Retherford and Ruth Champions at Bearcat Open

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Penn State and Cornell showed off their depth as the two teams dominated with 9 Champions combined; Penn State crowned six and Cornell three. Many former Pennslyvania High School wrestlers participated in the open tournament as true-freshman Zain Retherford (Benton Area) showed Cael Sanderson why he is one of the top rookies around. Zain claimed the 141 lbs. Championship earning a major decision over fellow true-freshman Tyson Dippery (Central Dauphin) by a score of (10-0) in the second round. Reetherford went on to win by fall, regular decision, technical-fall, and capped it off with a first period fall in the finals against Lehigh’s Will Switzer.

At 184 lbs. Ed Ruth (Susquehanna Township) went unchallenged and cruised to the Championship with four technical-falls and a pin in the finals.

In a highly contested bout two-time NCAA National runner-up Nico Megaludis (Franklin Regional) took on 2013 Third Place All-American Nahshon Garrett of Cornell in the finals at 125 lbs. Garrett was able to get past the Nitanny Lion (6-5) to claim the Championship in a battle of the #2 vs. #3 in the Nation. Former PIAA Class AA State Champion David White (Athens Area) competed well on his home turf as the Binghamton junior finished in fourth place at 125 lbs.

At 133 lbs. three of four place winners were Pennsylvania natives. Penn State teammates Jordan Conaway (New Oxford) and Jimmy Gulibon (Derry Area) went head-to-head in the semi-finals with Conaway coming out on top (3-1 in OT). Gulibon, a 4x PIAA State Champion, is a redshirt freshman for Cael Sanderson and finished in fourth place at 133 lbs. In the consolation finals Gulibon was decked by Maryland’s Geoff Alexander (Shady Side Academy), a former PIAA State Champion, 0:19 seconds into the match. There are high expectations for Gulibon who is likely to get the nod at 133 lbs. but Conaway, a PIAA State Champion himself, proved why he shouldn’t be counted out. Conaway fell in the finals to Cornell’s Mark Grey (3-1).

At 149 lbs. Penn State veteran James English (Central York) advanced into the Championship semi-finals before a minor injury forced him to default out of the Tournament.

Penn State’s James Vollrath (Council Rock South) downed two former PA wrestlers, defeating Stevens Tech Leo Wortman (Bellefonte Area) by major decision (11-3) and pinning Lock Haven’s Billy Randt (West York Area) in (2:36). Vollrath advanced to the finals but fell to #13 Nationally ranked Nestor Taffur of Boston University (9-8) in a tight bout.

Former 2x PIAA Class AAA State Champion Garret Hammond (Chambersburg Area) had an impressive tournament for Penn State finishing in third place. En route Hammond defeated two fellow Pennsylvania Natives, defeating Rutgers’ Mikey Simmons (Middletown Area) by technical-fall (17-2) and taking out Lock Haven’s Aaron McKinney (West Allegheny) by technical-fall (16-1). Hammond will seemingly benefit from competing in the same weight-class as NCAA superstar David Taylor.

True freshman Eric Morris (Wyoming Seminary) of Harvard faired well at 174 lbs. finishing in fourth place after forfeiting in the consolation finals. 174 lbs. was loaded with Pennsylvania talent with a total of nine former Keystone wrestlers competing.

At 184 lbs., in addition to Ruth, Pennlyvania earned two other medals as two Nationally ranked wrestlers placed third and fourth. Lehigh’s Nathaniel Brown (Lewisburg Area), ranked #8 in the Nation, finished in third place after falling to tournament runner-up Gabe Dean (Cornell) in the championship semifinals. Lock Haven’s Fred Garcia (Ringgold), ranked #17 in the Nation, also fell to Cornell’s Dean in the championship quarterfinals but advanced to the consolation finals where he fell to Nathaniel Brown (4-1).

197 lbs. was the only weight-class of the tournament that did not see a Pennslyvania wrestler on the medal stand.

Finishing up at heavyweight, Penn State’s Jon Gingrich (Bald Eagle Area) finished in third place. Gingrich defeated fellow teammate Nick Ruggear (Oxford Area) by a score of (4-3) in the consolation semifinals.

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