Penn State Wrestling: Most Dominant Seasons by a Nittany Lions Wrestler – Jeff Prescott 1991
Continuing our on-going series of reliving some of the most dominant individual seasons for Penn State Wrestling.
This is now the fourth installment as we previously highlighted the following stellar seasons:
Andy Matter – 1972 season
Jim Martin – 1988 season
Carl DeStefanis – 1984 season
And now it’s time to highlight a wrestler who was the second Nittany Lion in program history to win two NCAA titles.
But Jeff Prescott not only won two individual titles, he also became the first Penn State Wrestler to ever be named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA’s.
So with that, let’s dive into Prescott’s Nittany Lion career!
Jeff Prescott Freshman and Sophomore Years for Penn State Wrestling
Freshman Year 1988-1989
Like most freshmen, Prescott struggled at times on the mat.
And while he was triumphant in his first-ever Penn State wrestling match, he proceeded to drop the next three contests. The ups and downs continued for Prescott for the remainder of his opening year in Happy Valley.
But hey, in the end, Jeff compiled a very respectable 12-7-1 record. Additionally, there were glimpses as to just how good he could be. Especially considering eight of his wins were by bonus points, as four were by major decision, one technical fall, and three falls.
Sophomore Year 1989-1990
Prescott’s second year for Penn State Wrestling is where he truly put himself on the map.
However, his sophomore campaign didn’t exactly start out on a “sunshine and puppies” trajectory.
Case in point was Jeff’s 1-3-1 record following the first five matches of the 1989-1990 season.
Now, to be perfectly fair, these five matches weren’t against a bean bag chair, a stop sign, and three oversized teddy bears. These were against North Carolina’s Doug Wyland, Arizona State’s Shawn Charles, Oklahoma State’s Chris Bollin, and Iowa’s Terry Brands.
There’s more than a handful of All-American finishes and a sprinkling of individual titles from that group.
But the more important thing to note is that Prescott’s slow start didn’t deter him at all. Not one bit.
Jeff went on a complete tear as he rattled off 11 straight wins. Furthermore, he racked up a major decision, two technical falls, and three pins.
1990 EWL’s and NCAA’s
And heading into his first-ever EWL Championship appearance, Prescott sported a 15-5-1 record. Which, again, based on how the season started, was pretty darn good.
Jeff ripped through his first two matches, winning via a fall and a technical fall. And in the finals, he bested Pitt’s Bob Simpson in a high-scoring match, 10-6. Thus winning the first of three EWL titles he would claim during his Penn State Wrestling career.
Unfortunately, in the 1990 NCAA Championships, the level of competition ratcheted up significantly.
After winning his opening two matches, Jeff lost a heartbreaker 11-8 at the hands of Arizona State’s Zeke Jones.
But Prescott picked himself up by his bootstraps and reeled off two more wins in the wrestlebacks. This set up a very difficult matchup against Iowa State’s Gary McCall.
In the end, McCall was too much to handle. He bested Prescott 6-4 before ultimately taking home third place in the 1990 NCAA’s.
As for Jeff, he prevailed in the fifth-place match 4-0 against Northern Iowa’s Mark Schwab. Additionally, one thing never happened after that weekend:
-Jeff Prescott did not lose another collegiate match at 118 pounds
Jeff Prescott Junior Year for Penn State Wrestling
Prescott’s 1990-1991 season started out like gang-busters.
Heading into late February, Jeff had compiled a perfect record of 14-0. Additionally, this included five major decisions, four technical falls, and five falls.
For those of you scoring at home, yes, Prescott was hitting a perfect 1.000 in terms of his bonus point percentage.
But in a late season dual meet against Bloomsburg, Jeff was forced to fill in at 126 due to sickness on the team. And even though he faced an unranked opponent, no one told Tim Casey he was supposed to lose.
Casey frustrated Prescott for the majority of the match. No matter what he tried to do, Casey had the answer. And in the end, Prescott dropped the 13-9 decision. Furthermore, Penn State Wrestling dropped the dual meet 18-15 to in-state rival Bloomsburg.
So it’s safe to say this wasn’t the exact way Jeff wanted to end his regular season heading into the 1991 EWL Championships.
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1991 EWL Championships
Just like other top tier athletes, wrestlers also need to have a memory like a goldfish.
As for Prescott’s performance at the 1991 EWL’s? It was nothing short of spectacular.
Jeff shook off the frustrating loss at the end of the regular season and appeared to use it as motivation inside the friendly confines of Rec Hall.
In his three matches, Prescott only surrendered a total of five points as he won by fall, technical fall, and major decision respectively to take home his second straight. EWL title.
“Be a goldfish.”
1991 NCAA Championships
And the Prescott Pain-Train was showing no signs of slowing down as it pulled into station in Iowa City, Iowa in March of 1991.
Jeff pinned his first two opponents in the 1991 NCAA’s before winning a super exciting 20-10 major decision against four-time All-American Eric Akin. The win marked the deepest run Prescott had ever had in his NCAA career. Up until that point.
That was the good news.
The bad news was that Edinboro all-time great Lou Rosselli would be his opponent in the semifinals.
For his career, Rosselli notched a total of 136 wins in his Fighting Scot career. But he didn’t earn one of those on that Friday evening in Iowa City.
Prescott hounded Rosselli for the duration of the match and his Edinboro counterpart couldn’t respond. Jeff went on to win the match 5-0 and he punched his ticket to the 118 finals. Where Iowa’s Chad Zaputil would be waiting.
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From the opening whistle, Prescott was literally all over Zaputil. He got a takedown roughly 0.004 seconds into the first period. From there, he darn near pinned Zaputil following a scramble later in the period.
Prescott kept his foot on the pedal. And when the clock finally hit triple digits in the third period, it was Jeff Prescott who was the 1991 champion at 118 pounds following his dominant 14-0 major decision win in the finals.
And the NCAA Wrestling committee certainly paid attention to just how good Prescott was in the 1991 NCAA’s. As they awarded him the MOW of the 1991 NCAA’s after his completely one-sided run to the title
For the year, Jeff Prescott’s record was 22-1. He won his second EWL title and his first NCAA title. And of his 22 wins, eight were by major decision, five by technical fall, and eight by pin. That’s 21 of 22 wins by bonus points.
Wow.
Jeff Prescott Senior Year and Penn State Wrestling Accolades
Prescott followed up his incredible run during the 1990-1991 season with another impressive year in Happy Valley.
He finished the season with a 30-1 record while also taking home his third straight EWL title. And while he was dominant for much of the season, it was just a tick shy of what he did on the mat in the prior season.
Am I splitting hairs with that take?
You better believe it. Because the guy still went out and won his second straight NCAA title. Something that at that point in Penn State Wrestling history had only been accomplished one other time before (Andy Matter 1971-1972).
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, winning a wrestling match against someone else who wants to equally win just as bad as you do (and they weigh about the same as you), is unbelievably hard. Especially when that guy is talented and works hard in the wrestling room. Which pretty much perfectly represents every single guy who qualifies for the NCAAs each year.
And then you have to go out and win five matches in three days against better and better competition. It’s damn hard.
But Jeff Prescott did that two straight years.
That says something about the guy and just how good he was.
Penn State Wrestling Career Record/Accolades
Years: 1989-1992
Record: 88-15-2
Conference titles: 3 (1990-1992)
NCAA finish: 5th (1990), 1st (1991), & 1st (1992)
Penn State Accolades
51st in all-time wins (88)
T-21ist in all-time major decisions (23)
T-9th in all-time technical falls (21)
T-12th in all-time bonus wins (65)
11th in all-time bonus win percentage (63.7%)
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
- Penn State Wrestling: Most Dominant Seasons by a Nittany Lions Wrestler – Jeff Prescott 1991 - August 25, 2025
- Penn State Wrestling: Most Dominant Seasons by a Nittany Lions Wrestler – Carl DeStefanis 1984 - July 22, 2025
- Penn State Wrestling: Most Dominant Seasons by a Nittany Lions Wrestler – Jim Martin 1988 - July 14, 2025