Penn State returns to the NCAA Wrestling Championships with a target on its back as the defending national champion. To most, that would make it the favorite.
But head coach Cael Sanderson, ever willing to share the pre-tournament top spot, gave Iowa the pre-tournament top billing for the 82nd NCAA national tournament, slated to kick off Thursday morning in St. Louis.
‘I think if everyone finishes exactly how they’re seeded, Iowa wins the national championship,’ Sanderson said during Monday’s media availability.
‘So as far as seeds go, Iowa will be the team to beat.’
The Nittany Lions will send nine wrestlers to St. Louis – the most since 1999 – for the three-day tournament at the Scottrade Center, including three No. 1 seeds, two No. 6 seeds, a No. 7 seed and No. 10 seed, and three unseeded wrestlers. Frank Molinaro, David Taylor and Ed Ruth drew the top spots in their respective weight class, and for Molinaro, it will be his final go-around at the collegiate level.
‘I know this is it for me, and I’m just going to leave it on the mat,’ Molinaro said. The undefeated senior didn’t surrender a point at the Big Ten tournament, putting him in prime shape for the national tournament.
But Molinaro knows all too well that a perfect Big Ten tournament does not equal a national title, as he was not scored upon in the 2011 Big Ten tournament, as well, and blazed through the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament before dropping the national title match. That elusive national title gives him an extra sense of motivation.
‘I’ve been using that (the finals loss) for motivation all season long, and it made me work harder on bottom and top and all the positions.’
The key for the Nittany Lions to repeat as champs will again be to score plenty of bonus points, and they will certainly have to match or succeed the 17 bonus points they scored at this year’s Big Ten tournament to take the gold home again. The fate of Penn States’ contingent of first-time national wrestlers – Nico Megaludis, Frank Martellotti, Dylan Alton and Morgan McIntosh – will go a long way in determining Penn State’s position in the final standings.
‘It’s a national tournament, but to them, the state tournament is the national tournament to them when they are in high school, so as far as importance is concerned, they know what to expect,’ Sanderson said of his young group of wrestlers.
The third-year coach said experience brings confidence, and that confidence has certainly spread to the group he will bring to St. Louis on Thursday. The opening round is sure to bring nerves, as it always does. For now, though, the calm mindset of Taylor seems to be the one all nine wrestlers are taking into the first session of the tournament.
‘All I can do is do what I’ve been doing my whole life and all season, and that’s go out and shake hands and wrestle hard for seven minutes,’ Taylor said. ‘At some point of the match, I’m going to be able to score, and I’m going to continue to keep scoring.’
Notes:
- Dylan Alton sported a white bandage around his head, but the 157-pound redshirt freshman said there was no need for alarm, and that it was just precautionary to keep a cut on his head from becoming infected.
- The team left for St. Louis on Tuesday afternoon and will work out in St. Louis before the tournament begins.
- Ed Ruth sported a new hair color for the national tournament, this time a half natural black, half green look.
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