Penn State wrestling, ranked No. 1 in the country, hosts No. 20 Lehigh to kick off their dual meet schedule on Sunday afternoon. Follow along here for the live file:
125 – Gary Steen got the nod for the first dual meet of the year at 125 pounds over Robbie Howard against Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour. Seymour was the aggressor in the first period with a couple shots, but Steen was able to get out of them unscathed. Steen took bottom to start the second period and immediately got an escape point. That was all the scoring after two periods. Seymour took down to start the third, and although it took a little longer, he got his one point for an escape to tie the match. Seymour and the Lehigh coaching staff thought they had a takedown at the buzzer and challenged, and won as Seymour took a 4-1 victory.
133 – Aaron Nagao got his first taste of action at Rec Hall in a barn-burner with fifth-ranked Ryan Crookham of the Mountain Hawks. Nagao and Crookham went on their feet in the first period with Crookham getting a stall warning. Nagao picked up an escape point to start the second, but Crookham got him back with a takedown. Nagao escaped, but Crookham countered another takedown to take a 6-2 lead after two periods. The crowd wanted another stall call on Crookham when he was on bottom in the third period, and got one with 10 seconds left. Nagao also got a riding time point, but Crookham won the bout, 6-4.
141 – Beau Bartlett got a quick takedown on Lehigh backup Carter Bailey, but Bailey quickly reversed and got two back points on Bartlett to surprise the crowd. Bartlett escaped to the match at 4 only about a minute into the match. The score stayed that way through the rest of the period. Bartlett took down after Bailey deferred to start the second. Bartlett also got a takedown, with a Bailey escape to make it 8-5. Bartlett tacked on another takedown at the end of the second period to take an 11-5 lead to the third. Bartlett let up Bailey to start the third, and got a takedown with 40 seconds left to secure the major decision, 14-6.
149 – Tyler Kasak got the first dual meet over regular starter Shayne Van Ness against Lehigh’s Drew Munch. Kasak got a pair of takedowns to start the match in the first period and took a 6-2 lead. The only scoring in the second period came on Munch’s escape point. Kasak got his one point to start the third, and Munch added a penalty point to make it 7-4. Kasak also gave up a stall point with 15 seconds left as Munch was trying to tie the match, but Kasak survived to pick up his fourth win of the season, 7-5.
157 – Lehigh’s 23rd-ranked Max Brignola surprised returning national runner-up with a takedown right off the bat. Haines brushed it off and got the takedown back with 20 seconds left in the first period on the edge of the mat. Brignola got the escape to make it 4-4 at the end of the first. Haines built up 36 seconds of riding time before Brignola got the escape to go up 5-4. Brignola was in deep on a leg at one point in the second period, but Haines got a stalemate. Haines also had an ankle at the end of the period, but the buzzer sounded before he could finish the takedown. Haines tied the match with an escape right away in the third period. He then got a sweeping single leg on Brignola to go ahead 8-5. Brignola got an escape with 30 seconds left to make it 8-6, but got another three anyway at the end. With the riding time advantage, Haines picked up a 12-6 decision. Penn State led 10-6 at intermission.
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink got his first taste of action at Rec Hall against the Mountain Hawks’ Jake Logan. The two worked into a stalemate in the first period, and they also had a flurry won by Mesenbrink late in the period. Mesenbrink led 3-0 after the first. After getting an escape, Mesenbrink worked for another two takedown in the period to take a 10-1 lead with over a minute of riding time. Logan got called for a stall point while Mesenbrink got a takedown in the third period to give Mesenbrink a 14-1 lead. Mesenbrink finished it off with one more takedown to go with the riding time point to take an 18-2 technical fall.
174 – Fresh off a dominating performance in the NWCA All-Star Challenge over Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis, Carter Starocci kept with his dominating ways against Lehigh’s Thayne Lawrence. Starocci got three takedowns before pinning Lawrence in 2:23.
184 – Bernie Truax was roughed up in the NWCA meet, but made up for it against Lehigh’s Jack Wilt. Truax got a slick takedown to start the bout, and even though Wilt reversed him, Truax still came up with an escape point to make it 4-2. Truax added an escape and a takedown in the second. Wilt took neutral to start the third period, but Truax got another three takedowns to go with a stall point and a riding time point to get a 19-4 technical fall.
197 – Former PSU wrestler Michael Beard took the mat for Lehigh against backup Lucas Cochran, who was in for Aaron Brooks. Beard has had a nice career at Lehigh and is now ranked 10th in the country. Cochran was outmatched in this one as he gave up six takedowns to Beard in a 20-6 major decision.
285 – Greg Kerkvliet was wrestling Lehigh’s Nathan Taylor, who is from Brookville, about an hour and a half from State College. Taylor is ranked 12th in the country, but Kerkvliet was too much for Taylor. Kerkvliet picked up a takedown in each period and picked up over two minutes of riding time to take a 10-1 major decision.
More to come later.
Penn State 30, Lehigh 10
125 – Sheldon Seymour, L, dec. Gary Steen, PSU, 4-1.
133 – Ryan Crookham, L, dec. Aaron Nagao, PSU, 6-4.
141 – Beau Bartlett, PSU, maj. dec. Carter Bailey, L, 14-6.
149 – Tyler Kasak, PSU, dec. Drew Munch, L, 7-5.
157 – Levi Haines, PSU, dec. Max Brignola, L, 12-6.
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Jake Logan, L, 18-2 6:13.
174 – Carter Starocci, PSU, pinned Thayne Lawrence, L, 2:23.
184 – Bernie Truax, PSU, tech. fall Jack Wilt, L, 19-4 7:00.
197 – Michael Beard, L, maj. Dec. Lucas Cochran, PSU, 20-6.
285 – Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, maj. dec. Nathan Taylor, L, 10-1.
