How Brandon Meredith provided a spark as Penn State wrestling beat Penn with a different lineup
The fireworks started early in Rec Hall Sunday afternoon and didn’t slow for much of the afternoon as No. 3 Penn State took down Penn, 33-7.
Unranked Brandon Meredith took down No. 10 Michael Colaiocco at 125 pounds to open Sunday’s dual between the Nittany Lions and Quakers. Meredith won the bout via an 8-5 decision in his Rec Hall debut.
Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson said he was hopeful the win would give the redshirt freshman confidence moving forward.
“I think that’s a great win for him,” Sanderson said after the dual. “Hopefully it’s a confidence-builder for him. That was a nice win.”
While Meredith said the win did help give him a boost of confidence, he still has work to do to get to the level he’d like to be at.
“(The win) helps but I think more than anything I’m just trying to take in anything I can learn from,” he said. “I’m just trying to get better every day and that’s my focus.”
The redshirt freshman fell behind early in the match, trailing 4-1 after the first period, and 5-1 after Colaiocco escaped to begin the second period.
Sanderson said the 125-pounder maintained his composure in the comeback.
“I thought he wrestled well,” Sanderson said. “He fell behind a little early but gave himself a chance. ... He just kept plugging away.”
Meredith closed the gap with a takedown in the second period and earned a stall warning against Colaiocco after the Penn 125-pounder made no effort to get out from under Meredith.
A second period ride-out led to a 5-3 disadvantage for Meredith at the start of the third, but a quick escape and takedown gave the underdog a 6-5 lead. Colaiocco received another stall warning, giving Meredith a point and the Penn Stater rode out his opponent for one minute and 39 seconds of riding time and an 8-5 victory.
The redshirt freshman was one of many wrestlers Penn State prepared to wrestle Sunday because, according to Sanderson, the team didn’t know what it was going to do. Multiple wrestlers weighed in at 125, 149, 184, 197 pounds and heavyweight.
“We didn’t know what we were going to do today and guys just like weighing in,” Sanderson said with a smile. “We weighed in a couple extra guys at the upper weights because we weren’t quite sure what we were going to do.”
The variability was, in part, to ensure Penn State had options at the upper weights in case it needed a strong showing to close out a win. That includes redshirt senior Anthony Cassar, who the team had planned not to use against Penn.
“Cassar weighed in just in case he needed to go,” Sanderson said. “Part of the plan we laid out at the beginning of the year was that he wasn’t wrestling today. He weighed in just in case because that’s a good, young team. If these guys (didn’t) go out in wrestle, then it was going to be a close score. We just wanted to have those options to move people around.”
Once the Nittany Lions were rolling, out to a 14-3 lead at the break, the decision was made to send out Austin Hoopes at heavyweight. Hoopes, a sophomore, wrestled as low as 174 pounds in the summer, but jumped at the chance to crack the lineup.
“He’s a great kid and he knew there was a chance he could wrestle if we sat Cassar, and he jumped on it,” Sanderson said. “He wrestled (at) 174 (in the summer). When he knew there was a chance he could wrestle a match, all of our protein Gatorade shakes disappeared.”
Although Hoopes lost a a 14-4 major decision to Penn heavyweight Joey Slackman, the lineup variability paid off for Penn State in the win. Sanderson said this won’t be the last time we see a different Penn State lineup this season.
“Keagan (Carmenatty), our other (option), he was more than happy to jump in there, too,” Sanderson said. “So you might see him in the lineup moving forward, too, if Cassar’s not wrestling.”
Senior Vincenzo Joseph, who picked up his first pin of the year against Jacob Lizak at 165 pounds, said the lineup changes allow different teammates to showcase themselves.
“I like to see how our guys progress,” Joseph said. “Seeing guys like (Meredith) go out there and do what they do, and (seeing) the progress they make, is pretty cool to watch.”
Fellow senior Mark Hall agreed, and said he enjoys the changing lineups.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Hall said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that will get an opportunity to wrestle. We’ve put out a lot of teams. When March comes around we’ll put our best foot forward and be ready to go.”
The senior 174-pounder picked up a technical fall in his bout Sunday, marking the 100th of his career. Hall acknowledged the accomplishment, but made it clear he’s far from done.
“(It was) pretty cool,” Hall said with a grin. “I’ve got a couple more wins to get this season.”
No. 3 Penn State 33, Penn 7
Friday at University Park
125: Brandon Meredith, PSU dec. No. 10 Michael Colaiocco, 8-5
133: No. 4 Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, maj. dec. Carmen Ferrante, 21-9
141: No. 3 Nick Lee, PSU, maj. dec. Doug Zapf, 13-4
149: Luke Gardner, dec. Lucas Revano, 7-6
157: No. 10 Anthony Artalona, Penn, dec. Bo Pipher, 5-2
165: No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph, PSU, fall Jacob Lizak, 4:25
174: No. 1 Mark Hall, PSU, tech. fall Neil Antrassian, 19-4 (7:00)
184: Aaron Brooks, PSU, tech. fall Jesse Quatse, 19-4 (6:03)
197: No. 20 Kyle Conel, PSU, dec. Cole Urbas, 6-5
285: Joey Slackman, Penn, maj. dec. Austin Hoopes, 14-4
Takedowns: Penn State 37, Penn 10
Records: Penn State 3-1, Penn 0-1
Next match: Illinois at Penn State, Jan. 10, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 6:55 PM.
