Penn State Wrestling’s top 25 dual meets in the Cael Sanderson era
By Chris Snyder
No. 18
January 30, 2015
Ann Arbor, Mich
No. 7 Penn State 19, No. 15 Michigan 15
The 2014-2015 wrestling season for Penn State Wrestling was a bit of a rebuilding year for the Nittany Lions.
The prior season Penn State had just capped off winning its fourth straight B1G title and fourth straight NCAA team title.
Even for coaching legends like Sanderson it’s impossible to reload every season without a down year from time to time.
Which was the case for that year’s team as they ended up dropping four dual meets on the season. To put this in perspective, the Nittany Lions lost four total dual meets in the prior four years combined (2011-2014).
Penn State had just lost a heart breaker at home to Minnesota (17-16) five days before taking the trip to Ann Arbor. It was anyone’s guess as to how the young Nittany Lion team would respond.
The dual started off at 125 where No. 8 Jordan Conaway (PSU), No. 9 Jimmy Gulibon (PSU), Kade Moss (PSU), and No. 19 Zack Beitz (PSU) all won via decisions to take the early 12-0 lead.
The Wolverines managed to claw their back with two straight decision wins of their own to narrow the lead to 12-6.
Next up was the hammer in that year’s Penn State lineup as No. 3 Matt Brown (PSU) took a major decision and extended the Nittany Lions’ lead to 16-6.
Michigan once again proved they weren’t about to roll over and quit with a fall in the next match to give Penn State a narrow 16-12 lead with only two matches remaining.
In the unofficial “Match of the Dual”, No. 5 Morgan McIntosh (PSU) gutted out 3-2 decision over No. 8 Max Huntley (MICH) to seal the lead and the dual match 19-12.
The Wolverines won the final match but the Nittany Lions won the battle as they were victorious 19-15.
