Penn State wrestling defeated Penn 33-7 on Sunday afternoon in the Nittany Lions’ first match back in Rec Hall in nearly a month.
Eight Nittany Lions won their matches, with five of them contributing bonus-point wins. Freshman Aaron Brooks and redshirt freshman Brandon Meredith both looked strong in their Rec Hall debuts, helping Penn State cruise to its third dual win of the season.
How It Happened
The dual began at 125 lbs. with Brandon Meredith wrapping up a tough weekend after wrestling No. 11 Brandon Paetzell on Friday at Lehigh and making his Rec Hall debut against No. 10 Michael Colaiocco of Penn. Meredith shined in an impressive 8-5 win. After wrestling defensively for most of the first period, Meredith capitalized on some key shots throughout the second and third periods, including a go-ahead takedown at the start of the third period. He rode out Colaiocco for the remainder of the match, earning a riding-time point and a standing ovation from a sellout crowd at Rec Hall.
DOWN GOES NO. 10! @bkmpsu1 gets the come-from-behind win to beat No 10 Colaiocco. @pennstateWREST | @FloWrestling pic.twitter.com/glImZadQBD
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) December 8, 2019
No. 4 Roman Bravo-Young’s fast offensive attacks helped him cruise to a 20-9 major decision over Carmen Ferrante of Penn. With 10 takedowns, Bravo-Young controlled the pace for the entirety of the match.
At 141 lbs., No. 3 Nick Lee defeated Penn’s Doug Zapf by major decision with a final score of 13-4. Lee was dominant as he totaled five takedowns and earned almost four minutes of riding time throughout the bout.
Luke Gardner wrestled Lucas Revano of Penn at 149 lbs. Besides a reversal by Revano, Gardner controlled much of the first period and headed into the second with a 5-3 lead. A quick escape by Revano to start the third to cut the Gardner lead to 6-4. After a reviewed and confirmed takedown by Revano with 35 seconds to wrestle, Gardner received an escape point to clinch a 7-6 decision.
At 157 lbs., Penn State’s Bo Pipher wrestled strong against No. 10 Anthony Artalona. Key takedowns by Artalona helped him capture the 5-2 decision over Pipher. Heading into the intermission, the Nittany Lions led the Quakers 14-3.
No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph took care of Penn’s Jake Lizak in their bout at 165 lbs. After a commanding 6-2 lead following the first period, Joseph opened the second period with near-fall points. Continuing his dominance, Joseph got the fall at 4:25 mark, and that extended the Nittany Lion lead to 20-3.
At 174 lbs., No. 1 Mark Hall’s stellar performance earned him his 100th career win as a Nittany Lion, defeating the Quakers’ Neil Antrassian. His brute and powerful offense solidified a tech fall at the seven-minute mark of the match.
Freshman Aaron Brooks wrestled for the first time in Rec Hall after he burned his redshirt with a win on Friday night at Lehigh. Brooks registered a quick takedown to start off the match, and his tempo never slowed. Brooks led the match 15-3 heading into third period before his strong and relentless performance helped him defeat Penn’s Jesse Quatse at 184 lbs. by tech fall at 6:03.
No. 20 Kyle Conel wrestled State College native Cole Urbas at 197 lbs. and jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first minute of the match. Conel’s pure strength seemed to be too much early on in the match until an injury timeout had to be taken after the Nittany Lion appeared to be banged up after a scramble. Conel opted to continue to the match. Being on top and still down a few points near the end of the match, there was nothing for Urbas to do as Conel held on for the 6-5 win, giving Penn State the 33-3 lead.
The dual ended with Austin Hoopes wrestling the Quakers’ Joey Slackman heavyweight. Hoopes’ determined efforts were not enough, as Slackman won the match by a 14-4 major decision. Penn State won the meet with a final score of 33-7.
What’s Next
The Nittany Lions will return to action in January by hosting Big Ten duals against Illinois on Jan. 10 and Northwestern on Jan. 12, both in Rec Hall.
