Penn State holds off Ohio St.

No. 2 Ohio State had No. 1 Penn State and its streak of 42 dual wrestling-match victories on the ropes Saturday night, but the Buckeyes let it slip away in a 19-18 loss at Rec Hall in State College, Pennsylvania.

Penn State (12-0) got a couple of huge marquee victories in the heavier weights. That forced Ohio State heavyweight Kyle Snyder to have to win by major decision (an 8-point margin) for the Buckeyes to prevail. But sixth-ranked Nick Nevills fought Snyder tough, and the Olympic and twotime world champion won by only a 15-10 margin.

The Buckeyes (11-1) led 10-0 after expected victories by Nathan Tomasello and Luke Pletcher and an upset by Joey McKenna in the first three matches. McKenna, ranked 11th, beat No. 6 Nick Lee 7-6 on riding time in the 141-pound match.

But Penn State took the lead 16-15 with huge victories in three of the last four matches. At 174, second-ranked Mark Hall won by decision over No. 3 Bo Jordan 6-4. Top-ranked Bo Nickal got a major decision over second-ranked Myles Martin 10-2 at 184 pounds. The Nittany Lions’ roll continued at 197 pounds when No. 1 Moore lost for the first time this season against Anthony Cassar, 6-3.

That left it up to Snyder, who returned this week from winning at the Yarygin tournament in Russia. Nevills got an early takedown of Snyder, a sign this would not be a typically dominating win for the Buckeyes senior.