It’s been over a month since Penn State wrestling has had a dual meet at Rec Hall, but the Nittany Lions are back at it this afternoon against Indiana. Follow along on the live file. Dual meet begins at 1 p.m.
Aaron Brooks was recognized before the match for his U23 World Championship he won back in October.
125 – Braeden Davis has continued to be impressive since taking over the starting role at 125. Fans are starting to become as excited about him as they would be for a Carter Starocci or an Aaron Brooks. The freshman wrestled Indiana senior MIchael Spangler, but Davis was the one that looked like the seasoned veteran. Davis nearly stuck Spangler in the third period with a 7-point move, but Spangler survived it. Davis still came away with a 16-3 major decision.
133 – Aaron Nagao is recovering nicely from his early-season loss. Nagao went on a takedown clinic against the Hoosiers’ Isaac Thornton. He collected five of them on his way to a 20-4 technical fall over Thornton.
141 – Beau Bartlett and Indiana’s Danny Fongaro wrestled on their feet after one period. AFter Bartlett got an escape point point to start the second, Fongaro battled out of a nice takedown attempt and got a stalemate when Bartlett very easily could have got three points. Bartlett took a 1-0 lead after two, but Fongaro got the point back right away with an escape of his own to start the third. Bartlett had a flare for the dramatics in this one as he got a takedown with 15 seconds left and nearly got the pin, but the clock ran out and he got four points to take home an 8-1 victory.
149 – Speaking of a flare for dramatics, Tyler Kasak picked up where Bartlett left off and nearly had a pin off a headlock on Indiana’s Graham Rooks. Kasak still got four near fall points, and also picked up four more later in the period to go up 11-0 after one. That was a good down payment on Kasak’s way to a technical fall.
157 – The train kept rolling as Levi Haines dominated Zack Rotkvich. Haines got three takedowns and two sets of four near fall points to get the Lions’ third technical fall of the day. Give Indiana a lot of credit so far in fighting off their backs and avoiding falls. Penn State leads 22-0 at intermission.
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink continued the domination after the intermission, at least for two minutes. The Hoosiers’ Tyler Lillard was visibly not 100 percent with a leg injury and had to injury default to Mesenbrink. It’s unfortunate, but also part of wrestling.
174 – Carter Starocci was, well, Carter Starocci. Starocci had a 15-4 lead just after the first period with five takedowns on Indiana’s Robert Major. In fact, he only needed 3:42 to pick up PSU’s fourth technical fall of the afternoon.
184 – Josh Barr took over for Bernie Truax for the afternoon, making his Rec Hall debut. Rogotzke had a slick Granby roll to get an escape in the second, but other than that, it was Barr’s show. Barr had four takedowns in a 13-4 major decision over the Hoosiers’ Roman Rogotzke.
197 – On a day when Aaron Brooks was honored before the match for his U23 World Championship, Brooks was the same sharp wrestler that he usually is against Indiana’s Gabe Sollars. As a matter of fact, Brooks was dominant again with another technical fall.
285 – Greg Kerkvliet finished off the dual meet and once again was impressive against Indiana’s Nick Willham. Kerkvliet picked up a 14-2 major decision to make it a clean sweep for the Nittany Lions.
More to come later.
Penn State 46, Indiana 0
125 – Braeden Davis (PSU) maj. dec. Michael Spangler (I), 16-3. (4-0)
133 – Aaron Nagao (PSU) tech. fall Isaac Thornton (I), 20-4 5:24 (9-0)
141 – Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec. Danny Fongaro (I), 8-1. (12-0)
149 – Tyler Kasak (PSU) tech. fall Graham Rooks (I), 16-0 7:00. (17-0)
157 – Levi Haines (PSU) tech. fall Zack Rotkvich (I), 18-0 6:06 (22-0)
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) won by injury default over Tyler Lillard (I).(28-0)
174 – Carter Starocci (PSU) tech. fall Robert Major (I), 20-4 3:42 (33-0)
184 – Josh Barr (PSU) maj. dec. Roman Rogotzke (I), 13-4. (37-0)
197 – Aaron Brooks (PSU) tech. fall Gabe Sollars (I), 20-4 3:56 (42-0)
285 – Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) maj. dec. Nick Willham (I), 14-2. (46-0)
