Defending champion Penn State has lead after Day 1

Discussion

March 15, 2012

Defending champion Penn State has lead after Day 1

Anonymous Associated Press Thu Mar 15, 2012, 11:55 PM EDT

ST. LOUIS — Defending champion Penn State got two pins each from top seeds David Taylor and Ed Ruth and had the lead over Minnesota after the first two rounds of the NCAA wrestling tournament on Thursday night.

Penn State advanced seven of its nine entrants to the quarterfinals of the championship bracket, including a trio of unbeaten No. 1 seeds. Combined, the 157-pound Taylor, 174-pound Ruth and 149-pound Frank Molinaro, who survived a 6-5 squeaker over Scott Sakaguchi of Oregon State, are 90-0.

Penn State had 38 1/2 points, followed by Minnesota with 33, Oklahoma State with 28 1/2, Cornell with 27 1/2 and Iowa, in fifth with 26 points, has championship bracket qualifiers.

Molinaro and Taylor were national runner-ups last year, Taylor at 157 pounds, and Ruth was third.

“It was a good day,” coach Cael Sanderson said. “You always want more, but the guys wrestled well. Tomorrow’s when you start scoring points, so we need to be ready and just have some fun tomorrow and get after it.”

Minnesota qualified eight for the quarterfinals, led by a pair of No. 2 seeds in Zachary Sanders at 125 and Anthony Nelson at 285. Kevin Steinhaus has a 21-match win streak at 184. Penn State and Minnesota finished 1-2 at the Big Ten meet on March 4.

“Great job, great day,” coach J Robinson said. “The guys are wrestling with a lot of intensity, and the best part is they’re feeding off one another.”

Cornell has a pair of top seeds remaining, Kyle Dake at 157 and Cam Simaz at 197. Dake, a junior seeking his third title in three weight classes, had a pair of pins in just 2:43.

Top-seeded heavyweight Ryan Flores of American had three pins on the first day in a combined 12:20.

Dake’s combined time was fastest among six wrestlers with two pins, including three at 133 pounds — Bernard Futreel of Illinois, Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State and Logan Steiber of Ohio State.

Penn State’s Ruth sported a novel look with half his hair dyed green and the other half black. The look has morphed over about a month beginning at teal, with colors bleeding into his helmet.

“When you come to a tournament like this, the main thing coach says is to go out and have fun. Not worry about stuff,” Ruth said. “Some of our guys have had tough matches, but they’re still pulling off the wins.”

Missouri 184-pounder Mike Larson has a Mohawk, and coach Brian Smith promised after the Tigers won the Big 12 that Larson can give him a Mohawk, too.

Text Only

National Sports

NBA PLAYOFFS: LeBron saves Heat at buzzer
LeBron James caught the inbounds pass, changed direction and immediately attacked the rim.
There was no one in his way.
There was no stopping him, either.
James made a layup as time expired in overtime, capping a 30-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist effort as the Miami Heat found a way to outlast the Indiana Pacers 103-102 in a wildly back-and-forth Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night. There were 18 ties and 17 lead changes, the last two of those coming in the final 2.2 seconds.

May 23, 2013
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Cabrera, Tigers down Indians 11-7 on rainy night
Justin Verlander overcame a rocky start and rain delay to get his fifth win and Miguel Cabrera hit another homer as the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 11-7 on Wednesday night, sweeping the two-game series between the AL Central’s top teams.

May 23, 2013
Net gain: Craig Anderson gives Senators a chance
Craig Anderson has his game back, and just in time to give the Senators a chance.

May 21, 2013
NHL: Penguins top Senators 4-1 to take series opener
Paul Martin and Chris Kunitz scored power-play goals and Pascal Dupuis added his sixth goal of the playoffs and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday.

May 15, 2013
Penguins turning to backup Vokoun for Game 5
Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma insists he still believes in Marc-Andre Fleury, that the issues for the reeling Penguins go far beyond the struggles of their Stanley Cup-winning goaltender.

May 9, 2013
Kunitz’s second PP goal gives Pens OT win
The Pittsburgh Penguins bounced back from their home disappointment and dished out their fair share to the suddenly shocked New York Islanders.

May 6, 2013
Orb comes from behind to win Kentucky Derby
Way back in the pack heading into the final turn, Orb was calm even if his jockey wasn’t.

May 5, 2013
Faried leads Nuggets past Warriors 107-100
Kenneth Faried brought the energy and the Denver Nuggets rediscovered their toughness in time to stave off elimination Tuesday night with a 107-100 win over the Golden State Warriors.

May 1, 2013
Heat take off late, top Bucks 98-86 for 2-0 lead
Everyone in the Miami huddle was bracing for a grind to the finish. On the other end, the sense around the Milwaukee bench was that an upset was there for the taking.

April 24, 2013
Kenseth holds off Kahne to win at Kansas Speedway
Matt Kenseth knew that he had a front-running car Sunday.
It was simply a matter of getting there.

April 22, 2013
More National Sports Headlines

National Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Defending champion Penn State has lead after Day 1

Site Map

Contact Us