Penn State's match notes for B1G Championships (Morelli at 165)

[Tim Owen/BWI staff]

PSU releases its match notes for this weekend's Big Ten tourney and it's Geno Morelli who is listed at 165 pounds. Media day later today, but here's the press release, courtesy of SID Pat Donghia\

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 24, 2016 -- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (16-0, 9-0 B1G) will take part in the 2016 Big Ten Wrestling Championships on March 5-6 at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Action on Saturday, March 5, begins with at 11 a.m. Eastern, with a 7 p.m. Eastern session to follow. Sunday’s session begins at 1 p.m. Eastern. Big Ten Pre seeds come out on Monday, Feb. 29, post-press.

The Nittany Lions head to the Big Ten Championships looking for their fifth title in the last six years. Penn State won four Big Ten titles in a row from 2011 through 2014. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s crew is coming off an historic regular season. Penn State went 16-0 overall, 9-0 in Big Ten duals, sharing the conference regular season crown with Iowa. The team won its sixth straight Southern Scuffle title, claimed a share of its third Big Ten Regular Season (dual meet) title and won the 2016 NWCA National Dual Championship with a 29-18 win over Oklahoma State on Sunday, Feb. 21.

Head coach Cael Sanderson’s line-up features a blend of experience and youth. Five returning All-Americans dot the Nittany Lion line-up and four Nittany Lions are ranked No. 1 nationally at their weights. Two of those top-ranked Lions are making their Big Ten Championship debuts, with a total of four Lions wrestling in their first B1G tournaments.

Senior Nico Megaludis will enter his final Big Ten tournament with a 24-2 overall record at 125. Megaludis is a three-time All-American who has a 9-4 all-time mark in the Big Ten tournament. Megaludis is ranked No. 4 by InterMat and No. 4 in the final NCAA Coaches Poll. He has a No. 5 RPI as well. Classmate Jordan Conaway also heads into his final Big Ten tourney. Conaway, also a returning All-American, is 22-3 overall at 133 with a 5-3 mark in Big Ten Championship action. He is ranked No. 5 by InterMat, No. 5 in the Coaches Poll and has a No. 3 RPI. Junior All-American Jimmy Gulibon is 10-8 at 141 and is ranked No. 21 in the final coaches poll. Gulibon enters the Big Ten tournament with a 5-5 all-time record at the event as well.

Sophomore All-American Zain Retherford will carry a 25-0 record at 149 into his second Big Ten Championships. Retherford is ranked No. 1 in the coaches poll, has the No. 1 RPI and ranked No. 1 by InterMat. Red-shirt freshman Jason Nolf carries a 26-0 mark at 157 into his first Big Ten Championship. Nolf is ranked No. 1 by the coaches, No. 1 by InterMat and has the No. 3 RPI. Junior Geno Morelli will head to his first Big Ten Championship with a 17-7 overall record at 165 and the nation’s No. 9 RPI. Red-shirt freshman Bo Nickal heads to his first Big Ten Championship with a 26-1 mark at 174. Nickal is ranked No. 1 in the final coaches ranking, No. 1 by InterMat and has the No. 2 RPI.

Sophomore Matt McCutcheon has a 14-4 mark at 184 and is ranked No. 11 in the final coaches poll and No. 12 by InterMat. McCutcheon has the nation’s No. 12 RPI. Senior Morgan McIntosh is a two-time All-American and heads to Iowa City with a 24-0 record at 197. McIntosh is ranked No. 1 by the nation’s coaches, No. 1 by InterMat and has the top RPI in the country as well. Red shirt freshman Nick Nevills will continue his late-season comeback by making an appearance in his first Big Ten Championship. Nevills is 5-1 at 285 but did not wrestle enough matches to qualify for either a coaches ranking or RPI. Nevills is ranked No. 16 by InterMat.

The Big Ten received 71 total automatic qualifiers to the 2016 NCAA Championships: seven at 125, nine at 133, seven at 141, six at 149, seven at 157, six at 165, nine at 174, seven at 184, six at 197 and seven at 285.

The Nittany Lions head to New York City and one of the world’s most venerable venues for the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The three-day event takes place in Madison Square Garden on March 17-19. Action begins on Thursday, March 17, with session one at 11 a.m. Eastern. The full event airs on the ESPN family of networks.


#1 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (16-0, 9-0 B1G)
WT NAME EL HT/HS REC

125 #4 Nico Megaludis Sr. Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 24-2

9-4 All-Time in B1G Tournament / #4 InterMat / #5 RPI


133 #5 Jordan Conaway Sr. Abbottstown, Pa./New Oxford 22-3

5-3 All-Time in B1G Tournament / #5 InterMat / #3 RPI


141 #21 Jimmy Gulibon Jr. Latrobe, Pa./Derry 10-8

5-5 All-Time in B1G Tournament / NR InterMat / NR RPI


149 #1 Zain Retherford So. Benton, Pa./Benton 25-0

3-1 All-Time in B1G Tournament / #1 InterMat / #1 RPI


157 #1 Jason Nolf Fr. Yatesboro, Pa./Kittanning 26-0

0-0 All-Time in B1G Tournament / #1 InterMat / #3 RPI


165 Geno Morelli Jr. DuBois, Pa./DuBois 17-7

0-0 All-Time in B1G Tournament / NR InterMat / #9 RPI


174 #1 Bo Nickal Fr. Allen, Texas/Allen 26-1

0-0 All-Time in B1G Tournament / #1 InterMat / #2 RPI


184 #11 Matt McCutcheon So. Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area 14-4

3-1 All-Time in B1G Tournament / #7 InterMat / #12 RPI


197 #1 Morgan McIntosh Sr. Santa Ana, Calif./Calvary Chapel 24-0

7-3 All-Time in B1G Tournament / #1 InterMat / #1 RPI

2015 Big Ten Champion (197)


285 Nick Nevills Fr. Clovis, Calif./Clovis 5-1

0-0 All-Time in B1G Tournament / #16 InterMat / NR RPI


All Individual Rankings are Coaches Poll as of 2/25/16

Team ranking is InterMat Tournament Power Index (TPI) as of 2/23/16

InterMat ranking listed is final regular season as of 2/23/16

 

[Hartzie]

Go Geno! Make us fellow DuBois Beavers proud!

 

[dunkej01]

If Gino does amazing things similar or in line with English will that get Cael etal any further coaching cred?

 

[Tom McAndrew]

The PDF version of the Match Notes is always loaded with a lot more data than is the press release. You can access the PDF version of the Match Notes at THIS LINK.

enjoy

 

[PSUAllTheWay]

If Gino does amazing things similar or in line with English will that get Cael etal any further coaching cred?

I'd LOVE to see it but think this is an unrealistic expectation. Rasheed's problem in a tournament setting is that he can't go a full seven minutes in one match much less do it many times in a weekend. Gino's problem is that every bout is decided in the last 30 seconds and that's not a recipe for stringing together wins either unless your name is Tsirtsis circa 2014.

I agree, however, that Gino has a better shot than Rasheed at this point so let's give it whirl and see how far is can roll!

 

[nitlion6]

Just my guess. This staff has a pretty decent track record of their kids showing up in the post season ready to wrestle.
I bet Morelli wrestles to win and finishes above his seed. The kid is ready to do some damage.
Rooting really freaking hard for Pete's boy!!!

 

[Hartzie]

I will second your sentiment, I have never met Geno, but I knew Pete, who was a top notch guy.

Yes he was. And a really good wrestler. One class behind me at DAHS.

 

[RoarLions1]

The coaches take these decisions very seriously. I'd go as far as saying it's the toughest conversation they can have with a wrestler...to tell him they've decided on "the other guy".

Can you imagine, sitting in a room with an 18-22 year old, who's done everything possible to win the spot, and for whatever reason, it wasn't meant to be. The best they can hope for at that point, is their teammate kicking some butt in the tournaments, since the "iron sharpens iron" adage is so very true in wrestling, and they were part of their teammate's development.

Cael does have a great track record, but these are tough calls by one tough, yet gentle hombre.

 

[Hartzie]

Small world, I'm from St. Marys and attended several wrestling camps, at Clarion, when Pete and his brother Denny were there.

Flying Dutchmen!. Didn't Wayne Fordoski from DuBois coach there for awhile?