UNIVERSITY PARK — With finals week looming, top-ranked Penn State wrestled Dec. 10 with the urgency of a team eager to spend as little time on the mats as possible so it could get back to the books.
The Nittany Lions won eight of 10 bouts — four pins, three technical falls and a major decision — to rout Hofstra 43-10 at Rec Hall in a dual that lasted barely longer than 90 minutes.
Even with four wrestlers making their dual meet debuts, Penn State still piled up a 30-6 advantage in takedowns. Only the two winning Pride wrestlers scored takedowns as Penn State won its 46th consecutive dual meet.
“I think it was just a good opportunity for these guys to go score points and do the things they’re working on in practice. I think it was it was a good day for us. And you know, the Hofstra guys came out and battled. It was a nice match going into the holiday (break),” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said.
Sanderson had hinted that the lineup would be scrambled as several members of the team finished preparations for the U.S. Freestyle Senior Nationals Dec. 15-17 in Fort Worth, Texas, and it was.
That opened the door for four newcomers — freshmen Braeden Davis (125), Connor Pierce (149) and A.J. Fricchione (285) —and junior David Evans (141) to make their dual meet debuts. Davis earned a major decision and Evans rolled up a technical fall.
Davis ran his record to 8-0 with an 11-2 major decision. His appearance in the lineup may be a sign of things to come.
“I think we’re getting closer to that. I mean, Davis is competing hard and he’s a competitor. He’s tough. He’s got a little bit of orneriness to him, which is good,” Sanderson said.
“He looked good tonight, and going out and getting that takedown at the end to get the major says a lot, just that he was willing to do that and obviously capable of doing that. He’s wrestling well, and we’re starting to lean that way.”
Nagao bounced back from his first loss of the season, on Dec. 10 against Lehigh, by scoring seven takedowns in a 21-6 technical fall in 4:20.
“I didn’t honestly change much. I’ve prepared the same. I mean, obviously, I did some work on some technical things; other than that I felt confident in what I’m doing and I got back to practice and kept getting better,” he said.
Evans used six takedowns and an escape to cruise to his 19-4 tech fall in 6:13.
Hofstra broke through with one of its two wins at 149, as Noah Tapia majored Pierce 11-2.
Penn State then reeled off five straight bonus point wins. Levi Haines scored a fall in 1:02 at 157 as he ran a reinforced half nelson for the pin.
Coming out of the break, Mitchell Mesenbrink scored a fall in 1:24, Carter Starocci was once again dominant in a 19-3 technical fall in 5:38, Bernie Truax rolled up a 13-2 lead before scoring a fall in 1:51 and Aaron Brooks led 12-2 before using a half and bar arm to score a fall in 4:21.
Starocci said patience was the key to wrestling an opponent who bumped up from 165 and was reluctant to mix it up.
“I think just staying patient and staying focused on the task. Obviously, you want to go out there and wrestle because that’s what you do every day — you train to wrestle and that’s what’s fun. But I think he bumped up from 165, so I was glad that he chose to wrestle,” Starocci said.
Fricchione, who was much smaller than No 21 Keaton Kluever, didn’t back down but eventually succumbed to the much bigger Kluever at the 4:32 mark of the second period.
Those Nittany Lions who won’t be competing in Texas now face an extended break before Penn State returns to the mat on Jan. 5 in Corvallis, Oregon, against Oregon State. Sanderson said he and the coaching staff try to give them as much structure as possible to bridge the gap.
“We have this upcoming week and I think a few days into the following week that we keep them here, unless they’re wrestling in the tournament in Texas,” he said.
“We give them as much structure as they want. Some of them listen and some of them don’t; that’s just the way it goes and we get them back with enough time to be able to get ready for that next match.”
No. 1 Penn State 43
Hofstra 10
(Dec. 10 at University Park)
125: Braeden Davis, PSU, maj. Dec. Dylan Azevedo-Switzer, 11-2.
133: No. 4 Aaron Nagao, PSU, won by tech. fall over Ryan Arbeit, 21-6 (4:20).
141: David Evans, PSU, won by tech. fall over Alex Turley, 19-4 (6:13).
149: Noah Tapia, H, maj. Dec. Connor Pierce, 11-2.
157: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU, pinned Dylan Zenion, 1:02.
165: No. 14 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, pinned Matthew Waddell, 1:24.
174: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU, won by tech. fall over Eric Shindel,
184: No. 2 Bernie Truax, PSU, pinned Will Conlon, 1:51.
197: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU, pinned Nikolas Miller, 4:21.
285: No. 21 Keaton Kluever, H, pinned A.J. Fricchione, 4:32.
Ridge Riley Award winner: Mitchell Mesenbrink.
Takedowns: Hofstra 6; Penn State 30.
Records: Hofstra 0-2; Penn State 2-0.
Next match: Penn State at Oregon State, 8 p.m. Jan. 5.
