No. 1 Penn State wrestling’s weekend road trip to the Hooiser State started off slow on Friday against Purdue as it continued to struggle at 125 pounds and with apparent injuries at 133 and 184. Nevertheless, the Nittany Lions won seven of 10 bouts and tallied two pins en route to their 53rd consecutive dual victory, a 30-10 win over the Boilermakers.
How It Happened
Wrestling opened with a case of Devin vs. Devin as Penn State continued to struggle at 125 pounds. Purdue’s Devin Schroder led Devin Schnupp 4-0 after the first period with a double leg takedown and two back points. Schroder added another takedown to close out the second period and extend his lead to 6-1. The score stood through the third period, leaving the Nittany Lions down 3-0.
No. 13 Roman Bravo-Young got off to a slow start at 133, with an injury timeout called early against No. 18 Ben Thornton. Bravo-Young was clearly in pain from what appeared to be a knee injury after attempting a flip to defend a shot attempt by Thornton. The freshman decided to continue the bout and winced his way to a 7-3 decision loss at the hands of Thornton.
Things began to turn around at 141 when No. 7 Nick Lee, in his return to his home state, pulled out a 17-6 major decision over the Boilers’ Nate Limmex to get the Nittany Lions on the board. Redshirt freshman Jarod Verkleeren started at 149 and tallied his first Big Ten dual victory over Purdue’s Parker Filius, giving Penn State its first lead of the match with a 7-6 score.
No. 1 Jason Nolf made quick work of Elijah Davis at 157 with a fall at the :42 mark to give the Nittany Lions a 13-6 lead. After the intermission, it didn’t take long for Penn State to pull away. No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph added another fall over Cole Wysocki at 165, and No. 1 Mark Hall tacked on another three points with a 6-2 decision over No. 14 Dylan Lydy.
Junior Francisco Bisono made his Penn State dual debut at 184 in place of regular starter No. 3 Shakur Rasheed, whose return was doubtful after he sat out last weekend with an undisclosed injury. He dropped a 12-4 major decision to Max Lyon, but the Nittany Lions maintained a 22-10 lead.
No. 1 Bo Nickal did what Bo Nickal does best at 197 and recorded seven takedowns in a 17-6 major decision over No. 12 Christian Brunner.
The dual ended at 285 with No. 4 Anthony Cassar facing off against Purdue’s Jacob Aven. Up 2-0 after one period, Cassar closed the match with a 14-4 major decision to roll the Nittany Lions on to a 30-10 victory over the Boilermakers.
What’s Next
Penn State will continue its weekend on the road and be back in action at 1 p.m. Sunday against Indiana. The team won’t return to Rec Hall until Friday, Feb. 15 against Michigan State but will wrestle Michigan at the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday, Feb. 1.
