No. 1 Penn State Wrestling Cruises Past Rutgers 33-8

No. 1 Penn State wrestling (14-0, 7-0 Big Ten) continued to tear through the Big Ten schedule on Friday night, steamrolling No. 23 Rutgers (10-6, 2-5) 33-8 in front of a sold-out crowd at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Wrestling their third consecutive road dual, the Nittany Lions again dropped the first two bouts before reeling off eight straight victories, scoring bonus points in seven. Penn State racked up two technical falls, five major decisions and a six-point decision.

It was Penn State’s last road dual of the season as the Nittany Lions get ready to return to Rec Hall for their final two meets before postseason action begins.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Penn State freshman Gary Steen returned to the lineup at 125, where the Nittany Lions’ struggles continued. Rutgers’ 16th-ranked Dean Peterson took control early, countering a Steen shot for a takedown and adding another late in the first period for a 4-1 lead. Peterson turned it on in the second period, escaping to start then using three takedowns and a four-point turn to open up a 15-3 advantage. The Scarlet Knight had his way in the third, allowing Steen escapes to follow up with the three more takedowns he needed for the 21-6 technical fall at the 6:11 mark and an early 5-0 Rutgers lead.

Centre Hall native Baylor Shunk got the nod for Penn State again at 133 with top-ranked Roman Bravo-Young sitting out the second consecutive dual. (Penn State radio voice Jeff Byers said RBY did not travel to Rutgers.) He managed two escapes against the three takedowns by Rutgers’ 15th-ranked Joe Heilmann to trail 6-2 through the first two periods. Shunk took down to start the third and Heilmann would not let him break free, executing a full period rideout. Tacking on an extra point with 3:59 in riding time, Heilmann claimed a 7-2 decision to extend the Rutgers lead to 8-0.

No. 6 Beau Bartlett got Penn State moving in the 141-pound bout against Rutgers’ Joey Olivieri, ranked No. 19. Bartlett finished off each of the first two periods with takedowns and rideouts to build a 4-1 lead. The Nittany Lion escaped to start the third, then went to work on offense. He finally connected on a high shot with under a minute left and took Olivieri to his back. Bartlett nearly got the pin, but had to settle for a six-point throw and, with a riding time point, a 12-1 major decision that cut the Rutgers lead to 8-4.

No. 13 Shayne Van Ness similarly worked a late move to turn a decision into a major in the 149-pound bout against Rutgers’ Tony White. Leading 14-9 late in the third period, Van Ness took White to his back and nearly had the fall, but ran out of time. Instead, the takedown, four back points and a riding time point gave the Nittany Lion a 21-9 major decision and tied the dual at 8-8.

Eighth-ranked 157-pounder Levi Haines continued his outstanding true freshman season when he took on Rutgers’ Andrew Clark, ranked No. 33. Haines scored takedowns in the first and second, finishing each period on top, and added a second-period escape to open a 5-0 lead. Clark escaped to start the third, and Haines responded with a high single for his third takedown of the bout. After cutting Clark loose, Haines aggressively looked for bonus points, and was close to a takedown that would have secured a major as time expired. But a review confirmed he didn’t gain control and with a riding time point Haines settled for an 8-2 decision to give Penn State its first lead of the night at 11-8.

Coming out of the intermission, Penn State’s Alex Facundo, ranked No. 9 at 165, put on a takedown clinic against the Scarlet Knights’ Luke Gayer. The Nittany Lion piled up 11 takedowns — cutting Gayer loose repeatedly but running out of time before he could notch the tech fall — on his way to a dominating 25-12 major decision. Penn State expanded its lead to 15-8.

Top-ranked 174-pounder Carter Starocci used two takedowns and a four-point turn to open an 8-1 first-period lead over Rutgers’ Jackson Turley. It was more of the same in the second, as Starocci escaped and got in on two takedowns to move ahead 13-2. After a Turley escape to start the third, Starocci used a low single late in the bout for final takedown, but couldn’t get the turn for a tech fall. Starocci’s 16-3 major decision pushed Penn State’s lead to 19-8.

No.1 Aaron Brooks was aggressive from the outset in the 184-pound bout against 14th-ranked Scarlet Knight Brian Soldano, scoring two quick takedowns in the opening minute. He added two more and four back points before the first period was over to take a 12-3 lead. Out of a neutral start to the second, Brooks got another quick takedown, then turned Soldano for four nearfall points to end the bout with an 18-3 technical fall at the 4:05 mark. The win grew Penn State’s lead to 24-8 and sealed the dual meet victory.

After a scoreless first period against Rutgers’ Billy Janzer in the 197-pound bout, No. 3 Max Dean escaped to start the second and worked a single leg for a takedown to open up a 3-0 lead. After a neutral start to the third and a stall point against Janzer, Dean got in for his second takedown of the bout and cut the Scarlet Knight loose as he looked for more points. A Dean takedown and Janzer escape was followed by another quick takedown by the Nittany Lion. With riding time secured, Dean rode out Janzer for the remainder of the period and claimed an 11-2 major decision.

In the night’s final bout, No. 2-ranked heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet made quick work of the Scarlet Knights’ Kyle Epperly. Kerkvliet immediately took down Epperly at the start then turned him four times — three times for four back points and one final time for two that finished off the 16-0 technical fall at the 2:06 mark.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Penn State returns home to face Maryland at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the Nittany Lions’ Big Ten dual meet finale, then closes out the regular season on Feb. 19 against Clarion in Rec Hall.