UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The sold out Rec Hall crowd of 6,588 let out a chorus of boos shortly after it was announced to the Penn State wrestling faithful top-ranked 149-pounder Zain Retherford would win on Friday night by forfeit.
It was one less impressive individual display for the rowdy White Out crowd, a group spoiled by Penn State dismantling one opponent after the other. No. 16 Minnesota (7-6, 2-3 Big Ten) was the latest to succumb to the top-ranked Nittany Lions, this time, 35-8. Penn State (10-0, 6-0), sported its white singlets to kick off potentially the toughest stretch of its season, but passed this first test of the weekend with flying colors.
"We had some close matches in the middle, but our guys for the most part found a way to score some points and the matches we lost, I thought we fought hard," Cael Sanderson said.
The Lions won eight of 10 bouts, but there were quite a few in the crowd agitated by what they weren't able to see. Retherford, the two-time NCAA champion who improved to 19-0 with the forfeit, wouldn't get to put on another show for the crowd. As Rec Hall grew quiet at the beginning of the match, an onlooker from the far corner left the crowd in stitches.
"James Franklin tweeted he'll wrestle Zain tonight," the fan shouted. Franklin, seated next to the mat with athletic director Sandy Barbour laughed and quickly signaled no way.
Wrestling duty this evening for the White Out in Rec Hall pic.twitter.com/b6Qfi9qCpu
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) January 27, 2018
"I think he was looking forward to wrestling, but that's just how it goes sometimes," Sanderson said. "We had to forfeit a match last week, you know, just that time, guys are banged up a little bit, you have a sick kid, but Minnesota is a tough team and their coaches are tough people, so if they have someone there and they're ready to go they're going to wrestle. It happens sometimes. It is what it is."
Healthy or not, nobody wants any part of Retherford at this point, and the same holds true for many of his teammates. With Sanderson seated in the corner, his eyes glued to the mat, Penn State rolled through the Gophers, winning the takedown battle 28-4. The Lions also got two pins, one from Shakur Rasheed who pinned Brandon Krone in just 55 seconds at 197 pounds, which gave Penn State a 22-0 lead at the break. Bo Nickal, ranked No. 1 at 184, pinned Dylan Anderson at the 5:31 mark. That too got the crowd on their feet, some in their Pin State T-shirts and all.
"It was pretty loud out there," Nick Lee said. "There was definitely some special energy here tonight."
Lee was a big part of that special energy as the Lions capped the night with him on the mat.
Lee, ranked No. 7 at 141, improved to 19-3 in a marquee matchup against No. 10 Tommy Thorn. Penn State's contingent of wrestlers could barely contain their excitement watching Lee, an Indiana native who was in the spotlight Friday night.
As teammates Nickal, Rutherford and Mark Hall all rolled with the ebbs and flows of Lee's bout, with their hands up in the air, the freshman ended the night with another confidence boost, this one a 13-3 major.
"He's wrestling really well, obviously, right now, and the more comfortable he is as you saw today he has a number of different attacks," Sanderson said. "He's a force."
Added Lee, seated next to his coach: "I feel confident in my training and I think a lot of my confidence comes from my team and my coaches so I was out there focusing on wrestling and just confident in the week leading up because of my whole season of training."
Penn State hit the road Friday night shortly after clearing out of Rec Hall, boarding the bus to travel to Rutgers to continue its Big Ten slate Sunday, this one beginning at 2 p.m. and airing on the Big Ten Network. Of course former Nittany Lion Nick Suriano awaits.
The Lions return to Rec Hall next Saturday for an 8 p.m. start against Ohio State.
WORTH NOTING
• The sell-out crowd was the 39th straight in Rec Hall.
• Jason Nolf, ranked No. 1 at 157, secured a 19-5 major against No. 18 Jake Short.
• Vincenzo Joseph, ranked No. 1 at 165, recorded a 3-1 victory against No. 7 Nick Wanzek. That helped the Lions build a 7-0 lead after two bouts.
• Hall, ranked No. 2 at 174, beat Chris Pfarr, 10-3.
• Nick Nevills, ranked No. 6 at 285, recorded a 2-0 win over Rylee Streifel.
• One of the Lions' two losses came at 125, where redshirt freshman Devin Schnupp lost with a 15-0 tech fall against No. 6 Ethan Lizak. This could be one weight class to keep an eye on against the Scarlet Knights, though Sanderson said Schnupp fought hard and will have to continue to do so the rest of the way in the Big Ten.
• Penn State's other loss came from Corey Keener who faced No. 12 Mitch McKee. Keener dropped a 15-8 decision, one that was made a little better by him climbing back into it after trailing by double digits early.
• With Franklin in attendance were Penn State signees Jahan Dotson and Juice Scruggs. Offensive line coach Matt Limegrover, special teams coordinator Phil Galiano and newly hired running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider were with them.
• How important is Penn State to the national wrestling community? In addition to having the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and producing one All-America honoree after the other, plus Sanderson leading the way, Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center is being looked at as a potential 2020 Olympic Trials site.
The Lions host an annual BJC dual, an event that drew a sell-out crowd of 15,000 spectators last year. This year's dual on Feb. 10 against Iowa is already sold out. Should the Trials come to the Bryce Jordan Center, an event that attracts the biggest names in wrestling in a wrestling-crazed state, that would surely garner some big-time attention. Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena was the host for the 2016 Olympic Trials.