UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The top-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions (4-0) dominated the No. 9 Arizona State Sun Devils (1-3) 41-3 on Friday night. The Nittany Lions won all but their first bout of the night to beat the Sun Devils, who were making their first appearance in Rec Hall.
After a 13-7 loss for Devin Schnupp to begin the night, Penn State's Roman Bravo-Young took on Ryan Millhof. Millhof, ranked No. 7 at 125 pounds bumped up to 133 pounds for the night, but couldn't hold off Bravo-Young who came out flying. Just 35 seconds in Bravo-Young, a freshman, collected his first takedown on his way to a 14-1 victory with 3:16 of riding time.
"I thought Roman wrestled really well," head coach Cael Sanderson said. "His opponent bumped up from 125 right. I thought that was a nice move on Arizona State's part, they came here to win which says a lot. But Roman wrestled well, he wrestled smart against a tough opponent with a lot of experience."
Then at 165 pounds No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph took on No. 5 Josh Shields. Joseph used a takedown and four nearfall points in the first period to shut down Shields for the 11-2 major. To make the victory even sweeter for Joseph, the pair wrestled together as they grew up.
"This wasn't the first time that I've done that," Joseph said. "But it's fun to compete against those guys and see where we've each grown."
Late in the match, up 8-2 Joseph maneuvered a takedown to lock in the major decision, adding a riding time point as well.
"I feel like I should've attempted more shots throughout the match," Joseph said. "I think I wrestled good but there are areas that I could've done better. I could've upped my attack rate, I think I wrestled hard but I would've liked to have gotten more opportunities throughout the match."
In the marquee matchup, at 174 pounds, No. 2 Mark Hall took on No. 1 Zahid Valencia. Previously, the pair had met in last year's NCAA Championship final in which Valencia won and in the NCAA Championship semifinals two years ago which Hall won.
After a quiet first period, with both wrestlers feeling the other out, Hall started down to begin the second period. After a quick escape, he got a hold of Valencia's left leg, lifted it up and tripped him down for two points. Hall was able to ride out the rest of the second period and the entire third period for the 4-0 victory with 2:41 of riding time.
"I just had a vision before the match even started," Hall said. "I planned it all through my head, I knew what was going to happen and I had a lot of confidence."
Valencia rose to his feet multiple times in the third period, but Hall was able to bring him back to the mat multiple times to seal the win.
"Just wrestling hard through positions," Hall said. "Not giving him an escape. Just because he gets up doesn't mean you're out.
With the loss, Hall snaps Valencia's 43-match win streak.
Other News & Notes
Brady Berge, ranked No. 12 at 149 pounds, collected his first win of his career at Rec Hall, with a 5-4 decision over Josh Maruca.
The Nittany Lions weren't taken down after Schnupp and Arizona State's Brandon Courtney wrestled to begin the night at 125 pounds.
The Nittany Lions have a slight break in the action and next head to the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1 and 2. Action begins at 10 a.m.
