Nittany Lion Wrestlers Take Down Penn, 33-7

RecordStaffDecember 8, 2019

3 minutes read

PSU Freshman Meredith Brandon. Photo courtesy Penn State university Athletics

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lions (3-1, 0-0 B1G) won all but two bouts to rout the Penn Quakers (0-1) in sold out Rec Hall on Sunday. The Nittany Lions rode an early win at 125 and a career milestone in the second half to a 33-7 victory over the visiting Quakers.

Senior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.) picked up his 100th career victory in the dual while freshman Brandon Meredith (Limerick, Pa.) opened the action with a big win at 125.

Meredith made his Rec Hall dual debut, stepping in for classmate Brody Teske (Duncombe, Iowa). Meredith energized the Rec Hall crowd with a furious close to the match. Meredith trailed 5-1 in the second and came back in the second and third periods to roll to an 8-5 win over No. 10 Michael Colaiocco. Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked No. 4 at 133, then continued the fast start, posting a 21-9 major decision over Penn’s Carmen Ferrante to give Penn State a 7-0 lead.

Junior Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), ranked No. 3 at 141, continued his torrid start to the season, posting a 13-4 major decision over Penn’s Doug Zapf. Junior Luke Gardner (Pottsville, Pa.) got the nod at 149 and withstood a late flurry from Penn’s Lucas Revano to post a hard-fought 7-6 victory, giving the Nittany Lions a 14-0 lead. Junior Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.) stepped in for No. 6 Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn.) at 157 and lost a 5-2 decision to No. 10 Anthony Artalona to close out the opening half. Penn State led 14-3 at the dual’s midway point.

Senior Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 165, opened up the second half in style, pinning Jake Lizak at the 4:25 mark after leading 13-3 midway through the second period. Hall, ranked No. 1 at 174, dominated Penn’s Neil Antrassian to post a 19-4 technical fall at the 7:00 mark. The victory was the 100th of Hall’s career, improving his overall record to 100-5. True freshman Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.) made his Rec Hall dual debut for Penn State at 184 with No. 2 Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.) still out. Brooks rolled to a 19-4 technical fall at the 6:03 mark in his home dual debut.

Graduate senior Kyle Conel (Ashtabula, Ohio), ranked No. 20 at 197, bolted out to a big early lead on Penn’s Cole Urbas, Quaker freshman and a State College High School graduate, and then withstood an injury late in the second period to post a 6-5 victory to put Penn State up 33-3. With No. 1 Anthony Cassar (Rocky Hill, N.J.) held out at 285, sophomore 197-pounder Austin Hoopes (Afton, Wyo.) moved up to 285 where he dropped a 14-4 major to Penn’s Joey Slackman in the dual’s final bout.

Penn State posted a lopsided 36-10 advantage in takedowns. The Nittany Lions tacked on nine bonus points off a pin (Joseph), two tech falls (Hall, Brooks) and two majors (Bravo-Young, Lee).

Penn State is now 3-1 overall, 0-0 in the Big Ten. Penn falls to 0-1. The Nittany Lions return to action on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, hosting Illinois in Rec Hall at 7 p.m. Two days later, the Lions host Northwestern in Rec Hall on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m.

#2 Penn State 33, Penn 7

December 8, 2019 – Rec Hall – University Park, Pa.

125: Brandon Meredith PSU dec. #10 Michael Colaiocco PENN, 8-5 3-0

133: #4 Roman Bravo-Young PSU maj. dec. Carmen Ferrante PENN, 21-9 7-0

141: #3 Nick Lee PSU maj. dec. Doug Zapf PENN, 13-4 11-0

149: Luke Gardner PSU dec. Lucas Revano PENN, 7-6 14-0

157: #10 Anthony Artalona PENN dec. Bo Pipher PSU, 5-2 14-3

165: #1 Vincenzo Joseph PSU pinned Jake Lizak PENN, WBF (4:25) 20-3

174: #1 Mark Hall PSU tech fall Neil Antrassian PENN, 19-4 (TF; 7:00) 25-3

184: Aaron Brooks PSU tech fall Jesse Antrassian PENN, 19-4 (TF; 6:03) 30-3

197: #20 Kyle Conel PSU dec. Cole Urbas PENN, 6-5 33-3

285: Joey Slackman PENN maj. dec. Austin Hoopes PSU, 14-4 33-7