Second-Half Domination Carries No. 2 Penn State Wrestling to 29-11 Victory Over Indiana

No. 2 Penn State wrestling (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten) battled back from a five-point deficit to beat Indiana (2-2, 0-2 Big Ten) 29-11 on Sunday afternoon at Rec Hall.

Wrestling in front of a home crowd for the first time in over a month, Cael Sanderson’s group was without the services of Roman Bravo-Young and Nick Lee, who were out due to illness. The Nittany Lions clearly missed those stars early, as they fell behind 11-6 at the break. However, dominating performances from Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks and Greg Kerkvliet carried Penn State to an exciting victory in the Big Ten home opener.

Along with wins in those bouts, Drew Hildebrandt won in his Rec Hall debut, while Beau Bartlett, Creighton Edsell, and Max Dean also grabbed victories.

How It Happened

Drew Hildebrandt got his Rec Hall debut at 125 pounds against No. 25 Jacob Moran of Indiana. The Nittany Lion, a sixth-year senior transfer from Central Michigan and two-time All-American, collected 25 seconds of riding time and a 2-0 lead after the first period. Moran quickly struck back with a reversal to open the second, but Hildebrandt hung tough and led 5-2 early in the final period.

After a quick delay due to clock issues, Hildebrandt finished with 2:01 of riding time and a 6-2 decision in his first action at Rec Hall.

Penns Valley grad Baylor Shunk took the mat next for Penn State against No. 19 Brock Hudkins in the 133-pound bout. An early takedown earned Hudkins two points, but Shunk managed to get on the board with an escape of his own. Shunj, who was wrestling in place of top-ranked Roman Bravo-Young, trailed 6-2 after one period. Hudkins earned three takedowns through the first.

The Hoosier dominated through the second period to the tune of a 16-3 lead, and managed the 18-3 technical fall 5:30 into the bout. That gave Indiana a 5-3 lead through two matches.

Brandon Meredith took Nick Lee’s usual 141-spot against Indiana’s No. 26 Cayden Rooks. Meredith earned an early takedown in the bout, but trailed Rooks 3-2 entering the second period. The Hoosier tacked on to his lead with an escape to make it 4-2, and eventually led 6-2 after two. Rooks grabbed one more takedown in the third period and win a 9-4 decision.

No. 20 Beau Bartlett grabbed a 2-1 lead and 26 seconds of riding time after one period against the Hoosiers’ Graham Rooks in the 149-pound bout. After a defensive battle at 2-2, Bartlett broke through for an impressive takedown with two seconds left in the second to make it 4-2 entering the final period. Rooks made quite a comeback effort, getting a takedown to pull within one but Bartlett escaped and held on for a 6-4 victory. Penn State trailed 8-6.

The Nittany Lions finished the first half at 157 pounds with Tony Negron. Neither he nor Indiana’s Derek Gilcher could get anything going through one period. A Gilcher escape and takedown put the Hoosier in front 3-0 heading into the final period.

Negron earned an escape in the third, but it wasn’t enough for a victory. Gilcher tacked on a riding time point for 4-1 decision, and Indiana led 11-6 at the halfway point.

The Hoosiers managed eight takedowns compared to Penn State’s three through the first five bouts.

At 165 pounds, No. 24 Creighton Edsell took care of business against Indiana’s Sammy Cokeley to kick off the second half of the meet. The Nittany Lion managed two takedowns in the first period and carried a 4-1 lead, but Cokeley quickly bounced back with a takedown of his own. Edsell held a 6-3 lead entering the final period and built on it quickly, turning Cokeley for four nearfall points to open a 10-3 margin.

Edsell finished the bout on top and with a riding time point earned a 11-3 major decision to shrink Indiana’s lead to 11-10 with four bouts left.

No. 1 Carter Starocci was up next at 174 pounds and simply dominated Sean Grim. After taking Grim to the mat for his third takedown, Starocci got the Hoosier’s shoulders down and earned the fall at the 2:07 mark of the first period. Penn State took a 16-11 lead with top-ranked Aaron Brooks on deck.

In the match of the day, Brooks kept the momentum rolling against No. 8 DJ Washington. The Hoosier jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but an escape and takedown for Brooks got him involved in the scoring. From there, Brooks continued to run it up with an escape and two takedowns in the second period for an 8-3 lead. The domination continued for the junior in third, as he earned two stall points, a takedown and a riding time point for an 13-4 major decision that handed Penn State a 20-11 lead.

No. 2 Max Dean then handled unranked Nick Willham in the 197-pound bout. After an early back-and-forth battle the Penn State junior pulled away with a 9-1 major decision that clinched a Penn State win with a 24-11 score and just one bout left.

No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet finished things up in the heavyweight match against Indiana’s Jacob Bullock. The Nittany Lion took quick 2-0 lead just seconds into the bout and rolled from there. Kerkvliet opened up a 10-2 lead after just one period and continued to dominate from there, eventually turning Bullock for four back points to record a 20-3 tech fall at the 4:59 mark to close out Penn State’s 29-11 comeback victory.

What’s Next?

Penn State will stay home next weekend for a visit from Rutgers. That dual will start at 5 p.m. on Sunday at Rec Hall and will be broadcast on ESPN2.