The Penn State men's boxing team put on a show in front of a packed and rowdy house in the main gym of the White Building Saturday night.

The team went 8-3 overall with six decisions going to the Nittany Lions, as well as two RFC's (referee stopped contest), similar to knockouts.

Penn State's Paul Brenner, Ryan Manning, Joe Smith, Jude Leriche, Miles Rivas, Jeff Rodgers, Eric Bradley, and Luke Runion all posted victories. Smith summed up the team's attitude the best by saying, "We talked with our fists tonight."

In one of the most exciting bouts of the evening, first-time contender Rodgers defeated Army's Matt Pride in the 156-pound weight division in a decision. Rodgers was outsized and outreached. Pride had at least six inches on his height and reach, but that didn't seem to faze Rodgers. The scrappy boxer put on a show as he had a lot of support from the fans. Even in the back row there were fans with "Go Jeff" spelled out on their shirts.

Rodgers kept hanging in there, and then in the third round he forced Pride into the corner and erupted by landing a torrent of left and rights to the chin and face.

"I didn't necessarily do things right, but I did them hard and that's all that you ask for," Rodgers said.

In another exciting bout, in the 200-pound weight division, first-time contender Bradley, a former Penn State wrestler who had to leave the sport due to medical problems, simply overpowered Mansfield's Matt Becker. The referee stopped the bout after Becker was hit in the second round with a fierce left hook that left him stunned and bloodied.

"I didn't know what to expect because this was my first fight," Bradley said, "but after I landed that right hook I never looked back."

The night was ended fittingly by Runion in the final bout, the heavyweight division. Runion simply destroyed Navy's Nehemiah Katz, making a RFC in the beginning of the second round. Runion was outsized, but not outmatched. He used a lot of combinations that were landing perfectly on the chin and nose of Katz.

Katz hit the mat hard, the blood pouring from his nose as the referee stopped the match. Runion was pleased with his performance, saying, "I know that I can go up against a guy with that size, and win. It really builds confidence."

Penn State men's boxing coach Bill Wrable was pleased with Runion but said he is only scratching at his potential right now

He feels similarly about the team.

"We picked up the intensity a little bit tonight," Wrable said. "But we have a long way to go."