Three opponents, three pins for Penn

Two rounds into its match against No. 21 Maryland on Saturday at the Palestra, the wrestling team found itself down 9-0. It looked like the rout was on.

But the Quakers battled back, tying the game at 16 going into the final match.

And in that match, it was all Quakers, as sophomore 125-pounder Rollie Peterkin dominated his opponent 6-0, leading the Quakers to a 19-16 upset win.

"The guys did all the small things," Penn coach Zeke Jones said. "It was a tough, hard bout, but the guys hung in there and came back."

In addition to the Terrapins, the Quakers also dispatched North Carolina 24-14 and junior college Gloucester County (N.J.) 30-22. The weekend wins were exactly what the Quakers (8-4) needed after losing three in a row.

"It's nice to see them get on the other side of a win," Jones said.

Although the Quakers beat the Tar Heels by 10, the win was still exciting, as two matches went to overtime and three others were decided by two points or fewer.

"When you get into OT, it becomes a gut check," Jones said. "You're either going to lose or win, so you might as well be the guy that gets it done."

Luckily for the Quakers, the two senior co-captains, Rob Hitschler at 157 and Cesar Grajales at 149, were the two overtime participants, and their experience certainly paid off.

Hitschler was impressed by the skills of his overtime opponent, Thomas Scotton.

"He was tough, really strong, really quick, but I felt him tire . I kept trying to push the pace, and eventually he broke."

But while the matches were close, Penn won all of them. In fact, it clinched the meet with two bouts to go.

In addition to Grajales and Hitschler, who dispatched their Terrapin opponents as well, heavyweight Trey McLean won both his matches on the day. The UNC bout was particularly meaningful to him, since he had lost to his opponent 8-1 in December.

"That tournament that I lost to him in, I really had a bad tournament," McLean, a junior, said. "But today I felt much better. It's definitely a step in the right direction since I want to be better at the end of the season than the beginning."

McLean won in a tight 3-2 decision and also had a huge role in the Maryland meet, as he tied the game up at 16 before Peterkin finished off the match.

"Today was a sign that we're going where we want to go," McLean said.

Although the Gloucester meet was technically closer than the UNC one, the match was never in doubt. Despite facing Penn's second team, the Roadrunners just couldn't keep up and won only two matches.

Penn also forfeited two matches, electing to rest players instead of risking injuries in weight classes that lack depth.

While the Quakers certainly won't forget the Gloucester win, it wasn't the top moment of the meets. But then again, with overtimes, comebacks and revenge wins, the busy day had plenty of highlights.

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