Penn State Wrestling: Nittany Lions Cap Undefeated Dual Season with Record-Setting Performance Against Buffalo

By Geoff Rushton and Anthony Colucci

The Zain Train pulled into Rec Hall one last time, and it was operating as smoothly as ever.

Penn State senior 149-pounder Zain Retherford got his 52nd career pin, second-most in team history, and the Nittany Lions set program records for most pins and points in a dual meet with a 55-0 Senior Day victory over Buffalo.

Among the seven falls on the day, junior 184-pounder Bo Nickal’s came in 11 seconds, tied for second fastest in Penn State history.

The Nittany Lions closed out the dual season with a 14-0 record and have won 45 dual meets in a row dating back to the end of the 2014-15 season.

How It Happened

Senior Carson Kuhn closed his dual meet career with a win, his first since transferring from Boise State, but only needed to raise his arm. He won by forfeit after Buffalo didn’t weigh in anyone at 125, and the Nittany Lions had a 6-0 lead.

Along with Kuhn and Retherford, Corey Keener was the third senior to take the mat for Penn State on Sunday. Keener opened with a first-period takedown and controlled Buffalo’s Justin Patrick the rest of the way for an 8-3 decision at 133, the only bout of the day in which the Lions did not get bonus point.

At 141, No. 8 Nick Lee continued his strong freshman campaign getting the first of Penn State’s seven pins. He opened up a 14-4 lead over the Bulls’ Nicholas Cassella before getting the fall in the second period at the 4:37 mark, giving the Nittany Lions a 15-0 advantage

Retherford took the mat for his home finale, and he did not disappoint in front of the 41st consecutive sold out Rec Hall crowd. After taking a 16-3 lead over Buffalo’s Nick Palumbo before getting the pin at 4:10. His 52nd career fall puts Retherford one behind David Taylor and Josh Moore for the program record. It also put an exclamation point on a perfect career dual record for Retherford at 60-0.

Continuing to fill in for the injured Jason Nolf at 157, redshirt freshman Bo Pipher got his first dual meet win of the year in style, pinning the Bulls’ Eric Fasnacht and sending the Nittany Lions into the intermission with a 27-0 lead.

After the break No. 3 Vincenzo Joseph took on Buffalo’s Noah Grover and quickly took a 10-3 lead. But for the second consecutive match, Joseph went to his back from the neutral position after a failed toss and Grover narrowed the margin to 10-7. Joseph, though, would take over again and finish out a 16-8 major decision to put the Nittany Lions ahead 31-0.

Then it was back to the pin party.

No. 2 Mark Hall continued to need little time to put away his opponents at 174. A week after pinning Iowa’s Joseph Gunther at 1:00, Hall got a fast fall against Buffalo’s Derek Holcomb, needing just 56 seconds to get it done.

And for the second week in a row, No. 1 Bo Nickal would not be outdone. After getting a pin at :50 against Iowa last week, Nickal needed only 11 seconds to stick Buffalo’s Brett Parry. The fall ties David Taylor (2014) for second fastest in program history. Dylan Alton set the record at seven seconds in 2013.

No. 5 Shakur Rasheed got the nod at 197 in the dual finale after alternating with Anthony Cassar at times through the latter part of the season. Rasheed pinned Buffalo’s Joe Ariola at 1:57 to put the Nittany Lions up 49-0.

To close out the bout, No. 4 heavyweight Nick Nevills took an 8-1 lead over Buffalo’s Nolan Terrance before putting Nolan on his back and getting Penn State’s seventh pin of the day.

The 55-0 win was Penn State’s first shutout of the season.

What’s Next?

Penn State has two weeks off before heading to the Big Ten Championships March 3-4 in East Lansing, Mich., where the Nittany Lions will look to reclaim the conference title after last season’s second-place finish behind Ohio State.