What I Learned in College Wrestling this Week 4

Josh Liebman, TOM Contributor

TESTING THE WATERS- With a scrappy 3-1 victory over number #3 Nick Bedelyon, not only did Alan Waters pull off the upset, but made the difference in Missouri’s 19-15 victory over Kent State. The talk for many was that Waters matched up very well with Bedelyon and that it could be the difference in the dual. Well, the crystal balls seemed to be spot on in as the true freshman frustrated Bedelyon on his feet and scored 2 back points in a 3-0 match. At 19-0 Waters has planted his name in the mix at 125lbs this season.

OLD SCHOOL RUSSELLIN’- The 141lb weight class was a real tough one at the Las Vegas Cliff Keen invitational. Michigan’s Kellen Russell rose to the occasion with a pair of impressive victories. In the semi finals he scored a huge pin in a little over a minute against Illinois Jimmy Kennedy. Then in the finals he edged out another All-American with a 3-2 win over Cal Poly’s Boris Novachkov. That was after Novachkov pulled off a little magic himself with a 3-1 victory over undefeated number #1 ranked Zack Bailey of Oklahoma. All the matches were great scraps and I wouldn’t be shocked to see any of them wrestle again with completely different outcomes.

WE ARE DOIN OKIE DOKIE- As expected the Oklahoma State/ Minnesota match was a down dirty barn burner. We saw the Cowboys win a razor-close dual victory, 17-16, over the Gophers. The match everyone was waiting for Clayton Foster vs. Sonny Yohn, did not disappoint and saw Foster come away with a 7-4 victory. Both teams have a lot of new faces this season but don’t seem to have missed a step at all and it will be fun to see how they stand up in there conference schedules.

THE LION KING- The rumor is that the Rutgers bus can be heard singing “Hakuna Matata” and “In the Jungle” all the way back to Jersey after the day Mario Mason had. Mason knocked of three Nittany Lions en route to his Nittany Lion Open title. First he beat redshirt Dylan Alton 7-6 in the quarterfinals. Then another tough Lion prospect, James English, in the Semifinals, 3-1. Finally the leader of the pride, #2 Frank Molinaro was knocked off in the finals 3-2. Maybe this is the momentum the Minnesota transfer and former #1 recruit from Blair Academy needs to propel him back into the conversation of contenders at 149lbs after an up and down start of the season.

LETTS GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS- Maryland’s Mike Letts threw his name into a wide open 174lb field with a impressive run at the Nittany Lion Open. Letts beat a seasoned NCAA tournament veteran in Alex Caruso from Rutgers. Then in the finals it was daper dandy Ed Ruth of PSU that went down to defeat, 9-4. This after Ruth was on a fast track to a title with 2 falls, 2 tech falls and a win over All-American Scott Giffin. 174lbs will be a fun weight to follow all season. As of right know it seems to be Mack Lewnes and then close your eyes and pick‘em, and Letts certainly is in that mix.

BOYS TO MEN- I have already mentioned once this season about how impressive Penn State’s David Taylor and Andrew Alton have been. Sunday the duo barely broke a sweat as Alton recorded 5 falls including a :39 fall over Zach Kemmerer in the finals. The only wrestler not to count the lights against Alton was UNC’s Danny Lopes who lost 7-5. Lopes has quietly been putting together a solid campaign himself. Taylor was just as impressive recording tons of back points all the way to the final were he handled Virginia Tech’s Jesse Dong, 9-3. Another PSU freshman, Frank Martellotti, continues to wrestle really tough capturing a title at 125lb. The only points he gave up all day was in a 17-1 tech fall of Virginia’s Gabriel Gomez. Penn State will need these three to continue wrestling at this level because the hosts got a blow Sunday with an injury to All-American Quentin Wright. Hopefully he will be back soon but, by all accounts, it wasn’t a pretty sight.