No. 2 Penn State Wrestling Cruises Past Oregon State to Sweep Season-Opening Duals

After topping Sacred Heart earlier in the day, No. 2 Penn State wrestling (2-0) kept rolling on Saturday night with another big win over Oregon State.

In front of a sold-out crowd at Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Manheim, the Nittany Lions dominated Oregon State 32-7 to open the season undefeated.

How It Happened

Starting at 125 pounds, Penn State sophomore Baylor Shunk faced the Beavers’ Brandon Kaylor, who jumped out to an 11-2 lead over the Penns Valley grad at the end of the first period. Kaylor opened up a 13-3 lead in the second and finished with 16-9 decision, leaving Penn State trailing 3-0 early in the dual.

Top-ranked Penn State senior Roman Bravo-Young took on Jason Shaner in the 133-pound matchup. Bravo-Young had a 2-1 lead after one period and 5-2 after the second. The defending champ added another takedown in the third and emerged with an 8-3 victory to tie the match.

At 141, No. 2 Nick Lee scored three first-period takedowns on the Beavers’ No. 10-ranked Grant Willits to pull out to a 6-3 lead at the end of the first period. Lee controlled the rest of the match with two more takedowns in the final two periods to earn an 11-4 decision and give Penn State its first lead of the dual 6-3.

Penn State sophomore Beau Bartlett took on No. 24-ranked Cory Crooks at 149. A second-period escape gave Bartlett a 1-0 lead and it was all the scoring the Nittany Lion would need. After riding out the third period, Bartlett completed the upset over Crooks 1-0, extending the Nittany Lions’ lead to 9-3.

The 157-pound bout featured Penn State senior Joey Blumer and No. 15-ranked Hunter Willits. Moving up from 141/149 for the second time on Saturday, Blumer fell behind 6-0 at the end of the first period and trailed 12-2 at the end of two. Willits came away with a 19-6 major decision victory, cutting Penn State’s lead to 9-7.

Penn State junior Creighton Edsell took on redshirt freshman Matt Olguin in the 165-pound bout. Through two periods, the pair were even at 3-3. Following a bloody nose timeout, Edsell rode out Olguin to complete a 7-3 victory that gave Penn State a 12-7 lead.

Nittany Lion sophomore and No. 1-ranked Carter Starocci was a scoring machine in the first period of his 174-pound bout against Beavers’ redshirt junior Aaron Olmos. Starocci stormed out to a 12-1 lead in the first and picked up a 17-2 technical fall at the 4:49 mark.

No. 1-ranked Aaron Brooks needed little time dispatching Oregon State’s Jason McKinney in the 184-pound matchup. The defending national champion junior recorded the pin at the 1:03 mark, clinching Penn State’s victory in the dual and giving the Nittany Lions a 23-7 lead.

Penn State’s Max Dean, ranked No. 4, took a 2-0 lead to open the 197-pound bout against Oregon State redshirt sophomore J.J. Dixon and rolled from there. Dean extended his lead to 9-2 by the end of the second period and finished with a 16-3 major decision win that included nearly five minutes of riding time. The Nittany Lions held a 27-7 lead going into the final bout.

Sophomore Greg Kerkvliet, ranked No. 5, dominated Oregon State’s Gary Traub in the 285-pound matchup. Kerkvliet came out of the first period ahead at 2-0 and accumulated more than four minutes of riding time through the second period as he grew his lead to 10-0. At the 5:58 mark of the match, Kerkvliet recorded the technical fall, winning 16-0 and extending Penn State’s final margin to 32-7.

What’s Next?

No. 2 Penn State will return to State College for its home opener on Thursday at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions will face Army at 7 p.m.

StateCollege.com’s Geoff Rushton contributed to this story.