Sanderson's crew has five in title bouts tonight on ESPN
Sophomore Nico Megaludis emerged as a true freshman star on the national scene last year, parlaying a strong regular season into a sizzling run through his first NCAA Championship tournament. The Murrysville native advanced to the national finals and ended his first season of collegiate wrestling as the 2012 National Runner-Up at 125. Megaludis now returns as a contender for the national title as a sophomore.
Lion Career 2011-12: Downed Jordan Conaway 5-1 in Intrasquad on 11/3....pinned Bloomsburg's Sean Boylan in collegiate debut (2:15) on 11/13...lost close 6-2 decision to #2 Zach Sanders of Minnesota on 11/20...went 5-0 (plus a NC win) to claim the 125 crown at the Nittany Lion Open on 12/4...went 5-2 at the Southern Scuffle to take fourth, only two losses to #7 Frank Perrelli of Cornell...downed #9 Matt Snyder of Virginia at Scuffle...was dominating MSU's Eric Olanowski 8-3 on 1/8 when illegal throw call and subsequent injury gave him a DQ loss...rebounded in stellar fashion with 7-3 win over #7 Levin Mele of Northwestern in Big Ten road dual on 1/13...took former national champion and #2 Matt McDonough of Iowa to SV before losing 3-1 on 1/22...downed #15 Johnni Dejulius 6-2 with nearly 3:00 RT on 1/29....closed out Big Ten dual season with wins against Nebraska and Michigan to go 5-3 in-conference as a true freshman...posted 4-2 (sv2) win over #15 Anthony Zanetta of Pittsburgh on 2/19...went 3-2 at first Big Ten Championship at Purdue on 3/3-4 to take fifth place.
Big Ten Championships (3-2, 5th, NCAA Qualifier): Megaludis went 3-2 at his first Big Ten Championship, finishing fifth and earning a trip to NCAAs as a true freshman...downed Michigan's Grant Pizzo 12-3 and Ohio State's Johnni DeJulius 6-2...dropped 6-2 decision to #2 Zach Sanders and sudden victory bout to Northwestern's Levi Mele...beat Purdue's Camden Eppert 4-1 for fifth place.
NCAA Championships (4-1, 2nd, National Runner-Up): Stunning run at NCAAs included four straight wins to advance to national finals as true freshman...13-5 major over Michael Martinez of Wyoming then 7-3 win over #7 Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma...avenged two regular season losses with 7-4 dismantling of #2 Zach Sanders of Minnesota in quarterfinals...thrilling 3-2 (tb2) win over #6 Frank Perrelli of Cornell in national semis, avenging two regular season losses to Perrelli as well...dropped tough 4-1 bout to #1 Matt McDonough of Iowa in national finals...became Penn State's first true freshman All-American since Quentin Wright was sixth at 174 in 2009.
High School/Personal
Nico Megaludis came to Penn State as the No. 5 ranked recruit in the nation at any weight by Intermat. Megaludis was a three-time Pennsylvania State Champion, finishing his stellar high school career with a 170-1 career record. Megaludis began his career by posting a 37-1 record and taking third place at 103 as a freshman. A year later, the Franklin Regional product began a string of undefeated seasons that would lead to three straight PIAA titles. He went 46-0 in 2009 and took first at 112 and went 36-0 in 2010, taking the crown at 119. In 2011, Megaludis won 125 pound championship in Hershey, ending the year with a 51-0 record. Megaludis was also on the list of Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award finalists, winning the Northeast Regional honor, one of only five finalists for the 2011 honor.
