Penn State vs. Ohio State: By the Numbers

The biggest collegiate dual of the year is approaching as #2 Ohio State takes on #1 Penn State at Rec Hall this weekend in what some are calling the “Super Bowl of College Wrestling.” PSU has a 42 match winning streak with two undefeated seasons in 2016 and 2017, the longest since Iowa’s “unbeaten” 84-0-1 win streak from 2008-2012. Their last loss came from Oklahoma State in February of 2015, which was also the last season that the Buckeyes beat the Nittany Lions by a score of 22-15. Both PSU and OSU have phenomenal teams this year, and that is shown by the stats of their head coaches, individuals, and teams.

Head Coaches

Source: Getty Images

Since 2009 the two head coaches of these prestigious programs have faced off against each other. Tom Ryan joined Ohio State’s staff in 2006, while Cael Sanderson did not head PSU until 2009. Ryan has a record at OSU of 147-49-0 to Sanderson’s 123-14-2 at PSU. From ‘09-‘17 the Nittany Lions went 6-2 against the Buckeyes, with losses in ’10 and ’15; furthermore, PSU outscored OSU 221-105 in the eight total matches. These coaches share 5 Big Ten Conference Championships and 7 NCAA Championships between them. Since 2011, the only years that Penn State did not win either a Big Ten Title or NCAA Championship, it was won by Ohio State. Also shared between the coaches are 27 individual National Champions. Ryan has coached multiple-time champions, including Logan Stieber (4X), Kyle Snyder (2X), and J Jaggers (2X). Under Sanderson’s tutelage have been greats such as Ed Ruth (3X), David Taylor (2X), Quentin Wright (2X), and Zain Retherford (2X). Of course, Sanderson is recognized for coaching 5 NCAA Champions in one year during the ‘16-’17 season. Needless to say, these two coaches are some of the best in DI college wrestling, and it will be great to see them go at it on Saturday.

Projected Lineups

#2 Ohio State

125 Natan Tomasello (#4)
133 Luke Pletcher (#2)
141 Joey McKenna (#11)
149 Ke-Shawn Hayes (#6)
157 Micah Jordan (#5)
165 Te-Shan Campbell (#14)
174 Bo Jordan (#3)
184 Myles Martin (#2)
197 Kollin Moore (#1)
Hwt Kyle Snyder (#1)

#1 Penn State

125 Devin Schnupp
133 Corey Keener
141 Nick Lee (#6)
149 Zain Retherford (#1)
157 Jason Nolf (#1)
165 Vincenzo Joseph (#1)
174 Mark Hall (#2)
184 Bo Nickal (#1)
197 Shakur Rasheed (#7)
Hwt Nick Nevills (#6)

Individual Stats

Source: The Mat Board

These are the two most stacked lineups in the country right now. Shared between these two teams are: 15 HS State Champions with 40 titles, 4 HS Prep Champions with 11 titles, 9 Conference Champions with 14 titles, 8 National Champions with 10 titles, and 1 Hodge Trophy winner. Only 4 of the 20 wrestlers have not qualified for the NCAA tournament; however, none of those four have even had the opportunity to qualify yet. OSU brings in 7 NCAA placers, while PSU brings in 6. Each team also brings one multiple-time NCAA Champion in Retherford and Snyder. Between these two teams there are 18 ranked wrestlers. 6 of the #1 ranked wrestlers in the country will be wrestling in the dual this weekend. Additionally, there are 5 undefeated Nittany Lions (Retherford, Nolf, Joseph, Hall, Nickal) and 4 undefeated Buckeyes (Pletcher, Martin, Moore, Snyder). After this weekend, there will be one less undefeated wrestler when #1 Bo Nickal (20-0) and #2 Myles Martin (22-0) wrestle at 184 lbs. Those two wrestlers have a strong rivalry in matches that are always close. Martin beat Nickal in the 2016 NCAA championship at 174 lbs. and in the 2017 Big Ten semifinals; however, Nickal has won every dual meet encounter. Another fun fact about the dual is that there are 7 wrestlers from Pennsylvania, with 4 of those from the WPIAL, and 4 from Ohio combined from both teams.

Team Dual Stats

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As far as the teams as a whole, each is undefeated in dual meets this season. Both squads defeated Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue, Rutgers. Ohio State has scored an average of about 34 points per match in 12 matches to Penn State’s 37 points in 11 matches. The Buckeyes have outscored their opponents 410-88, while the Nittany Lions have scored 411 to their opponent’s 80 points. Ohio State has wrestlers than can get decisions, but Penn State has a team full of pinners. In fact, PSU has 75 pins this year -- more than half coming from Retherford, Nolf, and Nickal -- to OSU’s 29. The rest of the points scored are pretty equal: PSU has 22 tech falls, 33 majors, and 35 decisions; OSU has 34 tech falls, 34 majors, and 55 decisions. Overall, the starting roster at Penn State has a collective record of 163-27; unfortunately for them, 14 of those losses come from redshirt freshman Devin Schnupp at 125 lbs. On the flip side, Ohio State has totalled individual records of 152-16.

Overall

Source: The Lantern

Penn State has had some challenges this year with Lehigh and Rutgers, but they have come out on top. The team is going to have to step it up against the Buckeyes because Coach Ryan is hungry for a dual meet win and NCAA team title. Ohio State will earn easy wins at 125, 133, and 285. Penn State will win 149 and 165. 157 should also be a win if Nolf recovers from his knee injury in last week’s match against Rutgers. If he cannot wrestle, PSU has three backup choices: 1) bump up Verkleeren (FR, PA State Champ), 2) wrestle Berge (FR, undefeated 3X MN State Champ), or 3) drop Manville (FR, World Team Member, Prep Champ). The rest of the weights are going to be tough matches that could go either way. Ohio State has a full team, from top to bottom, of high-caliber wrestlers, lead by Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder. Penn State, on the other hand, has a powerhouse of five returning NCAA Champions from 149 to 184. Both Penn State and Ohio State are incredible teams this season, and this match is going to be one for the ages. Whether you’re a Nittany Lion, Buckeye, or wrestling enthusiast, this is a great time to be a fan of college wrestling. Check out the match this Saturday, February 3 at 8:00 PM E.T. by watching on the Big Ten Network, getting live updates from FloWrestling, or listening live through Go PSU Sports.

Make your own guesses for the match with your friends and family by downloading the PSU vs. OSU Stat & Prediction Sheet found here:

Sources: FloWrestling, Penn State Wrestling, Ohio State Wrestling
Cover Photo Source: Centre Daily Times

Alumni Spotlight: Dalton Macri

The Alumni Association is back with our Alumni Spotlight series, this week showcasing Dalton Macri. The redshirt sophomore is wrestling 125 lbs. at the University of North Carolina.

Photo Source: UNC Instagram

As a Big Mac, Dalton was a 3X PIAA State placer and a PA State Champion at 126 lbs. in his senior year. He was a 3X Section Champion, as well as a WPIAL Champion and Outstanding Wrestler at the tournament. Furthermore, the grappler earned the Outstanding Wrestler award at the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic in 2014 when he shut out #1 ranked Nathan Boston. Fans may also remember Dalton winning a Powerade title his senior year by hitting a lat drop in the final seconds of the match. In addition to his individual accomplishments, Dalton was a member of 3 WPIAL team titles (2011-2013) and 2 PIAA State team titles (2012-2013). His career record ended 133-15, and he finished as the #7 pound-for-pound nationally ranked high schooler by FloWrestling.

In college, Dalton placed at the EIWA championships and earned a wild card bid to the NCAA Championships in his rookie season when he wrestled for Cornell University. At the NCAA tournament, Dalton upset #11 seed Ronnie Bresser of Oregon State, a wrestler who just recently beat the “Iron Man” Spencer Lee.  In his true freshman year, he earned a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection. Throughout his college career, Dalton has carried on his wrestling style from high school by winning more than 50% of his matches by bonus decision; he is hungry to pin his opponents so he can wear his team’s new “Pin Chain.” At the end of the 2016-2017 school year, Dalton made the decision to transfer to the University of North Carolina to carry out his wrestling career. While battling injuries over the past few years, the Tar Heel still has over 20 wins overall and is looking to win an ACC Championship to earn a 2018 NCAA Championship berth.

We caught up with Dalton over the summer at the CM Alumni Wrestling Camp, where he shared his thoughts on wrestling. Check it out:

Cover Photo Source: FloWrestling

Career-Ending Injury for Schram

Many fans began to wonder whether Connor Schram, 2013 Big Mac graduate, had a lasting injury from December's Cliff Keen Last Vegas after not wrestling in the Reno Tournament of Champions or Southern Scuffle. Unfortunately, today news broke that Connor will not wrestle for the remainder of his final 2017-2018 season at Stanford University due to a knee injury. Connor had this to say on his Facebook:

“Although many already know, I wanted to share that I’ve suffered a career ending knee injury at the Vegas tournament this year. My career has been filled with injuries, adversity and triumph, and while I cannot even begin to comprehend why it had to end this way, I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to live out my passion. As any wrestler will tell you, wrestling will bring you to the highest of highs and lowest of lows, and I’ve been fortunate enough to experience them all. To my family, teammates, coaches, friends, and community, I thank you for always supporting me and enabling me to do what I love.”

Source: Wrestlers are Warriors

Recently highlighted in CMWAA's Alumni Spotlight, Connor has been a major part of the Canon-McMillan Wrestling program as well as the Stanford Wrestling program as a stand-up wrestler, student, and person. At CM Connor was a 3X WPIAL Champion, 4X State finalist, and 2X State Champion. Furthermore, at Stanford he was a 3X NCAA qualifier, 2016 All-American, and Pac-12 Champion at 125 lbs. Schram finished with a high school record of 159-11 and a college career record of 65-22. Connor graduated with a degree in science, technology, and society at Stanford; he is currently pursuing a master's degree.

Cover Photo Source: Stanford Wrestling

Mid-Season Canon-McMillan Wrestling Updates (CCNS, JH, HS, College)

College

• Dalton Macri (UNC) [125 lbs] - 2-2 record, #9 in NCAA
• Brendan Price (Pitt) [125 lbs]
• Connor Schram (Stanford) [125 lbs] - Hokie Open (1st), CKLV (6th), #16 in NCAA
• Tony Mastrangelo (Waynesburg) [133 lbs]
• Matt Oblock (Wheeling Jesuit) [141 lbs]
• Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech) [149 lbs] - 5-2 record, #8 in NCAA
• Brendan Furman (Finger Lakes) [285 lbs] - 9-6 record, Cleveland Open (6th)
• Nick Konyk (Mercyhurst) [184 lbs] - Ohio Intercollegiate Open (3rd)

The Big Macs place 4th at the North Canton Tournament.

HS Matches (3-0 Record)

Montour 

CM wins 71-9.
Gardner (120), Ross (132), Hritsko (138), Rohaley (145), Nijenhuis (160), Miller (170), Hendal (195), Minis (220) and Ramos (Hvy) all won by fall.

Chartiers Valley

CM wins 66-6.
Binni (113), Hayman (120), Hritsko (138), Rohaley (145), Pihiou (152), Wolfgramm (160), Miller (170), Hendel (195) all pinned for the Big Macs.

Kiski Area

CM wins 36-27. Alumni Night honors wrestlers from the past 90 years, Gunners & Big Macs alike. Coach Mary's 2012 & 2013 State Championship teams were also honored.

Baxter (106), Binni (113), Macri (126), and Rohaley (220) had pins for CM. Hayman (120) had big win over #2 in the WPIAL, Miller. Nijenhuis (160) and Ramos (Hwt) also had decisions.

HS Tournaments

Cumberland Valley Kickoff Classic

CM places 4th overall behind Cumberland Valley, Easton, and Bishop McDevitt.

120 - Kenny Hayman (3rd)
126 - Logan Macri (3rd)
138 - Tim Hritsko (4th)
160 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (1st)

North Canton Tournament

CM places 4th overall behind Wadsworth, Cuyahoga Valley, and Louisville.

106 - Jimmy Baxter (3rd)
113 - Michael Binni (4th)
120 - Kenny Hayman (1st)
138 - Tim Hritsko (3rd)
160 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (2nd)

Powerade Tournament

CM place 8th overall, beating out Waynesburg and Kiski.

JV
145 - Skylar Adams (3rd)
170 - Evan Miller (1st)
195 - Alec Hendal (2nd)
285 - Giomar Ramos (4th)

Varsity
120 - Logan Macri (1st)
138 - Tim Hritsko (6th)
160 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (3rd)

WPIAL Rankings (As of 1/2)

Team - CM (#1)
106 - Jimmy Baxter (#7)
113 - Michael Binni (#5)
120 - Logan Macri (#1)
126 - Kenny Hayman (#3)
138 - Tim Hritsko (#3)
160 - Gerrit Nijenhuis (#2)
195 - Alec Hendal (#10)
220 - Zach Rohaley (#4)

CM's Junior High wins the Greensburg Salem Tournament

Junior High (11-0 Record)

Matches

• 88-9 (Montour)

• 72-24 (Chartiers Valley)

Seneca Valley Duals Champions

• 68-24 (Hempfield)

• 78-21 (Burrell)

• 51-39 (Kiski)

• 85-16 (Quaker Valley)

• 90-9 (South Fayette)

Greensburg Salem Dual Meet Champions

• 87-15 (Mt. Pleasant)

• 104-0 (Latrobe Orange)

• 72-21 (Greensburg Salem)

• 58-39 (Kiski)
   

CCNS/JH

Viper Duals Champs (K-8)

• 88-12 (MD Eagles)

• 62-21 (Central MD)

• 91-0 (Vipers Wrestling Club)

• 70-24 (Naval Academy)
   

Other CM Happenings

• Colin Johnston named head wrestling coach at Pitt-Bradford
• Coach Mary celebrates the 12 Days of Chris-mas

Sources: Finger Lakes, FloWrestling, Mercyhurst,  Observer Reporter, Pitt, Pittsburgh Tribune, Stanford, Track Wrestling, UNC, Virginia Tech, Waynesburg, Wheeling Jesuit, WrestleStat

Alumni Spotlight: Connor Schram

Alumni Spotlight this week is on a CM wrestler who is still in college. Connor Schram entered his final year in the sport as a redshirt Senior at Stanford University, pursuing a degree in Science, Technology & Society.

Source: Wrestlers are Warriors

Before he graduated CMHS in 2013, Connor was a 2X Powerade champ, 3X WPIAL champ, and Fargo All-American. At the top of his HS accomplishment list is his participation in four straight PIAA State finals, in which he came away with two titles at 103 lbs. and 126 lbs. In addition to his individual accolades, he was also a large part of the 4X WPIAL, 2X PIAA State, and 3X PIAA State-Individual champion teams from 2010-2013. Connor finished his career by being ranked #3 nationally with a 159-11, the third most wins in CM history.

In his collegiate wrestling career at Stanford, Connor won the Reno Tournament of Champions, a Pac-12 title, has earned PAC-12 Wrestler of the week, and has been ranked up to #4 nationally at 125 lbs. Last year, he bumped up in weight to wrestle at 133 lbs., a weight at which he qualified for the NCAA tournament for the 3rd time. Connor was an NCAA All-American in 2016 and is also an NWCA Academic All-American. For the 2017-2018 season, he is back down to 125 lbs.; this weight change has worked in his favor, as Connor won the Hokie Open and placed 6th at Cliff Keen Las Vegas last weekend. With over 60 collegiate wins, the Cardinal is currently ranked #16 in the country at 125 lbs by FloWrestling. Unfortunately, Connor suffered an undisclosed knee injury last weekend, and it is unknown whether he will be wrestling this weekend. We certainly wish him the best on his road to recovery!

To discover more about the Cardinal, make sure to watch the video:

Cover Photo Source: Stanford Athletics

Alumni Spotlight: Bobby Patnesky

Source: Penn State News

As another way to discover the history of the Canon-McMillan Wrestling program in its 90th anniversary year, the CMWAA is rolling out a new video series. On Monday, we unveiled the Wrestler of the Week series, which will help to connect the CM wrestling community to the current high school wrestlers. Today we are launching the Alumni Spotlight, which will catch the community up with some of Canon Mac’s finest wrestlers whom have graduated.

In this first edition, the Alumni Association is shining the spotlight on Bobby Patnesky for propelling the Penn State Behrend wrestling team to its first dual meet victory in 40 years as the new head coach. Having transferred as a head coach at Davidson College, Bobby enters his first year coaching at the school that just relaunched its program after a 38 year hiatus.

Bobby’s time at CMHS consisted of winning a WPIAL championship, placing 3X at the PIAA State tournament -- making the finals once -- being a 3X Junior Nationals All-American and National finalist, and becoming a 2X Cadet Nationals All-American -- earning 3rd place in the Cadet World team trials. In addition, he was a part of the 1995 WPIAL Championship team. His career record ended 141-28. Bobby went on to wrestle at West Virginia University where he had over 100 college wins, won the EWL championship, and qualified 3X for NCAAs. Bobby was a DI head coach for over 10 years and was inducted into the Washington-Greene County Chapter PA Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

Make sure to watch the Alumni Spotlight video below to learn more about this Big Mac wrestler!

Cover Photo Source: Davidson Wrestling News

Which State has the Most NCAA Championship Titles?

One of the biggest -- and most fun -- arguments in the wrestling community is debating which state has the best wrestlers. Whether it be at the high school, collegiate, or world level, fans like to remind their friends - and especially their rivals - where their favorite wrestler grew up. Up until this point there has not been an ultimate list of DI NCAA wrestling champions sorted out by state, but that changes today.

Inspired by Flo Wrestling’s Which State Did The Best At The 2017 NCAAs?, this list takes a look at every NCAA wrestling champion by weight, year, college, high school, hometown, and state. This data analysis dives into each wrestler’s hometown to determine which states and high schools breed the most individual NCAA champions by quantity.  Feel free to review the raw data used in this analysis of NCAA champs.

NCAA Wrestling Championships by State

Since the college weight class change enacted in 1999, there have been 190 champions at the ten respective weight classes. In those years, there have been 28 states represented by a championship title; furthermore, just 5 of those states have accounted for 52.6% of the titles earned. Those states are Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, California, Oklahoma. PA is known in the wrestling community as a wrestling powerhouse, and these charts show that PA has been the winningest state in the past 18 years with approximately 15% of all titles per state. New Jersey and Ohio aren’t far behind, with a one champ difference between the two. So according to this data, no Donald Trump, Iowa is not the “home of the greatest wrestlers in the world;” but, the state does have the 6th most NCAA titles.

NCAA Wrestling Champions by State (US Map)

The map above shows off the most individual D1 wrestling titles per state. The scale ranges from light blue to dark blue, with more titles for the darker the color. States shown in white do not have any championships since 1999. Fun fact: Hawaii is represented by 2X champion Travis Lee of Honolulu, HI from his wins in 2003 and 2004. This chart displays the same concepts in the graphs above, but it is a neat way to look at a country-wide view of the data.

NCAA Wrestling Championship Titles by HS

Now that the top state has been determined, let’s take a look at the top high schools in the country. Out of the 190 titles since 1999, there have been 40 high schools winning 56% of all championships. Blair Academy has been responsible for almost 4% of them, which is nearly double the next 7 best schools that account for 2% each. Blair Academy, a private school located in New Jersey, has had notable champions including Steve Mocco (‘03, ‘05), Zack Esposito (‘05), Mark Perry (‘07-’08), and Kellen Russell (‘11, ‘12).

Interestingly enough, three out of the seven schools that have 4 total titles have had only one champion from their schools. Cael Sanderson from Wasatch HS (‘99-’02), Kyle Dake from Lansing HS (‘10-’13), and Logan Stieber from Monroeville HS (‘12-’15) are all 4X NCAA Champions -- the only 4X champions since the weight change.

In addition, while it might come as a surprise to some, only two out of the top eight schools are prep/private schools - Blair Academy and St. Edward HS.

NCAA Wrestling Championship Titles by HS (US Map)

The map above is another look at the same data in the previous charts, but it displays the high schools by location in the US. Out of the top forty high schools with NCAA Champions, seven are located in New Jersey, the most out of any state. As previously mentioned, NJ is home to Blair Academy. Falling close behind are Pennsylvania with six of the top high schools (incl. Greensburg Salem, Easton) and Ohio with five (incl. St. Edward, Wheeling Jesuit).

With all of this data analysis done now, it should be noted that this is only the past 18 years worth of data out of the total 89 years since 1928. However, even with this small portion of data since the collegiate weight change, the data shows where the sport is currently. States such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio are dominating at the state and D1 collegiate level, while other states like California, Iowa, and Oklahoma are trying to keep up with the top dogs. Please feel free to critique and analyze any of the data above, and let us know your thoughts!

*Cover Photo Credit: Hunter Martin/Getty Images