Soon there won't be anyone in the Penn State wrestling record books except Scott Moore. At least, not ahead of him.
Moore got six of Penn State's 10 team points with a pin during the Nittany Lions' 26-10 loss to Iowa yesterday. With the fall and the win, Penn State's 141-pounder is taking aim at claiming single-season school records in both categories.
The No. 9 Moore faced a tough competitor in No. 17 Luke Moffitt. It was the first meeting between the two in their collegiate careers.
"Sometimes I don't know what to tell the Moores," Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland said. "Whether to wrestle a full seven minutes or just go out and pin him."
This time Moore took the latter direction.
A takedown and near fall halfway through the first period got Moore out to an early 5-0 lead. That sequence of events seemed to add more fuel to Moore's internal fire.
In another position to score a takedown in the second period, Moore decided to try a different move.
"We ended up in the same situation [as in the first period]," Moore said. "Except this time I went for a head lock instead of like a leg trip-back. I head-locked him right to his back."
With Moffitt's shoulders behind him, Moore then said he started to think more defensively. Not wanting to get rolled through and lose the opportunity for the pin, he clamped down hard with the head lock. Moore took a glance at Moffitt's shoulders and before he knew it, just 4:23 into the match, referee Joe Tauber called the fall.
The pin for Moore was number 20 on the season. That total leads the team, but more impressively, tied the Penn State record for pins in a season. The record he tied was set by two-time All-American Cary Kolat during the 1994 season. Moore, with 33 career falls, is now just one away from Kerry McCoy's career mark.
To be able to share that top spot with Kolat is something Moore takes great pride in, but makes sure not to get too caught up in.
"It's great to know that you got 20 pins and are tied with one of the best wrestlers to ever come out of this area," Moore said. "It's a good accomplishment but the real goal is at the end of the season -- to be an All-American and a national champion."
All-Americans and national champions are definitely the company Moore is starting to keep in the record books.
Moore's win yesterday gives him a season record of 43-7. While he is not at the top of the list yet, the win did give Moore a tie for second place for wins in a season. He now shares his total with McCoy and Jim Martin. Martin and McCoy hold a combined seven All-America titles and three national championships. To Moore, the wins record is a bonus to his season and the pursuit of the pin mark.
"I wanted to get the pins just because I've kind of been shooting for it, but the wins just keep coming," Moore said.
One more pin? Certainly within reach. Five more wins, which would break McCoy's 1994 record of 47? Moore just might get there too, if he keeps wrestling the way he and his coaches know he has to.
"He's got to wrestle how he wrestles," Sunderland said. "Go for the big move and go for the pin whenever he feels it's there. Sometimes it hurts him, sometimes he gets away with it."
