Here’s how Brady Berge, Aaron Brooks did in their season debuts for Penn State wrestling
On Friday night, Penn State welcomed three new faces to the lineup.
One was sophomore Brady Berge at 157 pounds, who had been sidelined with injury. The others were freshmen Aaron Brooks at 184 pounds and Brandon Meredith at 125 pounds.
Berge and Brooks were successful in their debuts as the No. 3 Nittany Lions topped No. 13 Lehigh 23-10 inside Stabler Arena.
“I thought Berge wrestled well. He stayed focused and almost scored a couple times, but not quite,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson. “I thought Aaron wrestled well, that’s his first folkstyle dual meet in two years. He’s a spark plug. We need a spark, obviously, and he’s a guy we feel can contend for a national title at that weight class. With three months of college wrestling, I think he’ll jump a couple levels.”
Penn State fans have anticipated Brooks donning the blue and white singlet since he verbally committed to the Nittany Lions in February, 2018, before taking a year off folkstyle to train at the Olympic Training Center. Earlier this year, Sanderson made it seem they were going to have to wait until next season.
However, that changed when the true freshman took the mat and gave fans a taste of what they’ve been waiting for Friday night. For Sanderson, it “felt like it was the right thing to do.”
Brooks came out and tallied three takedowns in the first period to lead 6-2 in his first dual match since high school. He even hit a mearkle for the final takedown in the period.
In the second period, he got some help from the Mountain Hawks’ Chris Weiler with two stall points, but he hit a reversal to end the period on top. The score was then 10-2.
He gave up an escape and a takedown in the third period, but still won 10-5. Brooks’ win gave the Nittany Lions a 20-7 lead with two bouts left.
“It was fun. It felt great,” the Hagerstown, Maryland, native said. “I’m kind of upset about that last takedown. It just happens sometimes, I didn’t finish clean, but it was fun. I had a lot of fun out there wrestling and getting to my offense. It felt good for the first time being out there.”
Brooks’ teammate Mark Hall was impressed with how the true freshman handled his first dual in two years.
“It was awesome. I was hyping him up all day,” Hall said. “I knew it was coming at the beginning of the week. He’s got a high ceiling. He’s already great. He’s going to be even better. We’re excited for him.”
Berge hit the mat for the first time at his new weight class since being injured during the U23 Championships in October. He scored the first points in his match against No. 13 Josh Humphreys with 35 seconds left in the first period.
The pair went to the third period tied 2-2. An escape and takedown for Berge, sealed the 5-3 win for the sophomore.
Berge’s win broke open the dual for the Nittany Lions. They went from having a one-point lead to an 11-7 lead at the break.
Friday’s match also had a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between Hall and Jordan Kutler at 174 pounds.
“Kutler has been really good for a long time. I thought Mark wrestled well,” said Sanderson, describing Hall’s 7-2 win. “He (Hall) went out there and got the takedown and rode out the period, which gives him a big advantage moving forward. He got the last takedown, so that was good to see.”
Hall tallied that first takedown 29 seconds into the match and went to work with his top game. He even earned a stall of Kutler in the first period.
In the second period, Kutler got a takedown of Hall. It was a moment that Hall used as a learning moment for the next time.
“I don’t think I had a very good defense,” he said. “When he got to get my leg, I kind of turned my back, which sometimes, it might be the move to look for. I just got to get my leg back. Ending the match like I did, that’s going to be the difference for the next time we wrestle.”
In the third period, Kutler again got to his leg, but this time he fought back into Kutler and earned a counter takedown. He went to work again with that top game, earning 2:17 in riding time and that 7-2 victory.
“It’s good. It’s going to keep getting better over these next few months,” said Hall when asked about his top game. “I got to turn them though. I was close. I had a couple one counts. I’ve just been learning. It’s my senior year, so I know when Jason (Nolf), Zain (Retherford) and Bo (Nickal) (were) fighting for a Hodge Trophy, they were good at taking guys down and letting them go, but they were turning guys and pinning guys.”
The dual didn’t start off well for Penn State and Meredith at 125 pounds. He fought hard, but Meredith just couldn’t get anything going against No. 11 Brandon Paetzell in a 15-5 loss.
Roman Bravo-Young and Nick Lee strung together back-to-back victories to give the Nittany Lions an 8-4 lead — a lead they came close to losing but never did.
Lee put on a takedown clinic at 141 pounds on Joe Loebeck. Lee tallied nine in the 22-7 technical fall victory — the lone bonus points of the match.
Vincenzo Joseph and Anthony Cassar were other winners for the Nittany Lions.
Lehigh got to within 8-7 after Jimmy Hoffman scored a takedown with two seconds remaining in sudden victory to beat Jarod Verkleeren at 149 pounds. The Mountain Hawks other win came at 197 pounds, where Jake Jakobsen got a takedown on Kyle Conel with 27 seconds remaining in their match for a 3-1 victory.
No. 3 Penn State 23, No. 13 Lehigh 10
Friday at Bethlehem
125: No. 11 Brandon Paetzell, L, major dec. Brandon Meredith, 15-5
133: No. 4 Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Jaret Lane, 7-2
141: No. 3 Nick Lee, PSU, tech. fall Joe Loebeck, 22-7 (7:00)
149: Jimmy Hoffman, L, dec. Jarod Verkleeren, 3-1 (SV)
157: No. 6 Brady Berge, PSU, dec. No. 13 Josh Humphreys, 5-3
165: No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph, PSU, dec. Brian Meyer, 7-4
174: No. 1 Mark Hall, PSU, dec. No. 2 Jordan Kutler, 7-2
184: Aaron Brooks, PSU, dec. Chris Weiler, 10-5
197: No. 15 Jake Jakobsen, L, dec. No. 20 Kyle Conel, 3-1
285: No. 1 Anthony Cassar, PSU, dec. No. 10 Jordan Wood, 9-4
Takedowns: Penn State 25, Lehigh 12
Attendance: 6,047 (Stabler Arena record)
Records: Penn State 2-1, Lehigh 1-3
Next match: Penn at Penn State, Sunday, 2 p.m.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 11:11 PM.
