Here are 5 takeaways from Penn State wrestling’s rout of Ohio State at Rec Hall
When the dust settled inside Rec Hall on Friday night, the result was what was expected.
Penn State came away with a dominating 28-9 win over Ohio State to remain perfect in the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions are now one win away from getting coach Cael Sanderson’s 200th career win as the leader of the pack.
Here are five takeaways from the program’s 998th victory, and ninth straight over the Buckeyes.
Davis got away with a win
True freshman Braeden Davis recorded the first and only takedown of the bout against Vinny Kilkeary in the second period. It was 3-2 after the period was over.
In the third period, Davis opened with an escape, but was called for his second stall call to make it 4-3. The pair got into a scramble late that saw Davis fighting off his back in what appeared to be a clear takedown.
However, no takedown was awarded. Ohio State coaches challenged the call, lost the challenge and Davis came out with the 4-3 win.
“They’re (officials) supposed to be patient with the reaction time. Last year, it was the skin of your finger drags along the mat, it’s a takedown,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “I think it’s a fine rule. You just have to really secure that takedown and have control for a little bit of time.”
Kasak’s redshirt is off, for good reason
The ongoing topic has been who was going to replace Shayne Van Ness after it was announced he’d be out for the remainder of the season.
Tyler Kasak and David Evans had been trying to help the coaches figure it out. With Kasak going on Friday, it appears to be settled with his redshirt being burned.
He took advantage of the opportunity too by earning a 7-2 win over No. 9 Dylan D’Emilio. After no scoring in the first period, Kasak used brute-strength to put D’Emilio on his back early in the second period to collect nearfall points.
“He’s solid and he’s got some athleticism and some tricks as you see. He’s a pretty good wrestler,” Sanderson said. “He did a nice job, but like you said he beat a veteran, a tough kid who I think was maybe an All American last year or was close.”
Added Bartlett: “It’s really cool seeing him wrestle and step in at 149, now that Shayne (Van Ness) is not wrestling. It’s really cool to see Kasak step up and have a lot of good matches.”
Transfer troubles?
Penn State brought in three talented transfers in Aaron Nagao, Mitchell Mesenbrink and Bernie Truax in the offseason.
Friday night saw Nagao and Truax both suffer a loss. It was Nagao’s third of the year and Truax’s second.
Mesenbrink has been solid since coming over. He’s undefeated on the year and now has five ranked wins after he topped No. 20 Bryce Hepner, 10-4.
Mesenbrink’s win was the first non-bonus point victory over a ranked wrestler.
Nagao gave up three takedowns in the first period and was never able to recover against No. 12 Nic Bouzakis. Bouzakis’ offense in the first period was all he had outside of a reversal in the second period to pull off the upset, 13-7.
“He did some nice things. He’s going to keep getting better. He does everything right,” Sanderson said of Nagao. “His best matches are going to be when they count the most, we believe that 100 percent.”
Truax was scoring at will against Ryder Rogotzke, and was poised to get some bonus points. However, Rogotzke caught Truax and pinned him in 3:59 for the only other win for Ohio State.
“Rogotzke is a pinner. You could see the whole time he was trying different things, and he got us. I thought Bernie was wrestling really well,” Sanderson said. “He hit a couple of nice takedowns. We just probably needed to challenge those positions a little bit. If it would have been our guy pinning their guy, that would have been more fun, but it’s all good, moving on.”
Bartlett-Mendez lives up to hype
Beau Bartlett and the Buckeyes’ Jesse Mendez lived up to its billing. The top-five tilt didn’t get settled in regulation.
The pair traded escapes to make it 1-1 after three periods.
Bartlett got a takedown just over 30 seconds into the sudden victory period for the 4-1 win. But it wasn’t a result he was pleased with.
“That’s not how I want to win. I say this over and over again. But, those are two of the top three ranked guys in the country,” Bartlett said. “I got my hand raised. I’m happy about that.”
Putting on the hits
Fans have noticed some background noise in the Nittany Lions’ most recent two home matches inside Rec Hall.
It began against Indiana, and while fans didn’t seem too happy about the change, it was the team that requested it. They enjoyed it at one of the away duals, and asked for it at home.
Music was heard again on Friday against Ohio State, and Sanderson indicated it’s not going away.
“Rec Hall is awkwardly quiet. We need some noise in there. I did hear a couple people this time,” Sanderson said. “If people made more noise, we would turn the music off. It’s just so quiet in there. I mean, you can hear a four year old kid up in the corner yell ‘We Are’ ... This is a sporting event, let’s make some noise. ... The music’s not coming off. We like it. We might crank it up a little bit more.”
No. 1 Penn State 28, No. 7 Ohio State 9
Friday at University Park
125: No. 3 Braeden Davis, PSU, dec. Vinny Kilkeary, 4-3
133: No. 12 Nic Bouzakis, OSU, dec. No. 5 Aaron Nagao, 13-7
141: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. No. 3 Jesse Mendez, 4-1 (SV)
149: No. 12 Tyler Kasak, PSU, dec. No. 9 Dylan D’Emilio, 7-2
157: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU, major dec. Isaac Wilcox, 11-3
165: No. 7 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, dec. No. 20 Bryce Hepner, 10-4
174: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU, dec. No. 11 Rocco Welsh, 4-2
184: Ryder Rogotzke, OSU, pinned No. 5 Bernie Truax, 3:59
197: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU, tech. fall No. 22 Luke Geog, 22-6 (6:21)
285: No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, major dec. No. 12 Nick Feldman, 12-0
Takedowns: OSU 4, PSU 23
Records: Ohio State (12-2, 4-1 Big Ten), Penn State (8-0, 5-0)
Next match: Penn State at Iowa, Friday, 9 p.m.
This story was originally published February 2, 2024 at 8:50 PM.
