As the seconds of Dan Vallimont's NCAA championship bout dwindled, his opponent, Wisconsin's Andrew Howe, found himself with an insurmountable lead.
Though Howe seemed to have the win sealed, Wisconsin coach Barry Davis looked on intently, his head swiveling constantly as if he were the person wrestling. Vallimont, making the score 7-3, notched his first takedown and caused Davis to sweat some more.
"You can't relax," Davis said in an interview with ESPN. "This guy's good."
But with a five-point lead after an escape and holding a 2-0 record against Vallimont prior to the NCAA tournament, Howe had reason to relax. It was Vallimont, losing the match 9-3, whose nerves should have been jumping inside.
Vallimont's second-place performance led Penn State to a ninth-place finish. In all, the Lions had three All-Americans.
"Overall, for the whole tournament, I feel like I wrestled well," Vallimont said. "Last night, I made a couple small mistakes, and he was able to capitalize on it. It cost me the match."
Frank Molinaro, a 149-pounder, placed fifth and garnered All-America status while 157-pounder Cyler Sanderson finished sixth to round out Penn State's All-Americans.
"I'm not really happy with it," Molinaro said of his performance. "After I finished the tournament, I wasn't really happy at all, but I did make a lot of improvements this year from last year."
Molinaro's biggest improvement was a mental change. He said the never-lose attitude instilled in him by the coaching staff was what changed the most from last season.
Heavyweight Cameron Wade and 184-pounder Dave Erwin finished their tournaments 2-2.
Erwin was sent to the consolation brackets after losing to eventual-champion Max Askren of Missouri in the second round. Wade lost his first-round matchup to Lehigh's Zach Rey, sending him to the consolation rounds.
Redshirt junior and 125-pounder Brad Pataky started the tournament with two upset wins over No. 9 Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma and No. 8 Matt Steintrager of Central Michigan, but he lost his next two matches.
The unseeded Pataky was one win shy of All-America status.
"I've never had a feeling like this before," Pataky said, "coming so close to something that you prepare for all your life and falling short of it."
Pataky, who wrestled four seeded opponents, said keeping his elbows closer to his body and wrists away were techniques he could have done differently in his technical-fall loss to top-seeded Angel Escobedo of Indiana in the quarterfinals. Pataky's tough draw led him to a 2-2 tournament record.
"Coming away from the tournament, I think I grew mentally as a wrestler," Pataky said. "It will fuel my fire for next year."
