Ranking Cael Sanderson’s top 10 wins as Penn State Wrestling coach

No. 1

February 3, 2018
University Park, PA
No. 1 Ohio State 18, No. 2 Penn State 19

Dubbed the “Dual of the Century,” the 2018 clash between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 has to be one of the best dual meets in college wrestling history.

The Nittany Lions were able to pull out the win 19-18 yet somehow the score doesn’t indicate just how close this match was.

The dual started out at 125 where Ohio State was able to get out to an early lead 4-0 thanks to a major decision from No. 1 Nathan Tomasello. Their lead was extended in the 133 match when No. 2 Luke Pletcher won in a decision to make it 7-0.

Penn State’s hopes were on No. 6 Nick Lee 141 as he went up against No. 11 Joey McKenna. A shocked crowd watched as Ohio State’s lead once again grew when Lee lost a 7-6 decision. Hope had seemingly vanished from the normally friendly confines of Rec Hall. It looked hopeless.

Thankfully, No. 1 Zain Retherford 149 was up next and he earned a 20-4 technical fall to get Penn State on the board. Bo Pipher 157 then lost in a technical fall against No. 5 Micah Jordan and Ohio State pushed their lead to 15-5 with only 5 matches remaining. It wasn’t looking good for PSU.

Remember when I said Penn State usually has a string of elite wrestlers in a row in their lineup? No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph 165, No. 2 Mark Hall 174 , and No. 1 Bo Nickal 184 took care of business earning two major decisions and a decision to give Penn State the lead 16-15. This was the good news. The bad news was Ohio State’s next two wrestlers were each the No. 1 for the 197 and heavyweight weight classes.

No. 1 Kollin Moore had not lost a match yet in the 2017-2018 season. And who did Cael throw out there to wrestle him? Unranked Anthony Cassar. We all know about Cassar now, however not much was really known about him then. This was about to change as Cassar shocked Ohio State, Ohio State fans, and Penn State fans when he defeated Moore in an improbably 6-3 decision giving Penn State a slim 19-15 edge.

Next up was No. 6 Nick Nevills going against No. 1 Kyle Snyder. All Nevills had to do was lose no worse than a decision and Penn State would win the dual. He did just that with a thrilling 15-10 decision win by Snyder.

Thus the “Dual of the Century” had ended with Penn State topping Ohio State 19-18. Incredible.