PHILADELPHIA — Penn State, led by 184-pound champion Quentin Wright, won its first NCAA wrestling title in 58 years Saturday night by outpointing Cornell.
The Nittany Lions finished with 107 1/2 points to Cornell’s 93 1/2.
Wright began the tournament as the ninth seed and won his first national title with a 5-2 decision over Lehigh’s Rob Hamlin.
Nebraska senior Jordan Burroughs (36-0), one of five wrestlers to finish the tournament undefeated this season and the first two-time national champ in program history, dominated the 165 weight class.
He took the championship match with an 11-3 victory against Oklahoma’s Tyler Caldwell.
In the only pin of the night, Arizona State’s Bubba Watson, who spent four years at Penn State before he transferred, dispatched Nittany Lions freshman David Taylor in 4:14 at 157 pounds.
Wyoming junior Shane Onufer went 1-1 on Saturday to claim fifth place at 165 pounds. Cowboys junior Joe LeBlanc was forced to forfeit his final two matches to finish sixth in the nation at 184 after missing weight.
Three former Colorado high school wrestlers placed: Wisconsin’s Tyler Graff of Loveland High was fifth place at 133 pounds, Bucknell’s Kevin LeValley of Limon placed seventh at 149 pounds and Minnesota’s Sonny Yohn of Alamosa finished seventh at 197 pounds.
