How Penn State wrestling bounced back from loss with dominating victory over Maryland
After all the buildup and excitement surrounding Penn State wrestling’s Nos. 1-vs.-2 battle at Iowa Friday, the atmosphere around Sunday’s contest with unranked Maryland was much more subdued.
But the Nittany Lions didn’t let the letdown of Friday night’s 2-point loss get to them as they showed up at Rec Hall and took care of business, rolling to a dominating 40-3 victory for the program’s 30th straight win over the Terrapins. Of Penn State’s nine individual wins, six were with bonus points, as the Nittany Lions won the takedown battle 31-3.
Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson was proud of the way his wrestlers didn’t let Friday’s loss, the long trip home or the quality of Sunday’s competition keep them from getting their “best results.”
“I think these guys are competitors and they just did what they do,” Sanderson said. “It’s a trip to the Midwest and back, then getting ready to wrestle is a nice test and challenge for them. But I think the guys wrestled well, and the plan is to keep getting better as we push along here.”
Both Vincenzo Joseph and Mark Hall had the Rec Hall fans on their feet with back-to-back pins. Joseph got out to a fast start, racking up three takedowns and two nearfall points before ultimately sticking sophomore Kyle Cochran in four minutes and one second. Hall needed just 51 seconds to cradle up Philip Spadaphora and roll him on his back.
In addition to the pins, Penn State earned three technical falls, from sophomore Roman Bravo-Young, junior Nick Lee and freshman Seth Nevills. Between them, the trio had 20 of the team’s total takedowns.
Bravo-Young started off his 133-pound bout a bit slow against King Sandoval, earning just one takedown in the first period. But once he was able to clear the 2-on-1 and get his takedowns going, he said he could feel the freshman start to break. Bravo-Young let it loose in the second period, unleashing five takedowns in the second period and five more in the third, including an athletic cartwheel-jump over Sandoval to get to his legs.
When it comes to athletic moves, be it cartwheels or his “flying squirrel” a year ago against Lehigh, Bravo-Young says getting creative just comes second nature to him.
“That’s just something I do,” he said. “I like to be entertaining and am pretty athletic, so I just want to be fun to watch. I just let it happen. I do that stuff in practice and it’s something I like to do — jump and create angles.”
Bravo-Young finished the 24-9 tech fall in seven minutes wth 11 total takedowns.
Nevills also put on a takedown clinic, against fellow freshman Parker Robinson, racking up eight, plus two sets of two-point nearfalls to end the match in 6:07, 21-6. While Lee had only one takedown to his name, he turned sophomore Hunter Baxter three times for 10 total nearfall points, winning 16-0 in 5:52.
The fifth bonus-point win came at the hands of sophomore Jarod Verkleeren at 149 pounds, shutting out Ryan Garlitz with a 9-0 major decision.
Penn State also earned victories from several backups. Bo Pipher, who’s been holding down 157 pounds for most of the year while presumed starter Brady Berge recovers form a preseason head injury, earned his first Big Ten dual meet win with a 3-0 decision over senior Jahi Jones.
“I’m just trying to be myself every match and just trying to translate what I can do in practice every day to making it happen on the weekend,” Pipher said. “I think definitely every match and every day I get better, and every match I’m more excited to compete and always grateful for the opportunity.”
Freshman Creighton Edsell, who was filling in for Aaron Brooks at 184, won a two-takedowns-to-one battle with Kyle Jasenski for the 5-2 decision. Sophomore Austin Hoopes, filling in for Shakur Rasheed at 197 pounds, earned his first dual meet victory with a 3-2 decision over Niko Cappello.
The Nittany Lions’ lone loss of the afternoon came at 125 pounds, where freshman Brandon Meredith dropped an 8-7 decision in a back-and-forth battle with junior Brandon Cray. Meredith scored two takedowns and a reversal, but Cray matched that with two takedowns of his own and two nearfall points. A third-period escape ultimately won it for the Terrapin.
Penn State is now 8-2 on the season, and 5-2 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions are back in action next weekend with a top-10 battle against No. 8 Wisconsin on the road Friday, then at No. 11 Minnesota Sunday.
No. 2 Penn State 40, Maryland 3
Sunday at Rec Hall
125: Brandon Cray, M, dec. Brandon Meredith, 8-7
133: No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, tech. fall King Sandoval, 24-9 (7:00)
141: No. 2 Nick Lee, PSU, tech. fall Hunter Baxter, 16-0 (5:52)
149: Jarod Verkleeren, PSU, maj. dec. Ryan Garlitz, 9-0
157: Bo Pihper, PSU, dec. Jahi Jones, 3-0
165: No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph, PSU, fall, Kyle Cochran (4:01)
174: No. 1 Mark Hall, PSU, fall, Philip Spadafora (:51)
184: Creighton Edsell, PSU, dec. Kyle Jasenski, 5-2
197: Austin Hoopes, PSU, dec. Niko Cappello, 3-2
285: No. 15 Seth Nevills, PSU, tech. fall, Parker Robinson, 21-6 (6:07)
Takedowns: PSU 31, Maryland 3
Records: Penn State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten), Maryland (2-13, 0-7 Big Ten)
Next match: Penn State at Wisconsin, Friday, 9 p.m.
This story was originally published February 2, 2020 at 6:30 PM.
