No. 2 Penn State (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) wrestling defeated No. 12 Northwestern (2-3, 0-2) 30-9 on Sunday afternoon at Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions recorded a fall and three technical falls to secure their fifth dual win of the season. Although they both fell short in their respective matches, Bo Pipher and Brandon Meredith wrestled strong against two top-10 wrestlers in the country in Northwestern’s No. 1 Ryan Deakin and No. 7 Michael DeAugustino.
How It Happened
At 133 lbs., No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young was quick and lethal from the outset, proving to be too much for Dylan Utterback of Northwestern. A couple takedowns and bonus points gave Bravo-Young the 8-1 lead heading into the second period. With a 14-5 lead entering the final period, Bravo-Young won by technical fall at the 6:26 mark by score of 23-8.
No. 2 Nick Lee picked up right where Bravo-Young left off at 141 lbs., jumping out to 14-4 lead over Northwestern’s Alec McKenna after one period. At the 4:51 mark, Lee won by tech fall by a score of 20-5. The Nittany Lions led 10-0 after two bouts.
Jarod Verklereen took on Eric Yang of Northwestern at 149 lbs. After fighting off a takedown and securing one for himself near the end of the first period, Verkleeren led 4-1 after three minutes and never looked back. He controlled much of the match with more than two minutes of riding time. Stealthy defense helped Verkleeren clinch the 8-2 decision.
Bo Pipher wrestled strong against No. 1 Ryan Deakin of Northwestern at 157 lbs., as the bout was scoreless after one, but couldn’t hang on for much longer. Deakin took a 3-0 lead heading into the third period and was in control from then on. He rode out Pipher in the third and added two late near-fall points to win 6-0.
At 165 lbs., it didn’t take No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph very long to take care of Northwestern’s Shayne Oster. He secured a cradle just 56 seconds into the bout to win by fall and extend Penn State’s lead 19-3 at the intermission.
No. 1 Mark Hall followed by jumping out to an 8-1 lead on Tyler Morland of Northwestern after the first period. After leading 15-2 heading into the last period, Hall scored one last takedown to win by technical fall at the 5:21 mark.
Creighton Edsell and Northwestern’s Jack Jessen were scoreless after the first period in their bout at 184 lbs. Jessen’s escape in the second period gave him the 1-0 edge to start the last period. An escape and takedown to start the third period made way for Edsell’s 4-1 decision.
Shakur Rasheed faced Northwestern’s Lucas Davison at 197 lbs., and after picking Davison’s ankle seconds into the match, Rasheed fought for the early 2-0 lead. The match entered the third period tied 3-3, but a late takedown by Davison helped him to a 7-5 win over Rasheed.
At 285 lbs., PSU freshman Seth Nevills led Northwestern’s Jack Heyob 2-0 after the first period, and his reversal to start the second helped him jump out to a 4-0 lead. Nevills led 5-0 heading into the last period, and won with a decision of 8-1, the second dual meet victory of his young Penn State career.
The dual concluded with the 125 lbs. bout between Penn State freshman Brandon Meredith and No. 7 Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern. Meredith battled DeAugustino for the entirety of the match, even threatening a comeback in the final seconds, but he couldn’t complete the upset. DeAugustino came away with the 7-3 decision that cut the Nittany Lions’ team lead to 30-9.
What’s Next
Penn State will host Rutgers at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 19 in Rec Hall.
