PSU Wrestling Tallies Two More Wins on the Road
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PSU Wrestling Tallies Two More Wins on the Road

Despite the lopsided score, Friday night saw some tight bouts with Ohio State. The Nittany Lions had one pin and two majors, but all three of their top-ranked wrestlers were held to decision wins. Penn State took eight of ten bouts with losses at 125 and No. 13 Shayne Van Ness coming up short against No. 3 Sammy Sasso at 149. The biggest nail-biter of the night was at 184, No. 1 Brooks versus No. 5 Kaleb Romero. The two exchanged escapes and Brooks fought off a few Romero attempts to force stalemates, while Brooks chased after a fleeing Romero for the first two periods. He finally caught hold of Romero’s ankle and was able to drag him to center for the only takedown of the match. Romero escaped, but couldn’t get Brooks to the mat for a win and gave the Nittany Lion a narrow 3-2 victory.

Sunday, Penn State was on the road again for a matchup with Indiana. RBY and Brooks took the day off giving Baylor Shunk and Donovan Ball the go ahead for their respective weight classes. The Nittany Lions again took eight of ten bouts, losses at 125 and 133. They had three majors, a tech, and two pins on the day, and a little bit of drama mixed in towards the end…

Starocci’s freshman year in his third match of the season, he was upset by Indiana’s No. 15 DJ Washington. According to Starocci’s Instagram post and tweets on Saturday night, he’s never forgot it. The Hoosier is a redshirt junior and wrestled up in 184 last season, so the two never faced off. This was clearly a revenge match for Starocci. Washington got the first takedown, but after that it was all Starocci and he got physical. Once Washington was down 4-2, he started to stall around the edge of the mat and Starocci waved him in bounds several times. Things ended 11-2, a major decision win for Starocci, but the fight wasn’t over. The two exchanged words in the middle of the mat during the handshake that turned into some shoving and a possible punch thrown by Washington. Coaches from both teams stepped onto the mat to hold the wrestlers back. Needless to say, this rivalry is far from over.

The Nittany Lions are now 13-0 on the season and 6-0 in the Big Ten. This weekend they take on Rutgers on Friday night at 7 p.m. in Piscataway, NJ then they return to Rec Hall to host Maryland on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both matchups will be broadcasted on BTN+. Matchups to watch out for this weekend include:

149: No. 13 Shayne Van Ness vs No. 18 Ethen Miller (Maryland)

184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks vs No. 15 Brian Soldano (Rutgers)

197: No. 4 Max Dean vs No. 13 Jaxon Smith (Maryland)

 

BOUT BY BOUT:

No. 1 PSU - 29, No. 10 OSU - 9

125: OSU No. 10 Malik Heinselman pinned PSU Gary Steen, WBF (1:56)

133: PSU No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young dec. OSU Jesse Mendez, 8-2

141: PSU No. 5 Beau Bartlett dec. OSU No. 19 Dylan D’Emilio, 4-2

149: OSU No. 3 Sammy Sasso dec. PSU No. 13 Shayne Van Ness, 6-3

157: PSU No. 9 Levi Haines maj. dec. OSU Paddy Gallagher, 14-2

165: PSU No. 8 Alex Facundo dec. OSU No. 12 Carson Kharchla, 4-1

174: PSU No. 1 Carter Starocci dec. OSU No. 7 Ethan Smith, 11-5

184: PSU No. 1 Aaron Brooks dec. OSU No. 5 Kaleb Romero, 3-2

197: PSU No. 4 Max Dean pinned OSU No, 17 Gavin Hoffman, WBF (4:17)

285: PSU No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet maj. dec. OSU No. 18 Tate Orndorff, 9-0

 

No. 1 PSU - 35, IND - 8

125: IND Jacob Moran tech fall PSU Marco Vespa, 17-2 (TF; 4:48)

133: IND No. 29 Henry Porter dec. PSU Baylor Shunk, 9-7 (sv)

141: PSU No. 5 Beau Bartlett pinned IND Cayden Rooks, WBF (0:12)

149: PSU No. 13 Shayne Van Ness maj. dec. IND No. 30 Graham Rooks, 17-5

157: PSU No. 9 Levi Haines dec. IND Derek Gilcher, 8-2

165: PSU No. 8 Alex Facundo maj. dec. IND Robert Major, 20-9

174: PSU No. 1 Carter Starocci maj. dec. IND No. 15 D.J. Washington, 11-3

184: PSU Donovon Ball dec. IND Clayton Fielden, 10-3

197: PSU No. 4 Max Dean pinned IND Drayton Harris, WBF (1:29)

285: PSU No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet tech fall IND No. 28 Jacob Bullock, 16-0 (TF; 3:59)