Nittany Lion wrestlers in dual meet event Monday, Tuesday

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA– The Penn State Nittany Lions (5-0, 0-0 B1G), ranked No. 2 in InterMat’s tournament power index (TPI), head to Niceville, Fla., to take part in the Collegiate Wrestling Duals on Monday and Tuesday at Northwestern Florida State College. Penn State will battle #22 Northern Iowa (0-2) and #9 Cornell (1-0) on Monday at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern respectively. The Lions then have one dual on Tuesday, foe and time to be determined.

The dual meet is part of a uniquely bracketed event and Penn State’s three duals can be watched live as part of the Pay Per View event from Journeymen Wrestling via Rokfin: https://rokfin.com/ppv/1/Collegiate-Wrestling-Duals.

Penn State will be wrestling for the first time since winning two intra-state non-conference duals on Dec. 3 and Dec. 5.  A shorthanded Nittany Lion squad, wrestling without multiple All-Americans, won at Penn 20-16 on Dec. 3 and then downed Lehigh 23-16 in sold out Rec Hall on Dec. 5.

Head coach Cael Sanderson’s squad features eight ranked wrestlers.  Roman Bravo-Young is ranked No. 1 at 133, Nick Lee is No. 1 at 141, Carter Starocci is No. 1 at 174 and Aaron Brooks is No. 1 at 184.  Max Dean is No. 3 at 197 and Greg Kerkvliet is No. 4 at 285.  Beau Bartlett is No. 22 at 149 and Creighton Edsell is No. 26 at 165.

Northern Iowa enters this week with an 0-2 mark and a No. 22 ranking in the InterMat TPI.  The Panthers have seven ranked grapplers.  Brody Teske is No. 10 at 125, Kyle Biscoglia is No. 31 at 133, Cael Happel is No. 26 at 141, Triston Lara is No. 28 at 149, Austin Yant is No. 23 at 165, Parker Keckeisen is No. 4 at 184 and Carter Isley is No. 21 at 285.  Penn State owns a 4-0 lead in the all-time series.  Penn State won the last meeting, a 31-9 victory at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 17, 2004.

Cornell enters the week with a 1-0 mark. Eight Big Red wrestlers are ranked.  Vito Arujau is No. 5 at 133, Yianni Diakomihalis is No. 1 at 149, Colton Yapoujian is No. 25 at 157, Julian Ramirez is No. 3 at 165, Chris Foca is No. 12 at 174, Jonathan Loew is No. 15 at 184, Jacob Cardenas is No. 19 at 197, and Lewis Fernandes is No. 18 at 285.  The Nittany Lions own a 55-12-3 lead in the all-time series between the two schools.  Cornell won the last meeting, a 24-10 victory on Nov. 21, 2008.

#2 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (5-0, 0-0 B1G)

WT             NAME                                              EL           HT/HS                                                                 REC

125            Baylor Shunk                                   So.         Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley                             2-2

Brandon Meredith                           Jr.           Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford                                   0-2

133            #1 Roman Bravo-Young                Sr.          Tucson, Ariz./Sunnyside                                      4-0

141            #1 Nick Lee                                     Sr.+        Evansville, Ind./Homeschooled                           4-0

149            #22 Beau Bartlett                           So.         Tempe, Ariz./Wyoming Seminary (Pa.)               4-1

157            Terrell Barraclough                         So.         Kaysville, Utah/Layton                                         1-2

Joe Lee                                            So.         Evansville, Ind/Evansville                                     0-0

Tony Negron                                   Jr.           North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon                   0-1

165            #26 Creighton Edsell                      Jr.           Wyalusing, Pa./Wyalusing                                   5-0

174            #1 Carter Starocci                          So.         Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep                                     5-0

184            #1 Aaron Brooks                            Jr.           Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown                 3-0

197            #3 Max Dean                                   Jr.           Lowell, Mich./Lowell                                            5-0

Michael Beard                                 So.         Pottstown, Pa./Malvern Prep                              3-0

285            #4 Greg Kerkvliet                            So.         Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley                     3-0

#22 NORTHERN IOWA PANTHERS (0-2)

WT             NAME                                              EL           HT/HS

125            #10 Brody Teske                            So.         Duncombe, Iowa/Fort Dodge

133            #31 Kyle Biscoglia                          So.         Waukee, Iowa/Waukee

141            #26 Cael Happel                             Fr.           Lisbon, Iowa/Lisbon

149            #28 Triston Lara                              Jr.           Fort Doge, Iowa/Fort Doge

157            Derek Holschlag                              Jr.           La Porte City, Iowa/Union

Evan Yant                                        Fr.           Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock

165            #23 Austin Yant                               Jr.           Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock

174            Lance Runyon                                 Fr.           Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Southeast Polk

184            #4 Parker Keckeisen                       Fr.           Glendale, Wis./Nicolet

197            Noah Glaser                                    So.         New Hampton, Iowa/New Hampton

285            #21 Carter Isley                               Sr.          Albia, Iowa/Albia

#9 CORNELL BIG RED (1-0 )

WT             NAME                                              EL           HT/HS                                                                 REC

125            Greg Diakomihalis                           Fr.           Rochester, N.Y./Hilton

133            #5 Vito Arujau                                  So.         Syosset, N.Y./Syosset

Dom LaJoie                                     Sr.          Gaylord, Mich./Gaylord

141            Cole Handlovic                                Fr.           Bethlehem, Pa./Beca

149            #1 Yianni Diakomihalis                    Jr.           Rochester, N.Y./Hilton

157            #25 Colton Yapoujian                     So.         Byers, Colo./Jeffco Virtual Academy

Adam Santoro                                Gr.          Valhalla, N.Y./Fordham Prep

165            #9 Julian Ramirez                           Fr.           Miami, Fla./Blair Academy

174            #12 Chris Foca                                So.         Cliffside Park, N.J./Bergen Catholic

184            #15 Jonathan Loew                        Jr.           Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh

197            #19 Jacob Cardenas                      So.         Kearny, N.J./Bergen Catholic

285            #18 Lewis Fernandes                     So.         Tewksbury, N.J./Voorhees

Drew Flynn                                       Sr.          Pompton Lakes, N.J./Pompton Lakes

 

The teams on the opposite end of Penn State’s bracket are No. 3 Arizona State, No. 7 Virginia Tech and Hofstra.  Action on the 21st is bracketed up and announced based on results from Monday’s duals.

Penn State opens up Big Ten action on Friday, Jan. 7, at Maryland in a 7 p.m. dual meet. The Nittany Lions then host Indiana at Rec Hall on Sunday, Jan. 9, time to be determined per the B1G Network.

All rankings listed are InterMat individual/InterMat TPI. The 2021-22 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by the Family Clothesline. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.