State College, Pa., Feb. 18, 2005 - Behind the eight ball because of a forfeit at 141 pounds, the No. 13 ranked Penn State wrestling team could not overcome the point swing and fell to Ohio State 21-17 Friday in the Bryce Jordan Center in the Nittany Lions final dual meet of the season. The loss dropped Penn State to 10-10 (3-5 in the Big Ten) as they prepare for the Big Ten Championships, March 5-6 in Iowa City, Iowa. Ohio State improved to 8-11 (1-7 Big Ten) with the win. The Nittany Lions fell to 2-5 all-time in regular season dual meet appearances in the Jordan Center and 11-7 all-time against the Buckeyes.

Ohio State got a crucial early win at the opening bout at 133 pounds as No. 16 T.J. Enright posted a takedown in the final 10 seconds to pull out a 6-5 win over No. 19 Bryan Heller. It was Enright's second close win of the season over Heller as the Buckeye downed the Nittany Lion 6-4 in sudden victory overtime at the Midlands Championships earlier in the year.

The Buckeyes then took a 9-0 lead after Penn State forfeited at 141. Still nursing a sore knee, which was strained in Penn State's dual meet win over Northwestern last weekend, No. 11 ranked 141-pounder DeWitt Driscoll was held off the mat to prepare for the conference tournament, in which he is expected to be able to compete.

Ohio State pushed its advantage out to 12-0 with an 8-4 win by Steve Wolery over Jack Decker at 149 before Penn State was able to get on the board with a dominating performance by No. 18 Nate Galloway at 157. Galloway took Ryan Needle down in the first period and turned him twice for a two-point and three-point near-fall. He added a takedown and two-point near-fall in the second and another takedown in the third for a 14-2 win.

Penn State senior Jarrad Turner nearly got a win in his last career dual meet but had a late takedown waived off as time expired and fell 5-4 to Keegan Mueller at 165.

Trailing 15-4, the Nittany Lions got a strong performance from sophomore James Yonushonis who posted five takedowns, a reversal, an escape and a riding time point for a 14-5 major decision over Nathaniel Agustson. The win avenged a 6-4 loss to the Buckeye earlier this season at the Midlands. Eric Bradley followed with a 7-3 win over Alex Picazo to cut the lead to 15-11. Bradley, ranked No. 5, posted a pair of takedowns in the first period and one in the third.

That brought up the marquee match of the night as No. 6 J.D. Bergman and No. 15 Phil Davis squared off for the first time on the varsity mat. Davis got the opening takedown in the first period and Bergman escaped to make it 2-1 going into the second. Bergman took the down position and escaped and then quickly turned in for a takedown. After a Davis escape, Bergman added another takedown late in the period for a 6-3 lead going into the third. Davis took down and escaped but could not get a tying takedown and fell 6-4. The loss dropped Davis to 30-6 on the year.

At heavyweight, Buckeye Kirk Nail pulled out a 4-3 win over Joel Edwards. The match was tied at 2-2 going into the third and Nail took down. Edwards attempted to ride out the match, but got to high late in the period and Nail reversed him. Edwards escaped but could not score again as the Buckeyes pulled ahead to a 21-11 advantage and iced the victory.

That didn't stop senior Adam Smith from going out in style in his last career dual meet. A four-year starter, Smith ran his career dual meet record to 38-27 by sticking Nate Costello at 6:01 of the 125-pound bout. Smith gave up the first takedown in the bout, but responded with an escape and takedown of his own in the first period. He added another escape and takedown in the second and led 6-2 going into the third. The win secured Smith's 14 dual meet win of the season, tying him for the team lead with Eric Bradley, and boosted his team-leading dual meet point total to 65 on the year.

Ohio State 21, #13 Penn State 17 OSU PSU 133 #16 T.J. Enright (OS) dec. #19 Bryan Heller (PS), 6-5 3 0 141 Jason Johnstone (OS) win by forfeit 9 0 149 Steve Wolery (OS) Maj. Dec. Jack Decker (PS), 8-4 12 0 157 #18 Nate Galloway (PS) Maj. Dec. Ryan Needle, 14-2 12 4 165 Keegan Mueller (OS) dec. Jarrad Turner (PS), 5-4 15 4 174 James Yonushonis (PS) Maj. Dec. Nathaniel Agustson (OS), 14-5 15 8 184 #5 Eric Bradley (PS) dec. Alex Picazo (OS), 7-3 15 11 197 #6 J.D. Bergman (OS) dec. #15 Phil Davis (PS), 6-4 18 11 Hwt. Kirk Nail (OS) dec. Joel Edwards (PS), 4-3 21 11 125 Adam Smith (PS) pinned Nate Costello (OS), F;6:01 21 17 Penn State: 10-10; 3-5 Big Ten Ohio State: 8-11; 1-7 Big Ten Atttendance: 2,295 Ridge Riley Award: Adam Smith (125)