If the Penn State wrestling team keeps this up, coach Cael Sanderson is going to have to build a new trophy case dedicated to Southern Scuffle championship hardware.
As the day began Friday, 27 of the 31 teams in the event hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga had been forced to pencil in winning the coveted title on their 2016 list of resolutions.
That left Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Missouri to chase the Nittany Lions, who were seeking their fifth consecutive Scuffle championship. Then Nebraska dropped by the wayside after the quarterfinals and it appeared that Oklahoma State had fallen after the semis, leaving only Missouri to flirt with the reigning NCAA champions.
The Tigers, who last won this championship in 2006, moved in but then out of the top spot. Yet by the start of the medal rounds, Penn State’s victory train had left the station much like the celebrated Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
“I don’t think we were wrestling that bad. Penn State was just scoring,” Missouri coach Brian Smith said. “Every time I looked up they were getting pins or bonus points. They’re tough.”
Heading into the medals rounds — and Penn State had 12 wrestlers who would stand on the eight-man platform by night’s end — the Nittany Lions had scored 13 pins, three technical falls, 12 major decisions and four six-point wins by forfeit.
Penn State finished with 165 points. Missouri had 150, Oklahoma State 135.5, and Nebraska 116.5, and Michigan rounded out the top five with 88.5 points.
UTC was 14th with 43.5 points and two medalists, Sean Boyle third at 125 pounds and Nick Soto seventh at 133.
“I knew that in order to win we’ve had to (place) 10 and we only (placed) seven,” Smith said. “We put four in the finals, but this tournament is like a mini-national. I’m pleased with the way this team is growing up and progressing.”
The Nittany Lions won the tournament without a single champion.
“You’re always full of emotion right after a tournament, so it’s tough to say,” PSU associate head coach Cody Sanderson replied when asked for an initial assessment. “I do know we have to make some improvements. We have to get in better shape and our guys have to have more of a sense of urgency if we’re going to do anything down the road at the national tournament. I thought we had some good individual performances, but we have work to do.”
Individual champions were Missouri’s Alan Waters (125), Lavion Mayes (141) and J’Den Cox (197); Oklahoma State’s Joshua Kindig (149), Alex Dieringer (165) and Austin Marsden (285); Nebraska’s James Green (157) and Robert Kokesh (174); Iowa State’s Earl Hall (133); and Cornell’s Gabe Dean (184). Dean was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler.
UTC’s Boyle wrestled his last two matches with stitches in both chin and eyebrow, and his third place was the best Scuffle finish for a Moc since Soto was second in 2012. Soto also has a fourth among his three Scuffle medals.
“Those guys wrestled well, but as a team we had a lot of close matches and we have to find a win to them,” Mocs coach Heath Eslinger said. “We’re leaving here injury free for the most part and that’s always a good thing, plus we had another good, competitive tournament.”
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.