Long, Ruth Finish Third; lead Lions to team title

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Penn State’s Ed Ruth, in a 24-hour period, went from wounded warrior to Nittany Lion hero as the 174-pound freshman defeated Cornell’s Mack Lewnes, 6-2,  for third place and clinch the school’s first NCAA championship in 57 years at Wells Fargo Center.

The individual finals will begin Saturday night at 7:30 EDT.

Ruth, who was forced to injury default in his quarterfinal match to Stanford’s Nick Amuchastegui on Friday afternoon, was one of two Lion wrestlers to come back and finish third.

The other was 133-pound Andrew Long who pinned Cornell’s Mike Grey in a consolation semifinal, then rallied to edge Central Michigan’s Scotti Sentes in the third-place bout.

Heading into Saturday night’s finals, where Penn State will have three wrestlers — Frank Molinaro (149), David Taylor (157) and Quentin Wright (184) — battling for individual championships, the Nittany Lions have scored 103.5 points.

The only team battle left appears to be for second place where Cornell leads No. 3 Iowa by a 89.5-86.5 point margin. Both teams will each have one wrestler — Iowa’s Matt McDonough (125) and Cornell’s Kyle Dake (149) — in the finals. Iowa lost two team points for unsportsmanlike conduct after 141-pound Montell Marion lost a third-place match to Minnesota’s Mike Thorn.

Both teams will leave Philadelphia with five All-Americans, including a third-place finisher for both squads: Cornell’s 197-pound Cam Simaz and Iowa’s Grant Gambrall at 184 pounds.

Otherwise, Oklahoma State leads American University 66.5-65 for fourth place. The Cowboys, who will end with three All-American (including fifth-place finisher Jamal Parks at 149), have two finalists in 133-pound Jordan Oliver and 197-pound Clayton Foster. American University features one finalist: heavyweight Ryan Flores.

All-American Match Highlights

125 pounds

Third Place — Brandon Precin (Northwestern) dec. Ben Kjar (Utah Valley) 5-0

The Wildcat waited until the end of first and second periods — scoring takedowns with 21 and 8 seconds left, respectively — to earn his second third place finish in his career.

Fifth Place — Zach Sanders (Minnesota) dec. Ryan Mango (Stanford), 6-2

The Gopher ended a scoreless first period by scoring two takedowns — one each in the second and third periods — and added a minute of riding time.

Seventh Place — Josh Patterson (Oklahoma) dec. James Nicholson (Old Dominion), 3-2

Patterson rode Nicholson the entire third period for a riding time point that determined the match. Nicholson scored the only takedown, 44 seconds left in the first, before giving up two escapes.

133 pounds

Third Place — #3 Andrew Long (Penn State) dec. #11 Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan), 7-5

Long once again had to rally to a victory after Sentes scored two takedowns in the first period to lead 4-1. After the Lion scored his first takedown with 33 seconds in the second to pull within 5-4, he chose neutral and scored another takedown, then added a 1:42 riding time advantage for the final margin.

Fifth Place — #4 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) dec. #8 Mark Grey (Cornell), 7-2

The Badger scored two of his three takedowns in the first period and rode Grey the entire second period for a final 2:53 riding time advantage.

Seventh Place — #5 Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra) dec. #7 B.J. Futrell (Illinois), 9-6

The Pride senior turned his first of two takedowns into a three-point tilt, then added another takedown in the final period to lead 7-0. The Illini finally got on the board 1:30 in the match when that takedown also resulted in back points to help him pull within 7-5. An escape and a 3:44 riding time advantage gave Ruggirello his final two points.

141 pounds

Third Place — #2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota) dec. #5 Montell Marion (Iowa), 4-3

The Gopher scored the final takedown with two seconds left for the victory after it appeared that Marion would win on riding time (1:08). Iowa lost two penalty point for unsportsmanlike conduct after the match.

Fifth Place — #4 James Kennedy (Illinois) major dec. #10 Todd Schavrien (Missouri), 11-1

Kennedy’s first takedown also put the Tiger on his back for 5-0 lead, then added two more takedowns and 1:37 riding time advantage  for the final win of his career.

Seventh Place — #8 Zach Bailey (Oklahoma) dec. #12 Zach Kemmerer (Penn), 5-2

The Sooner scored both takedowns in the first period, then added a 2:28 riding time advantage.

149 pounds

Third Place  — #6 Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) dec. #8 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American U.), 3-0

The Bronco scored his points on an escape and two penalty points against Sanjaa (one for grabbling the headgear and the other for stalling).

Fifth Place — #5 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) dec. #11 Andrew Nadhir (Northwestern), 6-2

The Cowboy scored both takedowns in the first period, then rode Nadhir long enough for a 2:30 advantage.

Seventh Place — #3 Kevin LeValley (Bucknell) dec. Derek Valenti (Virginia), 5-4

LeValley ended his career on a positive note in the final period when a tight waist tilt helped him build a 3-0 lead then used 1:28 riding time advantage to offset a late reversal and takedown by the Cavalier.

157 pounds

Third Place — #2 Steve Fittery (American) major dec. Derek St. John (Iowa), 13-1

The Eagle scored four takedowns against the Hawkeyes, including two in the third period, but it was a strong half that led to a three-point nearfall and 5-0 lead in the first period.

Fifth Place — #1 Adam Hall (Boise State) dec. #8 Jason Welch (Northwestern), 5-1

The two men spent much of the match in a scramble, including one that resulted in a penalty point against Welch for trying to kick himself lose. Hall ended any doubt with a third-period takedown.

Seventh Place — #7 Bryce Saddoris (Navy) dec. #11 Walter Peppelman (Harvard), 4-3 tb

Just when it appeared that Peppelman would win the tiebreaker on an escape, Saddoris responded with a takedown with two seconds remaining.

165 pounds

Third Place — #2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) dec. #5 Colt Sponseller (Ohio State), 6-4

A single and inside single in the second period helped the Badger take a 5-1 lead, the held off the Buckeye who scored a takedown with 16 seconds gone in the final period.

Fifth Place — #7 Shane Onufer (Wyoming) dec. #4 Josh Asper (Maryland), 5-4

The Cowboy scored the deciding takedown with 20 seconds left after Asper had built up over a minute of riding time with a first-period takedown.

Seventh Place — Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) dec. Paul Gillespie (Hofstra), 3-0

The MountainHawk scored his only takedown on an inside trip with 58 seconds left in the first period.

174 pounds

Third Place — #2 Ed Ruth (Penn State) dec. #3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell), 6-2

Ruth scored on a snapdown with 1:49 left in the first and a double with 1:21 left in the second, then added a 3:18 riding time advantage.

Fifth Place — #4 Colby Covington (Oregon State) dec. #5 Chris Henrich (Virginia), 3-2

A third-period takedown provided the winning margin for the Beaver after the Cavalier had over a minute of riding time after two periods.

Seventh Place — #8 Mike Letts (Maryland) dec. #6 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan), 7-2

A pair of takedowns — one each in the first and second periods — and 2:45 of riding time led to the victory.

184 pounds

Third Place — #12 Grant Gambrall (Iowa) dec. #3 Steve Bosak (Cornell), 6-3

The Hawkeye’s only takedown with 28 second left in the second period also resulted in three nearfall points after Bosak led 2-0 in the first frame with a takedown.

Fifth Place — #1 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) won by forfeit over #5 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming)

The Cowboy failed to make weight in Saturday’s weigh-ins.

Seventh Place — #4 Travis Rutt (Wisconsin) dec. #8 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota), 4-2

The Badger scored the match’s only takedown in the first period.

197 pounds

Third Place — #1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) dec. #3 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin), 5-2

Trailing 1-0 after two periods, Simaz scored a reversal and takedown (with 23 seconds left) before adding a 2:11 riding time advantage.

Fifth Place — #5 Luke Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. #12 Zach Giesen (Stanford), 6-3

The Hawkeye preserved the victory when he scored a takedown in the final seconds after the Cardinal got behind Lofthouse seconds earlier.

Seventh Place — #9 Sonny Yohn (Minnesota) dec. #8 Matt Powless (Indiana)

A third-period takedown gave the Gopher a 4-1 lead before adding a 2:30 riding time advantage.

Heavyweight

Third Place — #5 Dom Bradley (Missouri) dec. #2 Jarod Trice (Central Michigan), 3-2

The Tiger scored the lone takedown on the edge of the mat with 1:41 left in the first, then overcame a third-period stalling call for the victory.

Fifth Place — Ricardo Acala (Indiana) dec. Spencer Myers (Maryland), 5-4

The Hoosier used a low single to throw the Terp to his back with 1:22 left in the bout to build a 5-2 lead and offset a 1:21 riding time advantage for

Seventh Place — #8 Anthony Nelson (Minnesota) pinned Levi Cooper (Arizona State), 2:37

The Gopher trailed the Sun Devil 2-0 before he reversed then flattened Cooper with 23 seconds left in the first.

Session V Team Standings

Session V Brackets