Here’s 5 things we learned from Penn State wrestling’s Big Ten-opening weekend
Penn State wrestling kicked off its Big Ten competition this past weekend with two wins, a new heavyweight, a new old face back in the lineup and more.
Here’s five things we learned from Penn State’s 22-16 win over Illinois and 30-9 win over Northwestern:
1) Unpredictable lineups are predictable this season
At the beginning of the season, coach Cael Sanderson gave a fair warning that with guys training to qualify for the Olympic Trials and others recovering from injury, the Nittany Lions could see a variety of lineups this seasons — at least early on.
However, the first half of the season is in the books, and the revolving-door lineup continues for the Nittany Lions.
In six duals so far this season, the Nittany Lions have had six different lineups, and 19 different wrestlers have seen the mat.
While the shuffling lineup has provided guys like sophomore 184/197-pounder Austin Hoopes — who “pretty much cleaned out” the team’s protein shake refrigerator, per Sanderson at the mention of potentially getting to wrestle at heavyweight — with the opportunity to crack the lineup that they might not otherwise have gotten, it’s also been a point of frustration for some fans.
Supporters of Penn State wrestling, which has won eight of the past nine NCAA championships, including the past four, aren’t used to the uncertainty that comes with a different lineup every match. When you can’t predict the lineup, you certainly can’t predict the outcome.
But there’s a certain amount of enjoyment in unpredictability.
It allows for more moments like Friday night against Illinois, when a freshman heavyweight making his debut in Seth Nevills was given the opportunity to seal the win for his team.
Stay tuned for more moments like that, and the opportunity for some unlikely heroes to emerge.
2) ‘It’s a little different this year’
A video that Centre Daily Times photojournalist Abby Drey posted online of Sanderson’s remarks after the Illinois dual gained a lot of traction over the weekend.
“It’s a little different this year. We’ve got to figure things out a little bit more,” Sanderson said. “We don’t have some of the guys we’ve had in the lineup the past few years. We’re kind of in that transition year.”
While Sanderson’s words can be — and have been — translated in a variety of ways, it sounds as though he’s trying to temper expectations a bit.
The Nittany Lions won’t be going into the NCAA tournament with two or three essentially guaranteed champs, as in years past with guys like Zain Retherford, Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf. However, as of now, they still have three clear title contenders in past champions Mark Hall and Vincenzo Joseph, and in two-time All-American junior Nick Lee.
Even that, though, might not be enough against an Iowa team that doesn’t appear to have a single weak spot in its entire lineup, which was made even stronger when freshman Abe Assad was pulled out of redshirt at 184 pounds Sunday.
Still, the Nittany Lions are poised to finish as one of the top teams at NCAAs, and Hall’s and Joseph’s goals of ending their senior seasons with individual titles are still intact.
Not bad for “kind of” a “transition year.”
3) Injuries take toll
Penn State wrestling has dealt with injuries in the past.
An ankle injury in the final dual of the season rendered then-Nittany Lion freshman and eventual Rutgers national champ Nick Suriano unable to compete in the postseason in 2017. A leg injury near the end of the 2018 season put Jason Nolf’s postseason hopes in jeopardy.
But it doesn’t appear that any injury, at least in recent history, has affected Penn State’s national title hopes as much as losing Anthony Cassar. As the defending heavyweight national champ, Cassar would’ve likely been the favorite heading into NCAAs, giving Penn State four potential title contenders.
But Cassar hasn’t been the only injury for the Nittany Lions.
The injury bug started before Penn State’s season even began, when sophomore Brady Berge suffered a head injury at the U23 World Championships in October. The 157-pounder has wrestled one match so far this season, a 5-3 decision over Lehigh’s then-No. 13 Josh Humphreys, wearing a soft helmet for protection.
Sanderson has reiterated throughout the season that they are taking things slow with Berge and aren’t going to force him into anything his body’s not ready for yet. He said the same thing about sixth-year senior Shakur Rasheed, who made his debut this past weekend after offseason ACL surgery, going 1-1.
And with sixth-year senior graduate transfer Kyle Conel having struggled to recover from his injury woes and now out for the season, the coaches decided to pull the redshirt off true freshman Aaron Brooks, a year earlier than originally intended.
With so many starters already out of the lineup, each injury or illness — like with Roman Bravo-Young and Vincenzo Joseph both out against Illinois — has a bigger impact than it normally would.
In 2017, Suriano or no Suriano, the Nittany Lions were able to crown five individual national champs and come away comfortably with the team title. In 2018, Nolf was able to return just in time for NCAAs and power himself and the team to national titles.
Dealing with this many injuries, though, means the Nittany Lions are looking at a much steeper hill to climb.
4) Still plenty to look forward to
The first portion of this column seems to be heavy on the doom and gloom, hitting on injuries, lineup changes and with the term “transition year” invoked by Sanderson himself.
But that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty for Penn State fans to be looking forward to and excited about this season. After all, this is Penn State wrestling we’re talking about.
Two of the most accomplished wrestlers in Penn State history in Mark Hall and Vincenzo Joseph are focused on ending their careers strong, while junior Nick Lee has his first national title well within his sights this season.
On top of that, talented true freshmen Aaron Brooks and Seth Nevills, now with their redshirts pulled, have loads of potential in front of them, and have the opportunity to lay the groundwork for the future of this team.
With the caliber of talent Penn State has on its team, the Nittany Lions shouldn’t be counted out of any competition this season, and are likely to provide plenty of exciting moments.
5) Penn State can handle adversity
Penn State did not wrestle well against Illinois.
Sanderson admitted that himself after the dual, saying, “I don’t think we should be thrilled about the way we wrestled.”
Yes, three regular starters were on the bench and two other wrestlers were making their season debuts as starters. But even still, the Nittany Lions seemed to lack energy and enthusiasm.
That, however, changed Sunday.
Even in the matches they lost, Penn State wrestlers competed hard all the way through and wrestled to win.
That competitiveness was apparent in freshman Brandon Meredith’s 7-3 loss to Northwestern’s No. 7 Michael DeAugustino at 125 pounds. Down 5-1 heading into the final period, Meredith chose neutral to start the period, and quickly went to work, pushing the offensive tempo and looking for the takedown. He got it, cutting the lead to two with a minute remaining. He tried to go for the cradle, but couldn’t quite get it and cut his opponent loose to try to take him down again.
Even though Meredith lost his bout, which was the last of the afternoon, most of the crowd stayed all the way through, recognizing his effort and awarding him with a hearty round of applause.
That sort of wrestle-to-win mentality and beat-anyone mindset was on display not only in Meredith’s match, but also in Bo Pipher’s 6-0 loss to No. 1-ranked Ryan Deakin, and from freshman Creighton Edsell, who moved up a weight to fill in for Aaron Brooks at 184 and defeated Jack Jessen 4-1.
Sanderson wasn’t sure what changed between Friday and Sunday, joking that because he was coaching at an open tournament in Millersville on Saturday, it must’ve been something assistant coaches Cody Sanderson, Casey Cunningham and Jake Varner did.
Roman Bravo-Young said they just played dodgeball.
Whatever it might’ve been, the Nittany Lions showed they can bounce back from a lackluster performance in less than 48 hours to put on a much more enthusiastic showing. That ability will become key for them in accomplishing their goals as the Big Ten schedule heats up.
