Penn State wrestling’s Seth Nevills caps come-from-behind win over Nebraska with clutch decision
Penn State wrestling’s Seth Nevills became the starting heavyweight less than a month ago — but he’s quickly become a hero of sorts.
The freshman, who’s replacing an injured Anthony Cassar in the lineup, held on for the match-turning decision Friday night against No. 7 Nebraska, giving the Nittany Lions a come-from-behind 20-18 win on the road. Nevills’ clutch performance comes just two weeks after his decision against Illinois in the final bout secured a 22-16 team victory.
In the final bout of the night Friday, with Penn State trailing 18-17, Nevills kept the Nittany Lions perfect in the conference with a 4-0 decision over Nebraska’s No. 15 Christian Lance. Nevills controlled the tempo of the match early on, racking up two minutes in riding time by the end of the second period, but the match remained scoreless at the start of the third.
In that final period, however, Nevills didn’t take long to put Lance in a losing position. Nine seconds in, after choosing to start from the bottom, Nevills earned an escape — meaning Lance needed at least a takedown to force sudden victory.
Lance pressed, but Nevills was able to fight off a single-leg takedown attempt with a minute left. And Lance never threatened again.
The win improves No. 2 Penn State to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten. Nebraska is now 5-3 overall and 0-3 in the conference.
Five Nittany Lions came away with individual victories Friday, while five lost. No. 1 Mark Hall (174 pounds) was the lone wrestler in a blue-and-white singlet to earn a fall, when he cradled No. 6 Mikey Labriola and earned a pin with just seven seconds left in the the third period.
Other wins for Penn State included No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young’s 11-3 major decision over No. 13 Ridge Lovett at 133 pounds, No. 2 Nick Lee’s 9-1 major decision over No. 8 Chad Red at 141 pounds and No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph’s 5-1 decision over Isaiah White at 165 pounds.
For Joseph, it was his fourth meeting with White — all of which were wins — but it was his biggest victory and the first time he registered a takedown against White in regulation. For Bravo-Young, it looked as if he was on pace for a decision until he cradled Lovett and earned back points in the final 10 seconds of the bout.
There were plenty of close calls on both sides of the mat. Nebraska’s No. 14 Collin Purinton held a narrow 3-2 lead over Jarod Verkleeren in the third period at 149 pounds. But, later in that final period, Verkleeren did everything he could to avoid a takedown and Purinton scrambled to get the pin at 5:50.
Penn State’s Brandon Meredith opened the match at 125 pounds by falling 3-1 (sudden victory) to Alex Thomsen. Other losses included Bo Pipher’s 5-3 loss to No. 11 Peyton Robb at 157 pounds, No. 6 Aaron Brooks’ 9-5 loss to No. 8 Taylor Venz and No. 19 Shakur Rasheed’s 3-1 loss to No. 8 Eric Schultz.
Penn State’s biggest deficit came after Pipher’s loss, when it was looking at a 12-8 hole. But back-to-back wins by Joseph and Hall flipped the score to a 17-12 lead. Nebraska then responded with back-to-back decisions to retake the 18-17 lead, before the Nittany Lions’ Nevills put the match away.
Nevills is now 10-0 on the season with a perfect 4-0 dual record. He took over for Cassar, the reigning national champ, who will miss the rest of the season wile rehabbing from a December shoulder injury.
Nevills and Co. will next take on Iowa on the road at 9 p.m. next Friday before returning home for a 2 p.m. match Feb. 2 at Rec Hall.
