Penn State brings home a long-sought wrestling title

It had been 58 years since Penn State won a national wrestling title, so long that perhaps only Joe Paterno could recall it.

So on Saturday night, when the young Nittany Lions officially captured the team title at the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships, maybe it was appropriate that they partied like it was 1953.

Muted at first after two upset losses in individual championships, the winners' mood brightened a bit as the wrestlers gathered in a Wells Fargo Center hallway awaiting the NCAA trophy presentation, then erupted into smiles, waves, and shouts when they reached the awards platform.

Despite losing two of three individual-championship matches, Penn State emerged as the winner of a competition that many had conceded to more-experienced Cornell.

They won because - despite Saturday night's losses - they were the only school to advance three wrestlers to the finals. Curiously, it was the least accomplished of that Nittany Lions trio, ninth-seeded Quentin Wright at 184 pounds, who triumphed.

That win, combined with second-place finishes by Frank Molinaro (149) and David Taylor (157), both of whom were initially devastated after their defeats, was good enough for 1071/2 points, 14 better than Cornell's total.

"These guys want to win real bad," Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. "Yeah, we're a team, but we compete as individuals. And when you don't have success, it can be tough."

Iowa was third with 861/2 points. Surprise Arizona State, sixth with 621/2 points, was the only school to win two individual titles. Lehigh, whose heavyweight, Zach Rey, took home that title, was eighth.

Nebraska's Jordan Burroughs, a Winslow Township, N.J., native, won at 165.

Penn State's long-sought second national title - it remains the only Eastern school to have won one - came in Sanderson's second year in State College. After the 2009 season, Penn State lured the Iowa State legend, who went 159-0 as a collegian, from coaching his alma mater.

"At some point, I'm going to have to step back and take a look at what we just accomplished," Sanderson said. "It's unbelievable, but it's all kind of a blur right now."

Sanderson's reputation, his recruiting abilities, and a team dominated by freshmen and sophomores suggest the title might not be his last. Taylor, unbeaten until his loss Saturday night, said Sanderson was the reason he came to Penn State.