Penn State cruises past Maryland to secure 3rd straight Big Ten wrestling crown
Another Big Ten dual season has come and gone for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions found themselves in a usual spot at the end, at the top, undefeated with their third straight conference dual title.
“Today, it’s a good accomplishment that we got, but at 12 o’clock tonight, that is over,” Shayne Van Ness said. “We’re on to the next day, and looking forward to the next match.”
Nittany Lions coach Cael Sanderson added: “These dual meets are a big deal to us and our program, when you’re going head to head with some rival schools. We want to compete and wrestle as well as we can in a dual, so it’s special. Like Shayne said, this is great, but now we move on to the next one. We have a match next Sunday, so we can’t completely focus on the Big 10 tournament yet.”
Penn State dropped the first bout, but won the final nine to crush Maryland, 44-3, on Sunday inside Rec Hall.
The Nittany Lions completed the feat with some starters out of the lineup in Aaron Brooks and Greg Kerkvliet. Penn State collected a bunch of bonus points — three pins, two technical falls, a forfeit and a major decision — along the way.
While Penn State’s Gary Steen dropped his 125-pound bout with No. 15 Braxton Brown, Steen looked very comfortable in the 1-0 loss.
Roman Bravo-Young returned to the lineup on Sunday, and did so in stunning fashion. The two-time NCAA champion rattled off 14 takedowns to rack up a 28-13 technical fall in 6:45 on King Sandoval.
RBY had seven takedowns alone in the first period.
Beau Bartlett had no problems with Kal Miller in a 5-2 win. Then, Van Ness stepped on the mat.
He led 5-3 after one period after tallying two takedowns, but gave up one to No. 18 Ethen Miller. From there, it was all Van Ness.
The redshirt freshman collected nearfall points in the second period by using an effective 2-on-1 tilt. In the third period, Van Ness recorded a takedown and put Miller to his back late, but couldn’t get the fall. Instead, Van Ness had 3:25 in riding time to earn a 19-4 technical fall.
“I was really focused on my performance. This week, I had some things I’ve been working on,” Van Ness said. “I finally felt that they’ve been coming through my wrestling. I was proud of my performance.”
The Nittany Lions led 13-3 at that point, then collected two of their three pins back to back.
Levi Haines built up a 6-1 lead on Kevin Schork at 157 pounds. Haines then took Schork down for a second time and flattened him in 1:42.
Alex Facundo kept his takedown pace going from Friday night to the tune of seven more on Sunday against Lucas Cordio. In the third period, Cordio started from the bottom position, and Facundo made him pay.
Facundo slapped an assassin on Cordio and stuck the Terp in 5:38.
“I’m growing and learning a little bit of something from each and every match,” Haines said of his and Facundo’s pins. “It gives us more confidence to pin more people.”
Carter Starocci kept the bonus-point train rolling at 174. He was like a predator playing with his prey in Dom Solis.
The two-time NCAA champion tallied six takedowns to cruise to a 14-6 major decision. Penn State led 29-3 with three bouts left.
Ball filled in for Aaron Brooks as he has done all year. He earned another win, as usual, too.
The senior recorded four takedowns — three of them with blast doubles — to come up one point shy of a major decision, 10-3.
Max Dean received a forfeit at 197 pounds, which left Seth Nevills to finish of the dual in place of Kerkvliet.
Nevills took on Jordan Gabriel in a battle of backup wrestlers.
He took Gabriel down midway through the first period. Then with just over one minute remaining in the period, Nevills collected a pin.
“I feel like he’s done really well filling in for Aaron. He’s fun to watch wrestle, and has an entertaining offense,” Sanderson said of Ball.
Sanderson said of Nevills: “He looked good and wrestled smart. He’s one of the best heavyweights in the country for sure. He’s a great athlete and has a lot of very good technique. When he gets a chance to wrestle, he’s pretty darn good.”
No. 1 Penn State 44, Maryland 3
Sunday at University Park
125: No. 15 Braxton Brown, M, dec. Gary Steen, 1-0
133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, tech. fall King Sandoval, 28-13 (6:45)
141: No. 6 Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. Kal Miller, 5-2
149: No. 13 Shayne Van Ness, PSU, tech. fall No. 18 Ethen Miller, 19-4 (7:00)
157: No. 8 Levi Haines, PSU, pinned Kevin Schork, 1:42
165: No. 9 Alex Facundo, PSU, pinned Lucas Cordio, 5:38
174: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU, major dec. Dominic Solis, 14-6
184: Donovon Ball, PSU dec. Kevin Makosy, 10-3
197: No. 3 Max Dean, PSU, won by forfeit
285: Seth Nevills, PSU, pinned Jordan Gabriel, 1:56
Takedowns: M 1, PSU 38
Records: Maryland (9-8, 1-7 Big Ten), Penn State (15-0, 8-0 Big Ten)
Next match: Clarion at Penn State, 1 p.m., Sunday
This story was originally published February 12, 2023 at 4:02 PM.
