Here are 5 bouts to watch in Penn State wrestling’s Sunday dual with Rutgers
Trying to predict who is going to wrestle in a dual where one team, in Rutgers, is coming off a 18-16 loss to Cornell on Friday and the other, in Penn State, has yet to use the same lineup twice, is next to impossible.
But with the 5 p.m. Sunday contest being nationally televised on ESPN2, we gave it our best shot.
Let’s take a look at the top five matchups, should all the starters hit the mat for each team.
1. 133 Pounds: No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young (10-0) vs. No. 9 Sammy Alvarez (17-5)
Last weekend, RBY had an opportunity to get in two top-10 matchups with Illinois’ Travis Piotrowski and Northwestern’s Sebastian Rivera.
However, the Tucson, Ariz., native couldn’t make the call against the Fighting Illini, and Rivera didn’t compete against the Nittany Lions.
This week, No. 3 RBY has another shot at a top-10 tilt. Now, it is a matter of whether Alvarez make the call against another top-five opponent. Alvarez suffered a 3-2 defeat to No. 4 Chas Tucker from Cornell on Friday.
Alvarez would be the highest-ranked opponent that Bravo-Young has faced so far this season, should the pair square off. It won’t be the last time RBY gets a wrestler in the top 10, either.
He’ll have a shot at Iowa’s Austin DeSanto (No. 2) in two weeks. Then, he could face off with the No. 1 wrestler at the 133-pound weight class in Wisconsin’s Seth Gross on Feb. 7.
Don’t look for bonus points in this matchup.
2. 197 Pounds: No. 20 Shakur Rasheed (1-1) vs. No. 18 Jordan Pagano (16-5)
This is the second of the two matchups that could put a pair of ranked wrestlers against each other.
As most people know, Rasheed is working on getting back into wrestling shape after offseason ACL surgery. It is one thing to be practicing in the room, but it’s a completely different aspect when wrestling on the mat in front of 6,000-plus screaming fans.
Rasheed looked solid in his 3-0 win over Illinois’ Matt Wroblewski, but his gas tank seemed empty in a 7-5 loss to Northwestern’s Luke Davison. Pagano is just as good as Davison.
Pagano, who was once a Nittany Lions wrestler, comes into Sunday’s tilt fresh off a 12-0 major decision over the Big Red’s Jonathon Fagen. Pagano, much like Rasheed, has had an injury-riddled college career. He missed most of the past two seasons due to injuries.
This matchup should it come together will be a good one, but again, there probably won’t be any bonus points scored for either team.
3. 184 Pounds: No. 8 Aaron Brooks (6-0) vs. Billy Janzer (14-4)
This matchup is intriguing for two different reasons.
Yes, Brooks is ranked No. 8 nationally, and Janzer isn’t ranked at all. Yes, Brooks has two top-20 wins over Illinois’ Zach Braunagel and Lehigh’s Chris Weiler. However, Janzer has some impressive wins of his own.
Janzer topped returning NCAA qualifier Cameron Caffey from Michigan State a week ago. He’s also beaten Ohio State’s Rocky Jordan, who comes from the same family that produced Buckeyes’ greats Bo and Micah Jordan.
The other intriguing aspect of this matchup is whether or not Brooks will wrestle. He competed against the Fighting Illini last Friday, but didn’t compete against the Wildcats last Sunday.
It is unknown why he didn’t compete in both duals, but one would think that since there is only one dual this weekend, he should be out there.
4. 157 Pounds: No. 4 Brady Berge (1-0) or Bo Pipher (8-7) vs. Michael Van Brill (14-10)
Will Berge return to the mat? It is hard to say.
According to coach Cael Sanderson, the Nittany Lions are in no hurry to get him back out there. They are trying to be cautious after Berge suffered that scary-looking head injury during the U23 Championships in October.
Berge looked good in the lone match he had this season, a 5-3 win over Lehigh’s Josh Humphreys. However, he hasn’t put the Penn State singlet on since then.
Pipher has done well and held his own while filling in for the injured Berge. Pipher hasn’t given up any bonus points, and that is saying a lot with some of the opponents he has faced this season, including Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin (No. 1 at 157), Penn’s Anthony Artalona (No. 16 at 157) and Arizona State’s Jacori Teemer.
Van Brill was just shy of making the NCAAs in the 2017-2018 season and spent most of last year as a backup to Peter Lipari, who qualified for NCAAs. Van Brill is the starter now that Lipari transferred to Rider, and doesn’t have a great record. If he faces off with Pipher, it could make for an interesting bout between two wrestlers with just over .500 records.
5. 141 Pounds: No. 2 Nick Lee (10-0) vs. Jojo Aragona (9-5)
On paper, this one looks like a total mismatch in favor of Lee. That could very well be the case, too, as Lee just has more collegiate experience than the true freshman.
Aragona, though, isn’t the average true freshman. He was the No. 1 recruit at 141 pounds coming out of high school. He was also No. 6 nationally according to FloWrestling in the 2019 class. He is a four-time New Jersey state placewinner and captured a state title as a senior at 138 pounds. He even beat new Nittany Lions wrestler Adam Busiello in the annual Beat the Streets event in Madison Square Garden after the pair completed their senior seasons.
All of that high school success hasn’t translated to college for Aragona yet. He was hampered by a hamstring injury, according to FloWrestling, during the first half of the season. However, he may just need to gain more maturity on the collegiate level.
Take his match on Friday, when the freshman led Cornell’s Noah Baughman 3-0 after two periods of wrestling. Aragona led 4-2 with 50 seconds left in his match, but Baughman got a takedown with 15 seconds left to tie it up. Baughman picked up a cheap tilt as time expired to earn the 6-4 win.
While the true freshman has all the talent and potential, it might not be enough to test the veteran in Lee.
No. 22 Rutgers (7-2, 2-1 Big Ten) at No. 2 Penn State (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten)
When: 5 p.m., Sunday
Where: Rec Hall
Radio: WRSC 93.3 FM or WQWK 103.7 FM
Online: ESPN2 (18, Comcast)
| Nittany Lions | vs. | Scarlet Knights |
| 125: Brandon Meredith (11-6) | vs. | No. 16 Nicholas Aguilar (17-4) OR Malcolm Robinson (4-4) |
| 133: No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young (10-0) | vs. | No. 9 Sammy Alvarez (17-5) |
| 141: No. 2 Nick Lee (10-0) | vs. | Jojo Aragona (9-5) OR Zach Firestone (5-6) |
| 149: Jarod Verkleeren (11-2) OR Luke Gardner (6-1) | vs. | Gerard Angelo (11-8) OR Nick Santos (6-2) |
| 157: No. 4 Brady Berge (1-0) OR Bo Pipher (8-7) | vs. | Michael Van Brill (14-10) |
| 165: No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph (5-0) | vs. | Brett Donner (13-10) |
| 174: No. 1 Mark Hall (13-0) | vs. | Joe Grello (6-4) OR Willie Scott (6-4) |
| 184: No. 8 Aaron Brooks (6-0) | vs. | Billy Janzer (14-4) |
| 197: No. 20 Shakur Rasheed (1-1) OR Austin Hoopes (5-6) | vs. | No. 18 Jordan Pagano (16-5) OR Matthew Correnti (10-4) |
| 285: Seth Nevills (8-0) | vs. | Alex Esposito (15-9) |
This story was originally published January 18, 2020 at 2:20 PM.
