Penn State wrestling cruises past Drexel in Rec Hall to officially kick off season
Another season opener has come and gone for Penn State’s wrestling team.
On Sunday afternoon, the Nittany Lions cruised past Drexel, 41-3, for their 57th straight dual win, but saw Braeden Davis suffer an injury in his first bout at his new weight.
The severity of the injury is unknown at this time, but Penn State coach Cael Sanderson appeared optimistic.
“I think he’ll be fine. He just had to kind of wrestle through that. We’ll take care of it and make sure he has the time he needs to get back to full speed if he’s not full speed soon,” Sanderson said. “It’s early November. I don’t think they’ve given him a full look yet, so we’ll figure it out.”
Davis came to the mat at his new weight of 133 pounds after freshman Luke Lilledahl received a forfeit in his Penn State debut at 125 pounds.
Davis came out an tallied the bout’s first points with a takedown 10 seconds into his match with Kyle Waterman. The pair got into a scramble that saw Davis’ right knee get tweaked causing a stoppage on the mat in the first period.
Trainer Dan Monthley, Sanderson and other coaches came out to look at the Big Ten champion.
Davis was able to finish out the match, but was defensive the rest of the time. He was able to secure a takedown later in the first period, and hung on for a 7-5 victory.
“Dan Monthley is a really good trainer, and pretty much what he says is gospel. He’s not really been off ever that I remember, calling a knee or shoulder or something on the mat,” Sanderson said. “If he says, ‘you’re good to go’ or if he gives me the look, we know at this time of the year, you’re throwing the brick in and just kind of moving on.”
Beau Bartlett (141 pounds), Shayne Van Ness (149) and Tyler Kasak (157) all sat out Sunday’s match after wrestling Saturday night in the NWCA All-Star Classic.
Freshman Cael Nasdeo filled in for Bartlett against Jordan Soriano. Nasdeo was able to tally two quick takedowns early, but ultimately suffered an 11-8 loss to Soriano, who was the lone winner for the Dragons.
Connor Pierce got the nod in Van Ness’ absence against Dom Findora. Pierce recorded the first points with a takedown in the first period, but Findora tallied a takedown in the third period to tie the bout at 4-4.
Pierce did escape and built up enough riding time in the second period to secure a 6-4 win.
Alex Facundo, who took an Olympic redshirt last year, made a return to the lineup with Kasak being out. Facundo was solid against Luke Nichter.
Facundo had a takedown to open things up, tallied a pair of reversals in the second period, and had riding time for an 8-6 win. His victory gave Penn State a hard-earned 15-3 lead at the break.
“I thought Drexel did a really nice job. Matt Azevedo is a great coach. They’re just scrappy, a lot of close matches coming down to the end there early,” Sanderson said. “That’s some good experience for our guys. Some of our guys got chances to wrestle that haven’t had a lot of opportunities in the past, so I think it’s great experience for them. They (Drexel) were on us, especially in that first half.”
The second half of the dual wasn’t close as the Nittany Lions tallied five straight bonus point victories — four technical falls and a pin from Greg Kerkvliet.
Mitchell Mesenbrink opened things up by racking up six takedowns in a 21-4 technical fall over Cody Walsh in 5:19.
Levi Haines and Carter Starocci competed again after wrestling Saturday night and kept the technical fall train rolling for Penn State.
“There was no doubt for me. I just love to compete. I think it’s a great opportunity, kind of two weigh-ins back to back, like a tournament setting,” said Haines when asked if there was any doubt of wrestling. “I just wanted to make the most of that opportunity and use it as a practice.”
Starocci added: “I would agree with Levi, training is fun, but obviously competing is the most fun. I’d rather do this any day than wrestle with Levi or one of those guys at practice. It’s just fun too because we get to experience our fans and things like that. I feel your best training is when you’re competing, so it’s kind of hard to mimic that whole feel.”
Haines took Jack Janda down and put him toward his back for two sets of nearfall points to lead 10-0 after one period. The second period saw Haines start on his feet, take Janda down again and get more nearfall for a 16-0 win in 4:03.
Starocci put on a takedown clinic on Giuseppe Hoose to the tune of a 19-3 tech in 5:37. The four-time NCAA champion had six total takedowns that he barely broke a sweat on getting.
Lucas Cochran got the call at 197 pounds, and looked phenomenal against Ethan Wilson.
Cochran had a pair of takedowns and two sets of nearfall points to hold a commanding 14-1 lead after the first period. He opened the second period with a quick escape, right into his third takedown to cap off an 18-1 tech in 3:27.
“He’s been really good for a long time. I think he just kind of has really started figuring that out last year, when he filled in for us and wrestled heavyweight,” Sanderson said. “You just want to see them wrestle with a little confidence and enthusiasm. He went out on fire, and did what he’s capable of doing. It’s fun to watch him and see him do that. We see him every day, so it’s not like a huge surprise to us, but it was great to see him have that opportunity and to go take advantage of it like that.”
No. 1 Penn State 41, Drexel 3
Sunday at University Park
125: Luke Lilledahl, PSU, won by forfeit
133: No. 7 Braeden Davis, PSU, dec. Kyle Waterman, 7-5
141: Jordan Soriano, D, dec. Cael Nasdeo, 11-8
149: Connor Pierce, PSU, dec. Dom Findora, 6-4
157: Alex Facundo, PSU, dec Luke Nichter, 8-6
165: No. 1 Mitchell Messenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Cody Walsh, 21-4 (5:19)
174: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU, tech. fall Jack Janda, 16-0 (4:03)
184: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU, tech. fall Giuseppe Hoose, 19-3 (5:37)
197: Lucas Cochran, PSU, tech. fall Ethan Wilson, 18-1 (3:27)
285: No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, pinned Tanner Updegraff, 1:40
Takedowns: D 4, PSU 25
Records: Drexel (0-4), Penn State (1-0)
Next match: No. 1 Penn State at Black Knight Invitational, Sunday, 10 a.m.
This story was originally published November 17, 2024 at 4:23 PM.
