No. 1 Penn State Leading the Field after Day One of 2016 Southern Scuffle

Nittany Lions send ten into tomorrow’s quarterfinals

CHATANOOGA, Tenn.; January 1, 2016 – No. 1 Penn State (6-0, 1-0 B1G) is leading the field after

day one of the 2016 Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Nittany Lions, under the guidance of head coach Cael Sanderson, are looking to

claim their sixth straight Southern Scuffle title. Penn State owns a slim three point lead over second place Oklahoma State at the event’s midway point.

Penn State advanced ten wrestlers into tomorrow morning’s quarterfinals after a solid first round that saw the team advance 12 of its 16 wrestlers into

the third round. Penn State then went 10-2 in the third round to move ten grapplers into the quarters. Penn State sits in first place with 47.5 points while

Oklahoma State is a close second with 44.5.

Penn State’s first quarterfinalist was senior Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.) at 125. Megaludis, the top seed and ranked No. 4 nationally, was the victim

of a bracketing error, receiving two byes (instead of a bye and a forfeit win) when his first opponent did not make weight and the tournament directors

chose not to redraw the bracket after weigh-ins. The decision cost Megaludis a victory and critical team bonus points and kept the senior inactive for the

entire morning session. The issue is being clarified and could change overnight. The Lion senior’s third round win; a 14-5 major over Mitch Rogaliner of

Michigan State, was the 98th of his career and has him in tomorrow morning’s quarterfinals.

Senior All-American Jordan Conaway (Abbottstown, Pa.), ranked No. 6 at 133 and the second-seed, went 2-0 on the day, including a tech fall and a 6-1

win over Gardner-Webb’s Tyler Ziegler to advance to the quarterfinals. Sophomore Kade Moss (South Jordan, Utah) went 3-0 on day one, including a first

round pin. He posted a thrilling 4-3 (tb) win over Campbell’s Lucas Stewart at 141, riding him out to claim the tie-breaker victory and move into the quarterfinals.

Sophomore All-American Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), the top seed at 149 and ranked No. 1 nationally, rolled to two victories to move to the quarterfinals.

Retherford got a pin and a technical fall to roll into the quarters and pick up big team bonus points along the way.

Freshman Jason Nolf (Yatesboro, Pa.), ranked No. 3 at 157 and the tournament’s top seed, rolled to two technical falls by a combined 48-18 score to move

into tomorrow’s quarterfinals. Nolf’s second tech fall was a 23-8 win over Cornell’s Chris Dowdy. Junior Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) also advanced to the

quarters at 157, going 3-0 on day one, including a technical fall in the opening round.

Junior Geno Morelli (DuBois, Pa.), ranked No. 18 at 165, went 2-0 to advance to the quarters at 165. Morelli posted a 20-5 tech fall in his Scuffle opener and

then escaped with a hard-fought 6-5 (tb) win over Appalachian State’s Forest Przybysz to advance to the quarterfinals. Red-shirt freshman Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas),

ranked No. 5 at 174, rolled to a 3-0 mark with two tech falls and a major, advancing to the quarterfinals by a combined score of 53-9.

Sophomore Matt McCutcheon (Apollo, Pa.), ranked No. 13 at 184, went 2-0 with a pin to move to the quarterfinals. McCutcheon posted a hard-fought 5-4 win

over North Carolina’s Michael Macchiavello in his second bout, avenging his only loss of the year (suffered at the Nittany Lion Open in December). Senior

All-American Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.), the top seed and ranked No. 1 at 197, went 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals as well. McIntosh notched

a technical fall and a major in his two Scuffle bouts.

Red-shirt freshman Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.) got a pin in his first Scuffle bout of the day and the lost a hard-fought 5-3 decision to Michigan’s Logan Massa

in his next bout. The 1-1 day has Rasheed in consolation round four tomorrow. Sophomore Garett Hammond (Chambersburg, Pa.) went 1-1 on day one, including

a major. A 7-4 loss in the second round has Hammond in the fourth round of consolation action tomorrow.

Penn State suffered a major upset loss in the second round at 141 where junior All-American Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), ranked No. 6, lost his opening match 4-3

to Lehigh’s Cortland Schuyler. Gulibon rebounded to beat Appalachian State’s Payton Shuford but was then upset again in the third round of consolation action, 6-3 by

Michigan’s Zac Hall. Gulibon went 1-2 at the Scuffle and bowed out on day one. True freshman Gary Dinmore (Skillman, N.J.), wrestling unattached at 149, won his first

round bout (a 10-1 major over Chattanooga’s Roman Boylan) then lost in the second round. He opened consolation action by majoring Michigan State’s Kaelen Richards.

He was leading his third round conso bout over Army’s Mark Marchetti before having to take an injury default and bowing out of the tournament with a 2-2 record

(including two majors).

True freshman Jan Johnson (Mohnton, Pa.) got a first round bye and then missed on a last second takedown attempt to drop a 3-2 second round decision to Cornell’s

McZiggy Richards. Johnson then dropped a 5-3 decision to Central Michigan’s Adam Robinson to bow out of the tournament with a 0-2 mark. Red-shirt Kenny

Yanovich (Effort, Pa.) won his first round match up before losing in the second round. He closed out day one with a loss in his first consolation bout and ended his

tournament with a 1-2 mark.

Penn State went 28-10 one with a whopping 19 wins for bonus points. Sanderson’s aggressive Lions notched seven majors, eight technical falls and four pins during

the first day of action in McKenzie Arena.

Day two of the Scuffle begins tomorrow, January 2, at 9 a.m. back in McKenzie Arena. Penn State’s next home dual is on Friday, Jan. 15, when it hosts Nebraska

at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall. With the remaining Rec Hall duals already at seated capacity, a limited number of Standing Room Only tickets (SROs) can be purchased for each

of those duals as well. Rec Hall SROs may only be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY and are $15 per person. A few limited tickets remain for the second BJC Dual,

the Feb. 5 date against Ohio State. Fans can purchase those tickets by calling 1-800-NITTANY as well. BJC Dual tickets are $16 for adults and $8 for students.

Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling’s Facebook page at

www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The 2015-16 Penn State wrestling season is presented by

The Family Clothesline. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.

2016 Southern Scuffle – Day One Team Standings (Top Four as of 8:05 p.m., 1/1/16):
January 1, 2016 – McKenzie Arena – Chattanooga, Tenn.

1: PENN STATE – 47.5
2: Oklahoma State – 44.5
3: Cornell – 38.5
4: Lehigh – 36.5

Attendance: 2,670

Weight-by-weight agate (rankings listed are Intermat 12/22/15)
* indicates unattached wrestler, not eligible for team scoring

Thanks to:
Patrick Donghia
Assistant Director, Strategic Communications