MCCUTCHPUSELDERS.jpg

Matt McCutcheon, left, won his debut match at 197 pounds with a 4-2 victory over 11th-ranked Rocco Caywood of Army. (Mark Selders/gopsusports.com photo)

Penn State's fourth-ranked wrestlers won all 10 bouts against Army Friday night - eight good for bonus points - rang up 36 takedowns and cruised to a season-opening 45-0 victory over the Black Knights.

Jason Nolf (157) and Bo Nickal (184) registered falls, Zain Retherford (149), Vincenzo Joseph (165) and Nick Nevills (285) notched technical falls and Nick Suriano (125), Jered Cortez (133) and Jimmy Gulibon (141) started the night off with major decisions. Geno Morelli (174) won a regular decision as did Matt McCutcheon in his debut at 197 after moving up from 184.

The Nittany Lions won their 18th straight dual meet and gave coach Cael Sanderson his seventh straight season-opening victory as well as his 99th victory as head coach at Penn State. The Lions return home Sunday for a 2 p.m. match against Stanford.

Suriano's Penn State debut went pretty much the way everyone expected it would, as he registered a 15-4 major decision over fellow freshman Trey Chalifoux. Six Suriano takedowns enabled him to cruise to his first career victory.

Cortez displayed similar dominant characteristics in his Penn State debut mat 133 as three takedowns and two nearfalls pushed the redshirt sophomore to a 14-1 major over Austin Harry.

Gulibon also started his senior season in style at 141 with Penn State's third straight major decision, this one a 12-0 nod over Army's 17th-ranked Logan Everett. Everett was scrappy enough to hang around for two periods but Gulibon turned it on with nine third-period points.

Army had to know it was in a load of trouble at the next three weights, and that's exactly what happened to the Black Knights. Retherford rang up four takedowns and two nearfalls on Matt Kelly en route to a 21-3 technical fall in 6:31 at 149, Jason Nolf fended off an aggressive 14th-ranked Russ Parsons in the opening minutes to lock up a nearside cradle and pin the Black Knight in 2:19 to stake Penn State to a 23-0 lead at the halfway point.

Joseph followed at 165 by making his Penn State debut end early on a 21-6 technical fall victory over Andrew Mendel in 5:36; that was Penn State's sixth straight bonus-point victory.

Morelli won the 174-pound slot over Shakur Rasheed and won his bout against Army as well. He outdueled a tough Ben Harvey 6-4 on the strength of a takedown, penalty point and riding time to give Penn State a 31-0 lead.

Penn State's Nickal needed just 25 seconds to pin Samson Imonode, and then McCutcheon made his debut at 197 pounds, up from 184. McCutcheon, ranked 16th, was about four or five inches shorter than 11th-ranked Rocco Caywood but a quick, opening-period takedown was key to his 4-2 victory.

McCutcheon told Jeff Byers on the Penn State Radio Network that he's working to put on "good" weight and to become stronger to "really fill out'' for the weight class. "I felt good, I felt strong,'' he said. "I felt confident but some things I did wrong I need to go back and fix for Sunday.''

Heavyweight Nevills secured the shutout by dominating David Farr for a 17-2 tech fall in 4:31.

NOTES: Former Penn State wrestler Nico Megaludis won the 57kg weight class on Friday at the Bill Farrell Non-Olympic World Team Trials. He defeated Russian Khasan Badrudinov 6-1 in the finals. Spots on the world team were up for grabs at 61kg and 70kg and they were won easily by Logan Stieber (61kg) and James Green (70kg). Other winners were B.J. Futtrell (65kg), Alex Dieringer (74kg), Austin Trotman (86kg) and Dustin Kilgore (97kg). One of Dieringer's victories was a technical fall over Chance Marsteller, the former four-time PIAA champ from Kennard-Dale who is wrestling independently while facing numerous legal charges after a September incident in the Lock Haven area.

PENN STATE 45, ARMY WEST POINT 0

125: Nick Suriano, PS md Trey Chalifoux 15-4.

133: Jered Cortez, PS md Austin Harry 14-1.

141: Jimmy Gulibon, PS md Logan Everett 17-6.

149: Zain Retherford, PS tf Matt Kelly 6:31 (21-3).

157: Jason Nolf, PS p Russ Parsons 2:19.

165: Vincenzo Joseph, PS tf Andrew Mendel 5:36 (21-6).

174: Geno Morelli, PS d Ben Harvey 6-4.

184: Bo Nickal, PS p Samson Imonode :25.

197: Matt McCutcheon, PS d Rocco Caywood 4-2.

285: Nick Nevills, PS tf David Farr 4:31 (17-2).