There is one thing that every team tries to avoid — injuries.
The injury bug has found its way to the Penn State wrestling team.
At yesterday's Varsity Wrestle-Offs at Rec Hall, three of the 10 weight classes did not see any action at all, while another match was halted halfway through, and the fifth one continued without the top wrestler at the weight class.
No competition took place at 133, 165 and 184. Josh Moore was slated to wrestle Marat Tomaev, but Moore was kept out of competition as a precaution after suffering a chest injury late in the week in practice. At 165, Aaron Wright was hurt, so no match occurred.
Both Mark Becks and Curt Thompson were injured so there was no wrestle-off at 184.
The 197-pound wrestle-off was halted previous to the final between Pete Mielnik and Ryan Cummins, when it was discovered that Mielnik had an injured elbow.
"I don't think that Mielnik's injury is that serious, and we kept him out as a precaution and to prevent any further damage," Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland said.
James Woodall suffered a second-degree tear of the MCL, the same injury that Tomaev suffered a year ago around the same time. The 157-pound wrestle-off continued without Woodall's presence and Dan Waters defeated Adam Shepler 10-4 and 9-5.
Even with all of the injuries, five weight classes still battled it out yesterday. The most compelling battle took place at 141. After Jason Woodall outscored Eric Narkiewicz 4-1 and Scott Moore easily handled Jarrad Turner 18-2, an intriguing battle was set up for the semifinals.
Woodall jumped out early over Moore, with what Moore saw as a controversial takedown, 2-0. Moore built the lead four points with 1:32 left in the second, when he put Moore on his back. The match then took a turn, as Moore was able to escape and get back to his feet. In the final period and a half Moore ran off nine consecutive points to secure the victory.
"I knew he (Woodall) was going throw me," Scott Moore said. "I didn't really think that I was in too much danger, but I was able to get over. I then knew I was in for a good battle."
Woodall then went into the loser's bracket where he fell victim to Narkiewicz the second time around 3-2. In the final Moore handled Narkiewicz as he pinned him in 1:32.
At 125, junior Justin Kast defeated true freshman Adam Smith in consecutive bouts 7-3 and 11-3.
"Justin has been around the program for a while now and he is used to being in the room competing," Sunderland said. "While Adam has just come directly from high school. Kast has a lot more experience."
Both John Krulock and Todd Brennan won their wrestle-offs at 149 and 174, respectively.
The heavyweight division provided excitement to the end. Kevin Shippos and Pat Cummins wound up wrestling three times.
In the first battle Cummins outdueled Shippos 4-1. Shippos then went on to pin Josh Walker in 23 seconds, which setup the second bout between him and Cummins.
Shippos won the second contest 10-7. This forced a decisive third match, at the end of regulation the score was tied at one. At the end of overtime — still tied. Shippos escaped Cummins grasp to win in the 30-second rideout.
Sunderland knows that this is just the beginning of a long season and will be fine if everyone gets healthy.
"I think overall we can do better than people predicted, if we can stay injury-free," Sunderland said. "Right now James Woodall has suffered our biggest injury, that we have to overcome."
