Thrilling.
That's about the only word that cuts it when describing No. 8 Penn (8-4, 4-0 Ivy League) wrestling's 20-15 comeback win against 19th-ranked Central Michigan (8-6). The rally climaxed with Marcus Schontube's stunning pin which clinched the win in front of a jubilant crowd at the Palestra yesterday.
The Quakers now own a five-game winning streak and have four wins over nationally-ranked opposition.
The Red and Blue fell behind 12-0 after losing the first four bouts, including upsets of eighth-ranked 125 Mason Lenhard and 14th-ranked heavyweight Matt Feast.
Each of the bouts were competitive into the third period, but Central Michigan clearly came out with more energy.
"Some of our guys weren't really prepared well," Penn coach Roger Reina said.
Following the poor start the Quakers had virtually no margin for error.
They didn't need any. The Red and Blue went on to win the next five matches, four of them by the seniors on the team, Joe and Josh Henson, and co-captains Yoshi Nakamura and Rick Springman.
"They carried us last weekend against Brown too," said Reina. "It's great to see their resolve, but we need all ten wrestling their best, and we didn't get it, not last weekend either."
No. 10 Joe Henson at 149 stopped the bleeding by dominating Ty Morgan,10-3, bringing the Quakers within nine.
"I'm always confident out there," Henson said. "I'm confident in the other three seniors in their ability and confident in what they are capable of doing. I hope they're confident in me."
The entire meet turned on the next bout, as No. 2 Yoshi Nakamura trailed by one, 3-2, to David Bolyard with only 15 seconds remaining before receiving a point for stalling. This controversial call was vehemently argued by Chippewas' coach Tom Borrelli.
Nakamura then staved off the upset by scoring a two-point take down with 10 seconds left.
"That was not his kind of performance," Reina said. "He really dodged a bullet. He wasn't quite 100 percent but that's no excuse, he took the mat. He didn't perform up to what he's capable."
With the momentum now in Penn's favor, No. 8 Josh Henson and No. 3 Springman proceeded to put on a clinic by taking apart their opponents with 12-2 and 20-8 major wins. These victories gave Penn a 14-12 lead.
Quakers' 184 Schontube trailed 4-0 to Bill Stouffer with a little more than 90 seconds remaining in the final period. An escape and two quick takedowns gave him a 5-4 advantage.
What followed was something the sophomore would never forget.
With Stouffer still reeling from the takedown Schontube got the Chippewas' wrestler on his back and scored a pin.
"I just sort of fell into it to be honest," Schontube said. "Sometimes it just happens like that."
Schontube clearly had more energy left at the end of the match.
"My conditioning definitely helped out a lot in that match," Schontube said.
"Marcus was a lot of stronger and better conditioned and that put him in a position to capitalize at the end," Reina said. "That was the biggest dual meet performance that he's had here."
The six point pin made the margin an insurmountable eight, 20-12. The Chippewas pulled out the last match at 197 as sophomore Mike Faust fell in OT, making the final margin a hard fought 20-15 win.
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