Penn State wrestlers pull away from Minnesota after Southern Scuffle semifinals

Penn State has placed six wrestlers in Thursday night’s Southern Scuffle finals and, on the heels of a major Minnesota collapse, more than likely will win its fourth straight team title in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Nittany Lions went 6 for 7 in Thursday afternoon’s session and rang up 170 points to pull away from the Gophers. Minnesota suffered through a 3 for 8 round that allowed Oklahoma State to challenge for second place in the team standings.

Penn State wrestlers Nico Megaludis (125), Jimmy Gulibon (133) and Zain Retherford (141) earned finals berths and were followed by teammates David Taylor (165), Matt Brown (174) and Ed Ruth (184).

Taylor pinned Zach Toal of Missouri at the 5-minute mark while Brown won another Penn State-Minnesota matchup by defeating Logan Storley 3-2. Ed Ruth followed with a 22-7 technical fall over Penn’s Lawrence Thomas in 6:46.

Minnesota salvaged one of three head-to-head matchups as top-ranked Tony Nelson defeated Penn State’s Jimmy Lawson 3-1 at heavyweight.

Minnesota’s David Thorn thumped State’s Jordan Conaway 12-5 in the consolation quarterfinals at 133 pounds. Thorn was beaten by PSU’s Jimmy Gulibon in the semifinals.

The finals get under way at 7 p.m. Thursday. Here are the matchups:

125: No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) dec. No. 2 Nico Megaludis (Penn State)

133: No. 1 Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 17 Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State)

141: No. 19 Joe Spisak (Virginia) vs. No. 2 Zain Retherford (Penn State)

149:  No. 8 Chris Villalonga (Cornell) vs. No. 2 Drake Houdashelt (Missouri)

157: No. 2 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 8 Ian Miller (Kent State)

165: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State)

174: No. 2 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 3 Matt Brown (Penn State)

184: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) vs. No. 7 Gabe Dean (Cornell)

197: No. 1 Scott Schiller (Minnesota) vs. No. 2 Kyven Gadson (Iowa State)

285: No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) vs. No. 5 Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State)