Westmont Hilltop graduate Tanner Hough, a true freshman 141-pounder at Duke, improved to 8-1 in his young career with a second-place finish at the Wolfpack Open in Raleigh, N.C., on Sunday.
Hough had two pins and a major decision - giving him four falls and three majors already - before falling to Virginia's Nick Nelson in the championship match. Nelson, who is ranked 13th nationally by Intermat, was able to ride out Hough for a 3-2 victory.
Before that, Hough - who finished second in the PIAA Class AAA tournament last season - was dominant. He started the day with a fall over Campbell's Tony Donati in 1:45. After a 9-1 rout of VMI's David Yost, Hough pinned Old Dominion's Taylor Moeder in 4:26 to reach the finals.
The fact that Hough was able to stick with Nelson, a redshirt senior from Shaler, shows that the Cradle Kid is ready for big-time college wrestling. He'll have to wait a year to prove exactly how he stacks up, however, as the plan is for Duke's talented freshman class to redshirt this season.
Nelson was one of five Virginia wrestlers to capture Wolfpack titles, and one of three who hails from Pennsylvania. Former Lewistown standout Matt Snyder beat another Pa. product - N.C. State's Colton Fought (Benton) - in the 125-pound championship bout. The Cavaliers' Jon Fausey (Line Mountain) captured the 184-pound title.
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The second-ranked Nittany Lions mauled Bloomsburg 39-3 on Sunday in front of more than 6,000 fans.
Not surprisingly, Penn State's three top-ranked wrestlers - Frank Molinaro (149), David Taylor (165) and Bald Eagle Area graduate Quentin Wright (184) - led the way. Taylor and Wright each had falls while Molinaro scored a tech fall.
See post-match interviews or check out the full recap from Penn State.
As talented as Cael Sanderson's team is - and make no mistake, Penn State's lineup is as good as any in the country - it's still very young. Four freshmen were in the lineup on Sunday, but three of them are already in the national rankings.
They'll need to live up to expectations, as next Sunday brings a huge Big Ten showdown with No. 3 Minnesota. The noon match will be shown live on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State's depth also was evidenced over the weekend, as six Nittany Lions captured individual titles at the East Stroudsburg Open. New Oxford's Jordan Conaway (125), Montoursville's Luke Frey (141) Central Mountain's Andrew Alton (149), Council Rock South's James Vollrath (157), Matt Brown (174) and Bald Eagle Area's Jon Gingrich (285) won championships.
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No. 18 Pitt improved to 2-0 on the young season by beating Drexel 25-13 on Sunday. A day after knocking off No. 6 Lehigh a night earlier, the Panthers won seven of 10 matches in Philadelphia. Keystone Oaks graduate Anthony Zanetta (125), Meadville's Shelton Mack (133) and Pittsburgh Central Catholic's Andy Vaughn (184) picked up bonus points in the Pitt victory.
Here's the full recap.
In other Pitt news, former State College standout Erik Galloway won the East Stroudsburg Open while Tyrone graduate Ronnie Garbinsky finished second.
The Panthers' first home match of the season will be a big one, as No. 8 Michigan visits Fitzgerald Field House at 7 p.m. Saturday.
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