Penn State Rolls Over Rutgers, 38-6
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa – The Penn State Nittany Lions (6-1, 3-0 B1G), ranked No. 2 in the latest InterMat Tournament Power Index, rolled over visiting Rutgers (7-3, 2-2) Sunday evening. Head coach Cael Sanderson’s squad used three pins to post a lopsided 38-6 victory over the Scarlet Knights in an ESPN2 national telecast.
Penn State won eight of ten bouts and picked up 14 bonus points in the victory.
The dual began at 125 where freshman Brandon Meredith (Limerick, Pa.) lost a hard-fought decision to No. 16 Nicolas Aguilar, losing 10-4. Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked No. 3 at 133, tied the dual with a thrilling 4-2 (sv2) victory over No. 9 Sammy Alvarez. Bravo-Young used a fast low shot to take Alvarez down in the final seconds of the second sudden victory period to grab the win and send the Rec Hall crowd to its feet.
Junior Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), ranked No. 2 at 141, rolled over JoJo Aragona. Lee rolled up nearly 5:00 in riding time to go along with seven takedowns and a near fall, posting a 19-4 technical fall at the 7:00 mark to give Penn State an 8-3 lead.
Sophomore Jarod Verkleeren (Greensburg, Pa.) made it three straight wins for Penn State, using three takedowns and an escape to post a 7-3 victory over Nick Santos at 149. With No. 4 Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn.) still out of the line-up, junior Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.) got the call once more at 157. Pipher battled Rutgers’ Mike Van Brill into a tie-breaker period before dropping a tough 1-0 decision. The Van Brill win cut Penn State’s lead to 11-6 at halftime.
Senior Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 165, extended Penn State’s lead right out of the gates in the second half. Joseph bolted out to a 15-3 lead before pinning Rutgers’ Brett Donner at the 6:15 mark to give Penn State a 17-6 lead. Senior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 1 at 174, muscled his way to an 8-2 lead over Joseph Grello before receiving an injury default victory at the 6:37 mark, pushing Penn State out to a 23-6 lead.
True freshman Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.), ranked No. 8 at 184, thrilled the Penn State sellout crowd in the next bout. Brooks rolled out to a 5-0 lead in the second period before turning a low shot into a cradle and pinning Billy Janzer at the 4:36 mark. Senior Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.), ranked No. 20 at 197, continued his late-season progression with a dominating 6-0 win over No. 18 Jordan Pagano of Rutgers. Rasheed used a takedown and a reversal to open up a big lead and rolled to the victory. True freshman Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) closed out the dual in fine fashion. Nevills opened up 4-0 lead in the first period on a takedown and two back points and then finished off the day by pinning Alex Esposito at the 2:24 mark. Nevills’ fall closed out the dual for the Nittany Lions, 38-6 winners.
Penn State rolled to a 24-3 edge in takedowns. Nine Nittany Lions did not give up a takedown in the dual. Penn State totaled 14 bonus points off three pins (Joseph, Brooks, Nevills), one injury default (Hall) and one tech fall (Lee).
Penn State is now 6-1 overall, 3-0 in the Big Ten. Rutgers falls to 7-3, 2-2 in the Big Ten. Penn State begins a stretch of five-of-six Big Ten road duals in a 16-day span by visiting No. 7 Nebraska on Friday, Jan. 24, for a BTN nationally televised dual. Action begins at 7 p.m. Eastern / 6 p.m. Central in Lincoln, Neb.
#2 Penn State 38, Rutgers 6
January 19, 2020 – Rec Hall – University Park, Pa.
125: #16 Nicolas Aguilar RU dec. Brandon Meredith PSU, 10-4 0-3
133: #3 Roman Bravo-Young PSU dec. #9 Sammy Alvarez RU, 4-2 (SV2) 3-3
141: #2 Nick Lee PSU tech fall JoJo Aragona RU, 19-4 (TF; 7:00) 8-3
149: Jarod Verkleeren PSU dec. Nick Santos RU, 7-3 11-3
157: Mike Van Brill RU dec. Bo Pipher PSU, 1-0 (TB1) 11-6
165: #1 Vincenzo Joseph PSU pinned Brett Donner RU, WBF (6:15) 17-6
174: #1 Mark Hall PSU inj. def. Joseph Grello RU, Inj. Def. (6:37) 23-6
184: #8 Aaron Brooks PSU pinned Billy Janzer RU, WBF (4:36) 29-6
197: #20 Shakur Rasheed PSU dec. #18 Jordan Pagano RU, 6-0 32-6
285: Seth Nevills PSU pinned Alex Esposito RU, WBF (2:24) 38-6
Attendance: 6,485 Records: Penn State (6-1, 3-0 B1G); Rutgers (7-3, 2-2)
Up Next for Penn State: Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, at Nebraska, 7 p.m. Eastern / 6 p.m. Central (BTN)
