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Megaludis, Taylor and Ruth Claim 2013 Asics University National Championships
UNIVERSITY
PARK, Pa. - A strong contingent of Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers
competed in the 2013 Asics Freestyle University Nationals, held this
weekend at the University of Akron. Four of Penn State's 2013 NCAA
finalists placed at the event with three coming home as 2013 University
Nationals freestyle champions.
Sophomore Nico Megaludis
(Murrysville, Pa.) blazed through the 55 kg weight class, going 5-0
with three technical falls to claim the title, including a 4-0 shutout
over top seeded Zach Sanders, former Minnesota Golden Gopher
All-American. Junior David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio) was untouchable at
74 kg, going 7-0 with four tech falls and three pins to win the
championship. He pinned Wolfpack Wrestling's Quinton Godley in the
finals.
Junior Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) was dominating at 84
kg, posting a 6-0 mark to win the championship. Ruth had four tech
falls in the tournament, including a devastating 10-0 tech fall over
Cam Simaz of Cornell's Finger Lakes Wrestling Club in the finals.
Sophomore Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) came back from a third
round upset loss to reel off six more wins, going 8-1 overall to take
third at 79 kg. Brown had four tech falls and two pins, including a
tech fall over Tyler Wilps in the third place match.
Four other
Nittany Lions competed on day two of the event, capping off solid
tournaments in the consolation bracket at the event. True freshman
Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.) went 3-2 at 60 kg while red-shirt freshman
Mike Waters (Advance, N.C.) was 4-2 at 63 kg. True freshman Zack Beitz
(Mifflintown, Pa.) went 4-2 at 66 kg and junior James Vollrath
(Richboro, Pa.) went 3-2 at 74 kg, advancing to the quarterfinals
before dropping two straight.
A
total of 19 Nittany Lions competed at the two-day event, with a number
of young Nittany Lions turning in strong performances. In addition to
the eight grapplers above who wrestled into day two, 11 other Lions
took part in the national championship event.
At 60 kg, sophomore
Frank Martellotti (Pittsburgh, Pa.) went 3-2 and red-shirt freshman
Jordan Conaway (Abbottstown, Pa.) went 2-2. Freshman Caleb Livingston
(Drexel Hill, Pa.) went 1-2 at 70 kg and red-shirt freshman Rex Lutz
(Easton, Pa.) went 3-2 at 74 kg. Junior Andrew Church (Erie, Pa.) went
2-2 at 79 kg and red-shirt freshman James Frascella (Carmel, Ind.) went
1-2 at the same weight.
True freshman Wes Phipps (Grove City,
Pa.) and red-shirt freshman Scott Syrek (Chester Springs, Pa.) each
went 1-2 at 84 kg while classmate Dylan Dailey (Danville, Pa.) also
competed at that weight. Red-shirt freshman Josh Rogers (Pottstown,
Pa.) wrestled at 96 kg while sophomore Nick Ruggear (Oxford, Pa.)
competed at 120 kg.
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