Wrestling takes one title at Penn St. Open

Rick Springman won the 165-lb. title as the Quakers landed three finalists at the Penn State Open. Penn super-sophomore Rick Springman earned his second title in three tournaments yesterday, decisively beating unattached wrestler Josh Wideman 12-2 in the 165-lb. finals at the Penn State Open. Springman, though, was the only Quaker to climb to the top of the victory stand during the all-day, 300-plus competitor tournament in Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. Instead, the No. 4 Nittany Lions took control in their home den, winning five of the 10 first-place titles and placing in two others. Despite a promising past week of practice and high hopes coming into the Open, most of the Penn favorites did not come home with the first-place finishes for which they had wished. Penn tri-captain Brett Matter's (149 lbs.) season-long undefeated streak ended at the hands of Penn State's Jamarr Billman in an exciting final match. Matter, No. 4 in the preseason InterMat rankings, wrestled No. 2 Billman to a 5-5 score at the end of regulation to force overtime. Billman, though, quickly assured his victory within the first 30 seconds of the overtime period with a two-point takedown. Fellow tri-captain Mark Piotrowsky (141 lbs.), who sat out the November 22 Keystone Classic with medical problems, also advanced to the finals to meet Penn State's Biff Walizer. Walizer quickly got off to a 5-0 lead in the match, and held off Piotrowsky through the third period to win 5-2. Penn's Yoshi Nakamura (157 lbs.) met Central Michigan's Casey Cunningham in the semifinals, but could not use the momentum from his Keystone Classic victory to knock off the No. 4 wrestler in the nation. Cunningham went on to win the Open title over Penn State's Clint Musser in the final. In the heavyweight semifinals Penn big man Bandele Adeniyi-Bada battled the Nittany Lions' Mark Janus to an overtime round, but wound up on the short side of a 4-2 final score. Janus opted not to compete in the title match, giving a medical forfeit to teammate Matt Calabretta for first place. The Quakers' Justin Bravo (125 lbs.) dropped an 8-2 semifinal match to Penn State's Jeremy Hunter, the No. 3 wrestler in the InterMat rankings. Springman's advance to his first-place finish came through victories over Central Michigan's Joel Trim in the quarterfinals and Central Michigan's Chris Snyder in the semi-finals.