota's No. 5 Troy Marr, quickly revved its engines when Billman took the mat.

The kinetic freshman from Easton showed no signs of intimidation against Davids, a senior who was ranked No. 1 for most of the season. Billman got off to a 2-0 lead before scoring five nearfall points in the second for the win.

After the win, Billman raced off the mat and into the arms of Penn State coaching assistant and former heavyweight Kerry McCoy. Why McCoy?

"I was looking for the first person who could carry my weight. I was looking for the biggest guy, and I knew Fritz couldn't do it," Billman joked, referring to diminutive Lion coach John Fritz.

After Billman's tour-de-force performance at 142, the crowd turned its attention to the dual meet's top matchup, Kraft versus Musser.

A scoreless first period gave way to Musser's three-point second, in which the junior landed an escape and a takedown. The lead stood up, and Musser registered the workmanlike win over the slowed-down Kraft.

When asked what inspired him, Musser said it was his teammate's awesome showing before him.

"Jamarr always fires me up," Musser said. "He's so intense out there. He gets in everyone's face, he doesn't care who it is. Seeing his confidence does nothing but help me. After he wrestles, my confidence is raised to a new level."

It sure was on Friday night.