Penn State wrestling overpowers Arizona State to win the Blue Pool at the Collegiate Duals

Penn State wrestling avenged one of its only two dual meet losses in the past two years with a 29-10 victory over Arizona State on Tuesday to win the Blue Pool at the Journeymen National Collegiate Duals in Niceville, Florida.

What looked like it would be a close dual on paper ended up being a comfortable win for the Nittany Lions, thanks, in part, to an upset win from Beau Bartlett at 149 pounds and Penn State winning the bonus point battle 8-1.

Bartlett, ranked No. 22 by InterMat, took on Arizona State’s No. 5 Kyle Parco, with his team leading 7-4. The two battled evenly through the first period, with neither opponent able to convert on several takedown attempts.

Bartlett scored the initial point of the bout with an escape with 1:15 left in the second period. Parco answered with a quick escape of his own to start the third. Bartlett got in on several shots toward the end of the period and nearly converted with about five seconds remaining, but was unable to get the takedown as the bout headed into sudden victory.

The Nittany Lion secured the win by countering Parco’s takedown attempt, and throwing him to the mat with 37 seconds on the clock for the 3-1 win.

With the win, Bartlett improved to 6-2 on the season.

“I feel more confident every match,” Bartlett said to the Penn State Sports Network. “People are saying, ‘How do you adjust to college wrestling?’ It’s not overnight. I don’t care what anyone says. It’s every day, every match, every close match, every takedown you score, every hand fight you win, it brings people closer to where they want to be. I’m not where I want to be yet, so I’m not going to settle. I know the progression I’m on and I’m doing it.”

The Nittany Lions earned bonus points in five bouts, with major decisions from Nick Lee, Max Dean and Greg Kerkvliet, a technical fall by Carter Starocci and a first-period pin from Aaron Brooks.

Lee gave the Nittany Lions their first lead of the evening at 141 pounds, after Jake Campbell dropped a 18-7 major decision to No. 3 Brandon Courtney at 125 pounds and No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young battled to a 6-3 win over No. 14 Michael McGee at 133 to give the Sun Devils a 4-3 advantage. Top-ranked Lee dominated No. 15 Jesse Vasquez, racking up five takedowns and three stall calls en route to a 14-3 major decision.

Bartlett’s win gave the Nittany Lions a 10-4 lead before suffering a pair of losses as Tony Negron fell 8-3 to No. 3 Jacori Teemer at 157 pounds and No. 26 Creighton Edsell dropped a 10-5 decision to No. 6 Anthony Valencia at 165 pounds. Despite the two losses to higher-ranked opponents, the Nittany Lions didn’t give up any bonus points and the meet was tied at 10 apiece with four bouts remaining.

Then Penn State’s “murderers row” took over.

Defending national champs Starocci and Brooks earned 11 bonus points between them, putting the dual nearly out of reach for the Sun Devils.

Starocci led 2-0 after the first period against Zane Coleman at 174 pounds. The Nittany Lion got a quick escape to start the second period then went to work on takedowns, getting out to a 7-1 lead as Coleman started to look gassed, taking his time jogging back to the middle of the mat. Starocci took him down again then turned Coleman to his back for four near fall points. He finished Coleman off with another turn for a 17-2 technical fall in 4:50.

Brooks made quick work of Josh Nummer at 184, getting out to a 10-2 lead with over a minute in riding time before locking up the Alaska native in a cradle and pinning him at 1:48. No. 3 Max Dean kept the bonus points coming at 197 pounds, earning a 10-1 major decision over No. 8 Kordell Norfleet — with four minutes in riding time.

Fans were deprived of what would have been the marquee matchup of the meet, as Arizona State’s No. 3 Cohlton Schultz didn’t compete. Instead, it was Chad Porter who took on Penn State’s No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet. While it wasn’t the top-5 matchup many anticipated, the bout wasn’t without excitement.

Kerkvliet’s nose clashed with the back of Porter’s head early in the bout, causing both wrestlers to bleed and blood time to be called. After Kerkvliet went into concussion protocol and another blood time, the pair got back to wrestling.

Unfazed by all the cotton swabs taped around his nose, Kerkvliet picked up three takedowns, a stall point, an escape and 4:24 in riding time to earn the 9-0 major decision.

With the win, Penn State improved to 8-0 on the season, going 3-0 at the Collegiate Duals with wins over Cornell and Northern Iowa on Monday. Top-ranked Iowa won the Red Pool on Tuesday with a 19-15 win over North Carolina State.

The Nittany Lions will be back in action on Jan. 7, when they open their Big Ten schedule at Maryland at 7 p.m.

No. 2 Penn State 29, No. 6 Arizona State 10

Tuesday at Niceville, Fla.

125: No. 3 Brandon Courtney, ASU, major dec. Jake Campbell, 18-7

133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. No. 14 Michael McGee, 6-2

141: No. 1 Nick Lee, PSU, major dec. No. 15 Jesse Vasquez, 14-3

149: No. 22 Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. No. 5 Kyle Parco, 3-1 (SV)

157: No. 3 Jacori Teemer, ASU, dec. Tony Negron, 8-3

165: No. 6 Anthony Valencia, ASU, dec. No. 26 Creighton Edsell, 10-5

174: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU, tech. fall Zane Coleman, 17-2 (4:50)

184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU, pinned Josh Nummer, 1:48

197: No. 3 Max Dean, PSU, major dec. No. 8 Kordell Norfleet, 10-1

285: No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, major dec. Chad Porter, 9-0

Takedowns: ASU 13, PSU 22

Records: Penn State (8-0); Arizona State (3-1)

Next match: Penn State at Maryland, Jan. 7, 7 p.m.

This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 12:19 AM.