IOWA CITY, Iowa — With high seeds and high expectations, a rainy Saturday damped the Olympic flames of many Pennsylvania wrestlers.
The best chance for a Pennsylvania affiliate, Nittany Lion Wrestling Club’s Jake Varner, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist at 97 kilograms, was gone Saturday night in the final.
Varner won the first bout, 4-4, on criteria, but fell to Kyle Snyder, 20, of Team Mercury Wrestling Club in the latter two bouts.
Snyder, the world champion at this weight and NCAA heavyweight champion, won the second bout, 4-0, thanks to a shot-clock point, a step-out point and a takedown on Varner.
The third bout saw Snyder again take an early lead. A two-point go-behind and a one-point push-out gave him a 3-0 advantage against Varner at the break.
Snyder scored three more points in the second period take the Olympic Team Trials title.
In the lower weight classes, Coleman Scott, a 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist at 60 kilograms, head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels and Waynesburg High School graduate, fell in his semifinal bout to Tony Ramos, a fan favorite, in the 57 kilogram semifinals.
Scott secured a first-round bye and advanced to a matchup with Ramos after ankle lacing and spinning Joe Colon like a merry-go-round for eight consecutive points, finishing off Colon with a 14-4 technical fall.
But Ramos was not to be denied. A late takedown by Ramos gave this Hawkeye Wrestling Club representative a 4-3 lead. Although Scott landed a one point move with time expiring to tie the match at 4-4, Ramos won on the criteria of having higher scoring moves.
After confirming with the referee, Scott, who held back tears after the match, had nothing but good things to say about Ramos.
“I told him he wrestled his [butt] off,” Scott said. “I think he’s a great kid, but we’re competitors on the mat. I told him I’m done, it’s his time. I’ll help him do whatever if he’s on the team. I’ll help him do whatever it takes to win.”
Scott injury defaulted out of the consolation bracket.
Expectations were equally high for David Taylor, a Penn State graduate and State College native, although he failed again to crack Kyle Dake.
Dake beat Taylor, the second-place finisher in the Olympic trials qualifier in the 86 kilogram semifinals by way of a 4-3 decision. Taylor’s loss relegated him to the consolation bracket, where he wrestled all the way back to take third place and secure a spot on the U.S. national team.
But, Taylor, who now is 0-8 in his career against Dake, said he was not satisfied with his performance.
“I thought coming into this performance I was the most prepared I’ve ever been. So looking at it right now, it’s frustrating,” Taylor said.
“I’m want to wrestle for the next four years. An Olympic medal is my dream. I know I’m nowhere near my best.”
Meanwhile, the door closed on the career for another Pennsylvania wrestler, as Jake Hebert, a North Allegheny High School alumnus, said this tournament would be his last.
Herbert lost to Taylor in the semifinals of the consolation bracket on a 10-0 technical fall, and afterward said the trials were likely his final big tournament.
Herbert, a 2015 world championship silver medalist, said he will remain a figure in the sport, however, through youth programming.
”It’s hard burying the dream, as much as wrestling means to me,” he said. “I’ve done more than 99.9 percent of people in this sport. ... Am I going to go for a world championship? More than likely no.”
First Published: April 11, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
