2016 Keystone Classic Results- Interviews

Team Finish
1. Penn State 245
2. Pitt 121.5
3. Eastern Michigan 110.5
4. Appalachian State 95.5
5. Drexel 86
6. Rider 74
7. Northwestern 67
8. Harvard 60
9. Penn
10. VMI
11. F & M
12. Sacred Heart

There were a few changes to the classic this year. Northwestern was back, Indiana was gone and a Whale showed up. Penn State rolled into the city of brotherly love with a stacked team and tons of fans. The fans were treated to 8 champions. Flo secured video rights so I have no highlights to show you but I’ll give you my assessment and post finals interviews. It’s early in the season and the first tournament for many of these guys. Not all their gas tanks were full; precision of technique was there sometimes but not always. I saw at least 3 All Americans fight off their backs and 2 came back to win. Penn State brought most of its aggressive style and may have intimidated a few of their opponents. There was team on team competition several times which is always a little tight because of the stakes of the starting spot and familiarity. At 174 PSU had both finalist go into the ride out to decide victory. What does a ride out have to do with being a good wrestler? Nothing – but I digress. Both kids had the gas tank and Rasheed won with an escape with 7 seconds left in the final period. I’ve been to this tournament more times than I can count and this was the most fans I’ve seen ever, even when there were 20-30 teams a few years back. There were some quality boys missing due to injury, bummer. Brill, Hammond and Clagon were all inactive today. Clagon told me that he expects to be back in the lineup Dec. 3rd for Lock Haven.
Penn State looks to be in the hunt for another championship come March. They are deep and aggressive; considering the competition to get into the lineup they still seem like a very tight bunch. Pitt, a team that I’ve given a hard time to over the last couple years, took second and had one champ: Dom Forys, who disappeared before I could get to him. Te’shan Campbell looked much better than last season until the finals. I know that he and Joseph had worked out plenty in the past, familiarity may have influenced his finals style.
Kevin Devoy’s win over Cotez should put 133 on notice that the Drexel wrestler is kind of back, until Forys shut him down 8-3 in the finals. Forys looked really tough today. While Retherford dominated Mikey Racciato in the semi’s, Racciato looked better than he did last season. Here’s hoping he stays on the right track. 141 was an enigmatic weight class. Give Springer credit for giving EMU a title. Jimmy Gulibon is a mystery to me but I don’t see Moss as the answer. He doesn’t have the quickness to hang with the top guys at the weight. Zain Retherford didn’t have a deep weight class but he was relentless. Jason Nolf has incredible hips, they belong on a 65lber. The Walsh vs. Joseph semi was worth the price of admission. Joseph’s hips were too sound for the Walsh counter attacks, that said you can’t ever relax against that Walsh guy. Walsh proves the point that there is a great style of wrestling for every body type. I wish that I could tune in every time Walsh takes the mat. I’m not sure if 174 is close to being settled for PSU. While Rasheed didn’t gas in the finals there was very little activity/scoring too. I’m not sure how to interpret this? Rasheed and Morelli are a tough matchup for each other style wise. Styles and the familiarity will make scoring a challenge for both guys when they face each other. Nickal was dominating in a weaker weight class. He’s not a huge 84lber but he’ll be quicker and as strong as any of them. Nickal is must see wrestling and is inspiring for youngsters. Matt McCutcheon moves up to 197 and looked good. I was surprised that Joe Heyob finished 4th? I expected a higher finish. Can Cutch stay out of injury causing positions at a higher weight for an entire season? Morgan McIntosh told me that it took him until his senior season to figure that out. Nick Nevills took out a tough Denzel Dejournette and increased his margin of victory from their meeting 2 years ago.
Thanks to Penn State staff for granting me access to their wrestlers after the finals. I’ve been working on a Coach Cael interview for 2 years. I guess that I’m lucky that he hasn’t said no yet. Just that he needs more time to prepare.
This is the 3rd time that I’ve been approached by a reader with nice things to say over the last 2 weeks. Thanks. It seems like only hate mail gets though to me via the contact function.
UPenn does a nice job hosting the event delivering a smooth, well-run event. The Palestra is a great facility to host any event, not only is it a classic building but it gives fans the chance to mingle with their team in the stands.
Click hyperlink for post match interviews. I’ll do better with some of them next time.
125 lbs
1st Nick Suriano (Penn State) MD Noah Gonser (EMU), 12-4
3rd LJ Bentley (Pitt) Dec Zack Fuentes (Drexel), 3-2
5th Dalton Henderson (Virginia Military Institute) MFF Vito Pasone (Appalachian State), 0-0 0:00
133 lbs
1st Dom Forys (Pitt) Dec Kevin Devoy (Drexel), 8-3
3rd Jered Cortez (Penn State) Fall Shayne Wireman (Eastern Michigan), :44
5th Colby Smith (Appalachian State) Dec Jeffrey Ott (Harvard), 7-0
141 lbs
1st Kyle Springer (EMU) Dec Kade Moss (Penn State), 5-2
3rd Evan Fidelibus (Rider) Fall Robert Lee (Pitt), 2:58
5th Dom Giannangeli (Penn State) Dec Irvin Enriquez (Appalachian State), 8-7
149 lbs
1st Zain Retherford (Penn State) Fall Matthew Zovistoski (Appalachian State), 2:46
3rd Mikey Racciato (Pitt) Dec Gary Dinmore (Penn State), 9-6
5th Nick Barber (EMU) Dec Hunter Ladnier (Harvard), 8-2
157 lbs
1st Jason Nolf (Penn State) TF Maaziah Bethea (Penn), 25-10 6:04
3rd Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) Fall Wolfe (EMU), 4:35
5th Neal Richards (VMI) MFF Jake Wentzel (Pitt)
165 lbs
1st Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) Dec Te’shan Campbell (Pitt), 9-5
3rd Chad Walsh (Rider) FF Austin Rose (Drexel University)
5th Forrest Przybysz (Appalachian State) Dec Rob King (F&M), 6-4
174 lbs
1st Shakur Rasheed (Penn State) Dec Geno Morelli (Penn State), OT rideout
3rd Josef Johnson (Harvard) Dec Jacob Davis (Eastern Michigan), 6-0
5th Wayne Stinson (Rider) MFF Johnny Sebastian (Northwestern University)
184 lbs
1st Bo Nickal (Penn State) Fall Mitch Sliga (Northwestern University), 6:34
3rd Alex Deciantis (Drexel) Dec Mike Fagg-daves (Rider), 5-3 SV
5th Anthony Mancini (F&M) Dec Kayne Maccallum (EMU), 9-4
197 lbs
1st Matt McCutcheon (Penn State) Dec Frank Mattiace (Penn), 3-1
3rd Jacob Berkowitz (Northwestern) Dec Joe Heyob (Penn), 8-3
5th Kellan Stout (Penn State) Dec Randall Diabe (Appalachian State), 8-6
285 lbs
1st Nick Nevills (Penn State) Dec Denzel Dejournette (Appalachian State), 8-3
3rd Joey Goodhart (Drexel) DEC Nickolas Gajdzik (Harvard), 4-2
5th Cary Miller (Appalachian State) Dec Gage Hutchison (Eastern Michigan), 2-1