Penn State Wrestling: Team Looks to Bounce Back at Nittany Lion Open

As Penn State wrestlers turn from their loss at Minnesota to the Nittany Lion Open, 174-pounder Ed Ruth has one goal in mind: to win.

Ruth, a sophomore, wasn’t able to seal a victory at last year’s open. The 2011 open is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Sunday in Rec Hall.

‘There are a lot of strong wrestlers in my weight class, and I just want to win it this year,’ Ruth said.

Strong brackets will be par for the course for all the Nittany Lions, who, after a brief break on Thanksgiving, have been in the room for a week since their loss to Minnesota, drilling on the mat. Head Coach Cael Sanderson feels they need to improve, he said.

“We did a ton of drill work on the mat, and that’s not always the most fun for the guys. But that’s what we need to work on, so that’s what we did,” Sanderson said before his team began its Thursday practice.

Sophomore David Taylor looks to have the toughest bracket at 165 pounds. That bracket includes American’s Steve Fittery — whom Taylor beat at nationals a year ago — and NCAA qualifiers Eren Civan of Columbia and Peter Yates of Virginia Tech, among others. But that excites Taylor, the Penn Stater said.

“I need to wrestle the best to be the best, so to get back on the mat against these guys is what I need,” he said.

Right now, 32 Nittany Lions are set to wrestle in the open. Sanderson also expects embattled 133-pounder Frank Martelloti, who has not wrestled with the team since the fall 2010 semester, to wrestle unattached this weekend.

“We will have as many guys as we can — and have healthy — in there this weekend. And it’s a good time to take a look at some of our back-up guys and guys that do not get to wrestle in the dual meets,” Sanderson said.

Notes

Sanderson hinted that some weight classes may be bumped around, and 133 and 141 would be the most likely candidates for change. Michael Waters is a potential 133-pound candidate to replace Derek Reber, and Bryan Pearsall is still waiting in the wings at 141 if Sam Sherlock is replaced.

Sanderson confirmed that Reber suffered a high ankle sprain, but that he is fine and should be able to wrestle this weekend. Or, at the very least, Reber will be ready to go when Penn State wrestles at Lehigh on Dec. 9, Sanderson said.

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