Quakers meet in wrestling finals

There were over 390 wrestlers from 34 different schools competing in 10 weight classes at the Penn State Open yesterday. But in spite of the Open's great depth and diversity, the day ended up like just another day at practice for two Penn wrestlers. The finals of the 167-pound bracket matched Quaker sophomore Brandon Slay against junior Clinton Matter, his teammate. Slay had worked his way through the top half of the draw, earning his spot in the finals with a 13-5 major decision over Zach Randall of Oklahoma. Matter's semifinal victory was sweet revenge -- a 5-4 decision over Glen Pritzlaff, Penn State's prized freshman who had defeated Matter two weeks ago in the semifinals of the East Stroudsburg Open. So the stage was set for the all-Penn final. Penn coach Roger Reina was happy to have two finalists, but he was having trouble figuring out whom to root for. "It was an emotional match for both of them," Reina said. "It's hard to see two guys from your team go against each other. But it's the nature of the sport -- there can only be one champion." That turned out to be Slay, who won an 11-3 major decision over Matter. Slay took an early lead in the match, and when Matter tried to mount a comeback, Slay turned the tables on him. "I think the match got away from Matter," Reina said. "He was trying to hard to get back into it, and he made some mistakes that Brandon took advantage of." Slay and Matter were the Quakers' only finalists, but some other wrestlers produced good results for Penn. Going into the weekend, Reina was hoping some of his younger wrestlers could rise to the occasion and perform well against quality competition. He was not disappointed. "We had some very, very bright spots," Reina said. Freshman Ben Hatta won four matches and reached the semifinals at 118 pounds before losing to eventual champion John Noble of Ohio University. Sophomore Alex Boisvert placed fifth in the 142-pound division, winning five matches on the day. And freshman Keith Reynolds finished fifth in the 177-pound class with a 6-5 decision over Mark Papa, an NCAA qualifier from Maryland. "We were looking for some guys to step up for us against national competition, and Alex clearly did that," Reina said. "Keith is also a guy who stepped up against national competition." Overall, it was a productive trip to State College for the Quakers. They emerged with one champion and another finalist, just as Reina hoped. And even when Penn lost matches, the team gained from the experience. "All those individuals that lost those close matches should have learned something to help them beat those people when they meet again," Reina said. "That ties in with why we went to the thing in the first place." The objective now for the Quakers is to take this experience and apply it. Penn does not have another event until the end of December, so the team has to work hard and keep its edge. "The next few weeks are critical in the team's development," Reina said. "We really have to utilize the time and learn from this event."