PAGE six Wrestlers Win Opener, 2.3-8 * * * Cagers Beat —Daily Collegian Photo ti) Joe Patton SENIOR GEORGE SMITH, making only his second start of his college wrestling career, applies the pressure to Colgate's Bob Skripak seconds before he pinned the 130-pounder Saturday night at Recreation Hall. Smith's fall was the third for the Lions in a 23-8 victory. Nodland, Smith, Pepe Gain Falls; Two Others Win Strength in the upper weight classes has been typical of the Penn State wrestling team for the last three seasons but the strength was missing Saturday night when Coach Charley Speidel's matmen opened the 1956-57 campaign with a 23-8 victory over Colgate at Recreation Hall. The Lions, . who for the first time since the 1954 season are without the services of 177-pound Joe Krufka and heavyweight Bill Oberly, displayed the expected power in the lower weight divi- all the way and won an easy 8-2 sions by sweeping the first five i decision. matches from the Red Raiders-d It took 147-pound John Pepe a three by falls. little time to fake cautious Ted But the tide turned in the next Tobias into a wrong move but the three events as Coach Harvey wait paid off when Pepe pinned Potter's grapplers won the 167 his Colgate foe with a bar and and 377 pound matches on deci- chancery at 0:41 of the third per sions and picked up a split in the l lod• unlimited class. Co-captain Dave Adams had I"another tough nut . to crack" in Inexperience was actually the the presence of Paul D'Esterre. downfall of the three upper , The Lion ace tried hard but he weight men—Dick Phelan. 167:! could not work a pinning corn- Bruce Gilmore, 177; and Satl binatior. onto D'Esterre as he Markle, heavyweight for they i 'picked up a 5-0 decision. were wrestling in their first var- Phelan battled Fred Shult on city match. even terms for most of their 167- Sid Nodland, last year's 1_23- ipound match and it looked like pound Eastern titlist , brought the it would end in a draw. But Shult 6000 partisan fans to their feet be-'pulled a reversal on Phelan with fore they even had time to get 30 seconds remaining in the third settled when he pinned Paul Mar- period to win a close 2-1 decision. tin in 45 seconds of the first per- Gilmore was up against the iod with a cradle. toughest of the Colgate crew, cap- State College's George Smith.tain Pete Newell. Newell. who making his first varsity start be-Ihas only lost one match in his fore' hometown fans. followedll3-bout career—a 4-3 decision to Nodland's example and pinned !Syracuse's Dick Lasse in last Bob •Skripak with a body pressiyear's Eastern heavyweight semi at 1:27 of the final period. Smithifinals—had too much experience was leading 10-3 at the time of hislfor the Lion sophomore, winning fall. ,a 6-2 decision. Letterman Johnny Johnston' Markle fought Colgate's Doug moved from the 130-pound spot, Werner to a 1-1 standstill in a where he won the Eastern cham- battle of 200-pounders. Neither of pionship last year, to the 137- the two men could score take pound berth and found Colgate'skowns as an escape by Markle in Frank McCarthy a little toolthe second period and an escape strong to pin. However, theiby Werner in the third produced Clearfield junior was in control all the scoring. GIFT SUGGESTIONS •Phi!co "All in One" Phonongrophs • Bogen-Fisher-Stephens Components •Tape Recorders—Wholesale Price •Records—ALL on Sole Come in and hear a demonstration! SHADLE ASSOCIATES "*The House of High Fidelity" Open Evenings —l5l S. Allen St.— By LOU PRATO THE DAILY COtLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA Lions Play Best Game Defensively Home courts are handy, especially on off nights. The Nittany cagers, playing their worst offensive game of the year before the home fans, defeated a scrappy Colgate quintet. 51-44, Saturday night at Recreation Hall. Fortunately. for the Lions, their defense was at its best, holding Colgate to its lowest point total in 14 years. Offensively, however. both teams had poor nights. The Lions had only a 28.1 shooting average' —their lowest on the Rec Hall court this year—while the Red Raiders had a mere 24.5 percent age. - Colgate jumped info an early 13-8 lead in the first half only to have the Lions tie it 13-13 on Captain Bob Leisher's set shot with 11 minutes gone. Steve Baidy's one-handed push and another Leisher set put the Lions into a 17-13 lead, a lead which they never lost. Both clubs traded baskets in the early minutes of the second half before the Lions finally surged to a 39-30 lead midway through the period. Two baskets each by center Bob Ramsay and forward Ron Rainey were the big tallies in the drive. Colgate's Russ Brummer's drive cut the lead to seven before two foul shots by Leisher and a Carm Palmiero tap-in gave the Nit tanies a 43-32 lead. Colgate's Jack Nichols, prob ably the best all-round player on the court, then led a belated. but unsuccessful last effort comeback to cut the Lion mar gin. 48-42. with six minutes left. From that point on, the Lions began to play possession ball with Colgate pressing to gain control. The strategy worked with the Lions scoring only three points and Colgate two in the time re maining. Defense, an oft forgotten art in the modern court game, was the only bright spot in both club's play. The Lions, using its stand ard 3-2 sliding zone, never gave Colgate the opening it was look ing for—even on the Raider fast break. its most potent offensive weapon. Colgate, on the other hand, played a %tight man to man de fense which prevented the Nit tanies from setting up their of fen