St. LOUIS — Welcome to the nightcap of day two here at the NCAA Wrestling Championships from Scottrade Center. Only two Penn wrestlers remain, sophomore No. 9 Rollie Peterkin (125 pounds) and junior Zack Shanaman (165). Both need a win in their first bout to earn All-American status. Peterkin faces No. 10 James Nicholson of Old Dominion and Shanaman No. 5 Stephen Dwyer.

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Peterkin starts off the fourth session for Penn, looking to earn his first All-American honor. The majority of the first period is even, but with just :07 left, Peterkin earns a takedown. Nicholson earns an escape in the second, but gets injured doing so. However, after roughly 1:30 of his 2:00 of injury time, he bounces back up. In the third, Peterkin, starting from the bottom position, escapes just eight seconds in, pushing his lead to 3-1. However, with just :25 showing Nicholson earns a takedown to tie it up. And Sudden Victory it is. After thirty seconds of close, but scoreless wrestling, Nicholson breaks through, earning a takedown with :28 to go. And just like that Peterkin’s season is over. Immediately after the call, Penn coach Zeke Jones gets furious, jumping out of his chair with his arms raised in anger. Peterkin also is visibly upset, as he throws down his headgear in disgust. [NB I saw Jones a few minutes after the loss, and he had calmed down.]

Right as Peterkin lost, another 125-pounder captivated the attention of the crowd. Arizona State sophomore Anthony Robles was born with one leg, yet he was a state champion in high school, and has made a splash in the NCAA’s. Just like Peterkin, he came into tonight’s session needing one win to claim All-American status. But just like Peterkin, he lost a 5-3 sudden victory decision. Right as he lost on mat six, people around mat six started clapping as a sign of respect, and as news of his exit — so close to All-American status — spread, the entire stadium started clapping, rising to give him a standing ovation.

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The last match of the day, Shanaman vs Stephen Dwyer of Nebraska, was a back and forth affair. But in the end, Shanaman didn’t get enough. Dwyer paced the first with a takedown at 2:05 and an escape at :41, until Shanaman finally broke through with a takedown around :10. In the second, Shanaman continued his success with an escape at 1:00 to tie it up. In the third period both wrestlers scored. But it was Dwyer, with a takedown around 1:00, and not Shanaman with an escape towards the end of the period, that determined the match. Final score: 5-4 Dwyer.

With the loss, all Penn wrestlers have been eliminated. However, Coach Jones did say the team would stay tomorrow and watch the finals “so they can get the whole experience.”

This year marks the first time since 1996 that Penn left the national tournament without an All-American.

As for myself, I’ll continue blogging tomorrow, even without any Penn wrestlers in action. I’ll probably provide some statistical analysis, such as Penn’s record vs teams for various conferences, as well as updates on how Cornell is doing. (eighth place last time they updated it).

Tags: NCAA, St. Louis, wrestling

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