If the Penn State wrestling season is, as Quentin Wright put it, beginning to pick up speed like a snowball rolling downhill, Cael Sanderson and his grapplers can only hope that Sunday’s historic victory at Wisconsin will roll into another historic weekend in seven days. That's when Iowa will invade State College.

Meanwhile, Penn State dominated the Badgers in all facets over the weekend, winning the takedown battle, 31-2; scoring 13 bonus points; and forcing Wisconsin to suffer its first shutout loss since 1958 in a 43-0 rout in front of 701 fans in Madison.

Wisconsin was out three of its starters in Tom Kellihner at 133 pounds, 14th-ranked Ben Jordan at 165 pounds, and Frank Cousins at 174 pounds. The lack of experience showed in the Badgers line-up, as Penn State allowed just two offensive points and trailed in a match just once; that ultimately became a Frank Martellotti major-decision victory over Kellihner’s replacement, Shane McQuade.

The match started at 125 pounds, where Nico Megaludis nearly hit a five-point move to score a technical fall. Since he was unable to finish turning Austin Hietpas, he chose the next-best method and rolled him into a fall at the 6:05 mark of the third period.

After Marellotti’s major, Bryan Pearsall followed up with what would be the closest Wisconsin came to a victory all day. Nonetheless, it became a Lions victory, as a takedown, escape and riding-time point handed Pearsall a 4-2 victory over Tommy Glenn.

With Jordan out of the action, only one match featured a pair of ranked wrestlers, and Frank Molinaro held true to his No. 1 ranking with an outstanding 12-0 major decision over ninth-ranked Cole Schmitt. Molinaro scored an early takedown, and then used a two-point rock followed by a three-point turn to post the final margin of victory. Dylan Alton bested Shawn Perry, 11-4, leading 2-1 at the end of the first period and never trailing.

After the halfway intermission, David Taylor scored Penn State’s second fall of the afternoon, dropping Wisconsin’s Alex Yde in his first match as a Badger; the win came at the 2:28 mark after Taylor had built an 11-4 lead. After Ed Ruth tech falled Scott Liegel, 17-2, 184-pound defending national champion Quentin Wright caught Timmy McCall in a headlock off the third-period whistle and turned him to his back, racking up nearfall points before eventually scoring the fall at the 6:05 mark of the final period.

The bout finished with Morgan McIntosh and Cameron Wade each notching decision victories, McIntosh 7-3 over Jackson Hein and Wade a nail-biting 6-4 decision over Wisconsin sophomore Cole Tobin. Tobin attempted a late double-leg shot to attempt to tie the match, but Wade fought it off until the final horn sounded.

The shutout was the first one for Penn State in a Big 10 dual meet, and the first time Wisconsin had been shut out since Iowa bested the Badgers, 30-0.

Penn State (7-1, 3-1) returns to the mat next Sunday for an already-sold-out dual meet with Iowa, beginning at 2 p.m. at Rec Hall.

Here are match results, courtesy of Penn State Wrestling:

• #3 Penn State 43, Wisconsin 0

125: #10 Nico Megaludis PSU pinned Austin Hietpas UW, WBF (6:05) 6-0

133: Frank Martellotti PSU maj. dec. Shane McQuade UW, 14-6 10-0

141: Bryan Pearsall PSU dec. Thomas Glenn UW, 4-2 13-0

149: #1 Frank Molinaro PSU maj. dec. #9 Cole Schmitt UW, 12-0 17-0

157: #9 Dylan Alton PSU dec. Shawn Perry UW, 11-4 20-0

165: #1 David Taylor PSU pinned Alex Yde UW, WBF (2:28) 26-0

174: #2 Ed Ruth PSU tech fall Scott Liegel UW, 17-2 (TF; 5:37) 31-0

184: #2 Quentin Wright PSU pinned Timmy McCall UW, WBF (6:05) 37-0

197: #12 Morgan McIntosh PSU dec. Jackson Hein UW, 7-3 40-0

285: #6 Cameron Wade PSU dec. Cole Tobin UW, 6-4 43-0

Attendance: 701

Records: #3 Penn State (7-1, 3-1 B1G), Wisconsin (5-5, 0-3 B1G)

Related content

• StateCollege.com's Penn State wrestling page