Thin Lineup Gives Penn State Dual Win
By Tim Goodenow, WVU Sports Information Office
January 9, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The 12th-ranked West Virginia University wrestling team dropped a non-league dual meet, 34-12, to 16th-ranked Penn State on Sunday afternoon at Rec Hall.
West Virginia spotted the Nittany Lions 18 team points off three forfeits on Sunday. A banged-up Mountaineer squad did not field wrestlers at heavyweight, 197 and 141 pounds.
Wrestling in his first dual meet of his collegiate career, Shawn Cordell dropped a 14-4 major decision to 15th-ranked Adam Smith. Trailing 5-3 after two periods, the veteran Smith erupted for six third period points to post a 14-4 score with riding time.
West Virginia got on the scoreboard with an exciting match at 133 pounds. Junior Seth Lisa trailed 2-1 entering the second period against Bryan Heller. Lisa, ranked 19th in the country, tallied two reversals and two back points to lead 7-5. Two more takedowns in the final two minutes secured the 12-8 victory.
After a forfeit at 141 pounds, Teddy Adams wrestled up a weight-class against Jack Decker. The Nittany Lion freshman made quick work of his weight advantage pinning Adams at 2:54 to give Penn State a 16-3 team lead.
Two ranked grapplers met at 157 pounds with seventh-ranked Matt Lebe facing 11th-ranked Nate Galloway. Junior Lebe took an early 2-0 advantage off a double-leg takedown midway through the first period. Both wrestlers traded escapes to begin the second and third periods to make the score 3-2 in favor of Lebe. Galloway hit the go ahead takedown on the edge of the mat with 39 seconds remaining and earned a three-point near fall on the restart for the win.
Sophomore Zac Fryling was impressive notching his second fall of the season at 165 pounds. Fryling overpowered Steven Troup in just 25 seconds for a fall that cut the team lead to 19-9.
At 174 pounds, Eric Mullen also bumped up a weight-class to battle James Yonushonis. The two wrestled to a scoreless first and second period. In the final period, Yonushonis took control with three takedowns in posting an 8-3 deicison.
In the contest’s final match, two-time NCAA champion Greg Jones posted an impressive 6-2 decision over sixth-seeded Eric Bradley. No. 1 ranked Jones hit a double-leg takedown just 10 seconds in for a 2-0 lead. The senior Mountaineer tallied another takedown in the second for a 4-2 lead after two periods. Jones escaped to open the final period and a point was awarded for stalling to push the score to 6-2 where the bout ended.
Penn State picked up the final two victories with West Virginia forfeits at heavyweight and 197 pounds.
West Virginia hopes to get healthy in time for the Eastern Wrestling League opener at Bloomsburg on January 15, for a 6:30 p.m. contest.
No. 16 Penn State 34 (3-2, 0-0 Big Ten)
No. 12 West Virginia 12 (0-2, 0-0 EWL)
125: #15 Adam Smith (PSU) MAJOR Shawn Cordell (WVU), 14-4
133: #19 Seth Lisa (WVU) DEC Bryan Heller (PSU), 12-8
141: #18 DeWitt Driscoll (PSU) via FOR
149: Jack Decker (PSU) FALL Teddy Adams (WVU), 2:54
157: #11 Nate Galloway (PSU) DEC #7 Matt Lebe (WVU), 7-3
165: Zac Fryling (WVU) FALL Steve Troup (PSU), 0:25
174: James Yonushonis (PSU) DEC Eric Mullen (WVU), 8-3
184: #1 Greg Jones (WVU) DEC #6 Eric Bradley (PSU), 6-2
197: Joel Edwards (PSU) via FOR
285: Josh Walker (PSU) via FOR
Attendance: 2,310
Official: Jim Sterner
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