TODAY'S ACTION
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0, 0-0 B1G), ranked No. 1 nationally, will trek to Tempe, Ariz., this weekend to battle No. 6 Arizona State (4-0) in a non-conference battle of top ten teams. The Nittany Lions and Sun Devils will tangle at ASU on Friday, Nov. 22, at 9 p.m. Eastern / 7 p.m. local. The dual will be televised on Pac 12 Arizona and stream live on Pac12.com.
Penn State is coming off a strong performance at the Army West Point Black Knight Invite on Sunday, Nov. 17. Penn State, competing without four of its ranked grapplers, sent 15 wrestlers into action and came away with four individual titles and 11 total place-winners. Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141), Jarod Verkleeren (149) and Mark Hall (174) all won titles with Luke Gardner (149) dropping a close title bout to teammate Verkleeren in the finals. Brody Teske (125) and Konner Kraeszig (165) each took third while five other Lions finished fifth or sixth.
The Nittany Lions feature a talented line-up top-to-bottom. Freshman Brody Teske is 5-1 at 125 and coming off his strong showing at the Black Knight Invite. Bravo-Young is ranked No. 3 at 133 and is 4-0 on the year with three majors. Lee is ranked No. 3 at 141 and sports a 5-0 mark with three pins and a tech fall. Verkleeren is 4-0 at 149 with a pin while Gardner is 3-1 at that weight with a pin and a major. Sophomore Brady Berge is ranked No. 5 at 157 and has not competed to date while junior Bo Pipher sports a 4-2 record with two pins in his stead.
Vincenzo Joseph is ranked No. 1 at 165 and is 1-0 with a tech fall this season. Hall is ranked No. 1 at 174 and is 4-0 on the year with three falls. Shakur Rasheed is ranked No. 2 at 184 and has yet to compete while freshman Creighton Edsell has filled in, going 3-2 overall. Kyle Conel is ranked No. 7 at 197 and is 1-1 on the year. Anthony Cassar is ranked No. 1 at 285 and sports a 1-0 mark with a fall.
Arizona State will enter the dual meet with a 4-0 record and ranked No. 6 in InterMat's TPI. The Sun Devils feature a talented line-up as well with six InterMat ranked grapplers. Sophomore Brandon Courtney is 7-1 and ranked No. 19 at 125. Senior Josh Kramer is 7-1 and ranked No. 16 at 133. Junior Cory Crooks is 2-2 at 141 while sophomore Navonte Demison is 2-4. Senior Josh Maruca is 3-4 at 149. Freshman Jacori Teemer is 0-1 at 157 while junior Dillon Ulrey has a 2-0 mark.
Senior Josh Shields is ranked No. 5 at 165 and is 6-1 on the year. Junior Anthony Valencia is ranked No. 8 at 174 and is 6-1. Senior Zahid Valencia is ranked No. 1 at 184 and is 7-0 on the year. Sophomore Cade Belshay is 3-4 at 197 while junior Kordell Norfleet has yet to compete this season. Senior Tanner Hall is ranked No. 5 at 285 and is 6-1 on the year. Arizona State owns dual wins over Purdue (22-19), Virginia (27-12), Augustana, S.D. (35-6) and McKendree (38-3).
Penn State will visit Lehigh on Friday, Dec. 6, for a 7 p.m. dual in its next action. The Lions host Penn two days later, welcoming the Quakers to Rec Hall on Sunday, Dec. 8, for a 2 p.m. dual.
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.
#1 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (1-0, 0-0 B1G)
125 Brody Teske Fr. Duncombe, Iowa/Fort Dodge 5-1
Devin Schnupp Jr. Lititz, Pa./Warwick 1-2
133 #3 Roman Bravo-Young So. Tucson, Ariz./Sunny Side 4-0
141 #3 Nick Lee Jr. Evansville, Ind./Homeschool 5-0
149 Luke Gardner Jr. Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville 3-1
Jarod Verkleeren So. Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield 4-0
157 #5 Brady Berge So. Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville 0-0
Bo Pipher Jr. Paonia, Colo./Paonia 4-2
165 #1 Vincenzo Joseph Sr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic 1-0
174 #1 Mark Hall Sr. Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley 4-0
184 #2 Shakur Rasheed Sr. Coram, N.Y./Longwood 0-0
Creighton Edsell Fr. Wyalusing, Pa./Wyalusing 3-2
197 #7 Kyle Conel Sr. Ashtabula, Ohio/Lakeside 2-1
285 #1 Anthony Cassar Sr. Rocky Hill, N.J./Montgomery 1-0
#6 ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (4-0)
125 #19 Brandon Courtney So. Goodyear, Ariz./Desert Edge 7-1
133 #16 Josh Kramer Sr. Buckeye, Ariz./Desert Edge 7-1
141 Cory Crooks Jr. Anthem, Ariz./Boulder Creek 2-2
Navonte Demison So. Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield 2-4
149 Josh Maruca Sr. Murraysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 3-4
157 Jacori Teemer Fr. Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach 0-1
Dillon Ulrey Jr. Central Point, Ore./Central Point 2-0
165 #5 Josh Shields Sr. Murraysville, Pa./Franklin Regional 6-1
174 #8 Anthony Valencia Jr. Bellflower, Calif./St. John Bosco 6-1
184 #1 Zahid Valencia Sr. Bellflower, Calif./St. John Bosco 7-0
197 Kordell Norfleet Jr. Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic 0-0
Cade Belshay So. Clovis, Calif./Buchanan 3-4
285 #5 Tanner Hall Sr. Meridian, Idaho/Meridian 6-1
Rankings listed are InterMat TPI/InterMat Individual as of 11/19
THIS WEEK
#1 Penn State (1-0, 0-0 B1G) will venture to Tempe, Ariz., to battle #6 Arizona State (4-0) this weekend. The Nittany Lions take on the Sun Devils at ASU on Friday, Nov. 22, at 9 p.m. Eastern / 7 p.m. local).
UP NEXT
Penn State visits Lehigh on Friday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. and hosts Penn on Sunday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m.
ON THE AIR
TV - Pac 12 Arizona
Radio - WRSC (93.3 FM) or, occasionally, WQWK (103.7 FM)
Radio online - Free all year via Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com
Live Web Video - Pac12.com
NOTES
PENN STATE CROWNS 4 CHAMPS AT BLACK KNIGHT INVITE
Penn State dominated action at the 2019 Army West Point Invite on Nov. 17 in West Point, N.Y. Fifteen Penn Staters competed at nine weights and the Nittany Lions came away with four champions with 11 total place-winners. The Nittany Lions four champions were Roman Bravo-Young at 133, Nick Lee at 141, Jarod Verkleeren at 149 and Mark Hall at 174. Luke Gardner was runner-up at 149 as well, dropping a tough bout in an all-Penn State final at that weight.
NITTANY LIONS ROLL UP 11 OF 15 PLACE WINNERS AT BLACK KNIGHT INVITE
Penn State had 15 competitors at the Army West Point Black Knight Invite on Nov. 17 and 11 of Penn State's competitors placed at the event. Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141), Jarod Verkleeren (149) and Mark Hall (174) all won titles while Luke Gardner (149) lost to Verkleeren in the finals for second place. Brody Teske took third at 125, Konner Kraeszig took third at 165, Brandon Meredith placed fifth at 125, Bo Pipher was fifth at 157, Creighton Edsell was fifth at 184 and Austin Hoopes was sixth at 197.
FOUR PINS, FOUR DEBUT WINS, A SHUTOUT OVER NAVY
Penn State opened up its 2019-20 season by shutting out Navy 45-0 on Nov. 10 in front of yet another sold-out Rec Hall crowd. Four Lions picked up falls in the victory and four grapplers earned victories in their Nittany Lion dual debuts. Junior Luke Gardner got a fall at 149 in his Lion dual debut, junior Nick Lee picked up a pin at 141, senior Mark Hall got a fast fall in just 0:58 at 174 over #17 Spencer Carey and Anthony Cassar picked up a pin at 285. In addition to Gardner's debut win at 149, redshirt freshman Brody Teske got a victory at 125 in his Lion debut, classmate Creighton Edsell picked up a win at 184 in his first Lion dual and graduate transfer Kyle Conel picked up the victory at 197 in his Nittany Lion dual debut.
LIONS SEND 3 TO BINGHAMTON OPEN
While the Penn State Nittany Lions were opening up their dual season in a raucous Rec Hall by shutting out Navy on Nov. 10, three true freshmen ventured to the Binghamton Open unattached. Donovon Ball and Ritchie Heywood competed at 184 while Keagan Carmenatty went at 285. Heywood picked up his first open tournament victory with a pin while Carmenatty had a fall at heavyweight as well.
JOE LEE, CARTER STAROCCI WIN TITLES AT CLARION OPEN
Eleven members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team competed both attached and unattached at the Clarion Open in the first open tournament of the new season. Three true freshmen advanced to the finals at their respective weights, with Joe Lee and Carter Starocci winning titles. Lee rolled to a 4-0 record including three majors to win the 165-pound title in his first open tournament. Fellow true freshman Starocci also went 4-0 at 174 and won his weight class with two majors as well. True freshman Michael Beard advanced to the finals 197 before losing a close decision, going 2-1 with a major to place second. Redshirt freshman Brandon Meredith had a good showing at 125. Meredith went 4-1 overall with two majors and a tech fall to place third. True freshman Terrell Barraclough also placed third in his first open tournament. Barraclough went 5-1 at 149 with two majors to take third place.
MILESTONES
A number of team and individual records and milestones are in play as of now:
* 100 career win plateau
Mark Hall -- 97 wins
Vincenzo Joseph -- 75 wins
Kyle Conel -- 80 wins (78 at KSU, 2 at PSU)
* Dual meet win % in PSU history
Mark Hall -- 8th at 97.2 (35-1)
* Falls in PSU history
Mark Hall -- 8th at 34
Shakur Rasheed -- 19th at 28
* Dual win streak (60 dating back to end of 2014-15 season)
PENN STATE HOSTING 2020 OLYMPIC TRIALS IN THE BJC
Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State University in University Park, Pa. has been selected to host the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5. Penn State University is serving as the local organizing committee. The champions from the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Wrestling will become eligible to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, August 2-8. In the two-day format, Saturday, April 4 will include start of the Challenge Tournament in all 18 weight classes. Included in Saturday's action will be the Challenge Tournament finals, which will determine one athlete in each weight class who advances to the Final X Championship Series on Sunday. On Sunday, April 5, all 18 best-of-three Final X Championship Series will be held, which determines the U.S. Olympic Team Trials champions in each weight class. This series will feature the top seed and the Challenge Tournament champion, as determined by the 2020 Olympic Games Team Selection Procedures. In addition, the completion of the consolation rounds of the Challenge Tournament will be held on Sunday.
