Seniors’ pins, Jarod Verkleeren’s upset highlight Penn State wrestling’s season finale
Shakur Rasheed was one of seven seniors honored before Penn State wrestling’s season finale inside Rec Hall on Sunday.
Rasheed said Senior Night is always his favorite match because “it’s the last bang.” This was technically Rasheed’s second Senior Night, after being honored last season before the NCAA awarded him an extra year of eligibility due to time lost for injuries.
“That was my second one,” Rasheed said with a laugh after the Nittany Lions routed American 40-3. “I was thinking how to get third one, to go out there and do another Senior Night. Walking out there was definitely bittersweet. Last time, I kind of knew I’d probably come back. It wasn’t as emotional (as last year). I’m not gonna go out there and start crying, but you know I just took it all in. I looked around at all the banners, the crowd and Coach Cael. It was cool.”
Rasheed along with Mark Hall and Vincenzo Joseph were the lone seniors in the starting lineup. Hall and Joseph are team captains, and for Rasheed, each have played an integral role on him this season.
Rasheed noted that Hall has played the biggest role. It is all about his demeanor before a match.
“Both of them are very calm, cool and collective, when it comes to any match,” Rasheed said. “You watch Mark, he’s not overthinking. He’s not really thinking about much, but just doing what he knows to do right. I think that is something that everybody can learn from. You look at that, it helps you calm down and just believe that you could do whatever you put your mind to, because that’s what they do.”
Well, as usual, Joseph and Hall took the mat before Rasheed. When both scored pins, it put the pressure on Rasheed.
With Penn State leading 9-0, Joseph and Hall pushed that lead out to 21-0 at the break, thanks to pins. Joseph’s victory took four minutes exactly. Hall’s came in 2:33.
“I’m like, ‘I can’t be the only senior not to pin,’” Rasheed said. “In my head, I was like ‘I’m getting a pin no matter what.’ Cradle is what I wanted because that’s what got me rolling and that’s what the fans love. I didn’t think about getting it quicker than them.”
Rasheed may not have thought about getting the quickest pin, but he did anyway. He came out firing and recorded a takedown right away and had the patented crossface cradle locked up, but he let it go.
He took William Jarrell down again and this time locked the crossface cradle up again and finished the match in 1:04.
“It was definitely special. A lot of people hit me up with, ‘Hey, get that cradle,’” Rasheed said. “I was like, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ I’m more happy that I cut him and then cradled him because I usually don’t do that.”
The match began at 141 pounds with Nick Lee picking up just a 7-3 win over Sal Profaci. It was only the third match that Lee didn’t score any bonus points. Following Lee’s win, Jarod Verkleeren was able to break through against a top-10 opponent.
After suffering heartbreaking losses against Minnesota’s Brayton Lee and Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso in his last two matches, Verkleeren got a shot at another top-10 opponent in No. 8 Kizhan Clarke on Sunday.
The pair traded escapes to be tied 1-1 late in the third period. They got into a scramble on the edge of the mat. Verkleeren shrugged Clarke by for a takedown with three seconds and the crowd roared.
It was a situation that Verkleeren was prepared for.
“He shot a double and I had my arm down ready,” Verkleeren said. “I slid it up and just kind of body locked him on the edge and got the takedown. We were in that body lock position a little bit earlier on in the match. I felt he was kind of hesitant a little there. I thought if we did get there again, I could get squeak one by.”
Following Verkleeren, Luke Gardner got the nod at 157 pounds and may end up being the wrestler to go in the postseason. Coach Cael Sanderson confirmed post match that Brady Berge was done for the season.
Gardner trailed 3-0 to start the third period. However, he rattled off seven third-period points thanks to three takedowns. Gardner won 7-5 and made a case for why he should be that postseason wrestler over fellow junior Bo Pipher.
“Luke’s got some great stuff and some great attacks,” Sanderson said. “He did a nice job coming back in the third period. I thought that can be a confidence builder. He hit some nice attacks, scored with a couple different shots and scrambled hard. I think that’s something he’s feeling good about. I thought he wrestled well. You want to be scoring those takedowns at the end. That’s something that we want to see out of our program, so it’s good to see.”
Outside of those exciting parts of the dual, Penn State picked up a decision win from Aaron Brooks, a major decision from Seth Nevills and Roman Bravo-Young rattled off nine first-period takedowns before ending the dual with a fall.
Next up for Penn State is the postseason and the Big Ten Championships is the first start. The Nittany Lions will head to Piscataway, New Jersey, March 7-8.
Sanderson believes his wrestlers are right where they need to be with the postseason looming.
“The guys are wrestling well. I think we’ll find out as we get to the Big Tens and the Nationals,” Sanderson said. “I feel like they’re wrestling the best that they have. I think that the attitude and the perspective is on point right now, where we need to be.”
No. 2 Penn State 40, American 3
Sunday at Rec Hall
141: No. 1 Nick Lee, PSU, dec. Sal Profaci, 7-3
149: No. 17 Jarod Verkleeren, PSU, dec. No. 8 Kizhan Clarke, 3-1
157: Luke Gardner, PSU, dec. Ethan Karsten, 7-5
165: No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph, PSU, pinned Tim Fitzpatrick, 4:00
174: No. 2 Mark Hall, PSU, pinned Anthony Wokasch, 2:33
184: No. 6 Aaron Brooks, PSU, dec. Tanner Harvey, 8-5
197: No. 18 Shakur Rasheed, PSU, pinned William Jarrell, 1:04
285: No. 17 Seth Nevills, PSU, major dec. Niko Camacho, 10-2
125: Gage Curry, AU, dec. Brandon Meredith, 3-1 (SV)
133: No. 2 Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, pinned Joshua Vega, 1:10
Takedowns: American 3, Penn State 24
Attendance: 6,477
Records: Penn State (12-2); American (4-8)
Next match: Penn State at Big Ten Championships, Rutgers, Piscataway, N.J., Saturday & Sunday
This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 5:54 PM.
