TODAY'S ACTION
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. --The Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2, 7-1 B1G), ranked No. 2 nationally on InterMat's Tournament Power Index, hosts No. 3 Ohio State (10-3, 6-2 B1G) in the 2020 BJC Dual. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes square off at 7:30 p.m. in the BTN national telecast. The Pennsylvania National Guard is the match sponsor of the 2020 BJC.
Penn State is coming off two road wins last weekend, downing No. 4 Wisconsin 29-10 in Madison before taking care of No. 6 Minnesota 31-10 on Sunday in Minneapolis. The Nittany Lions won 14 of 20 bouts in the two dual road weekend.
Penn State freshman Brandon Meredith is 12-11 at 125 while sophomore Roman Bravo-Young is 15-1 at 133 and ranked No. 2 nationally. Junior Nick Lee is 16-0 at 141 and ranked No. 2 nationally. Sophomore Jarod Verkleeren is 14-5 at 149 and ranked No. 17 by InterMat. Junior Bo Pipher sports a 9-11 record at 157 and classmate Luke Gardner, a 149-pounder, is 6-2 overall having wrestled at both 149 and 157.
Senior Vincenzo Joseph sports an 11-0 mark at 165 and is ranked No. 1 in the country while senior Mark Hall is ranked No. 2 at 174 with an 18-1 overall record. True freshman Aaron Brooks, one of two true freshmen in the Penn State line-up, is 10-1 overall and ranked No. 6 at 184. Senior Shakur Rasheed is 4-3 on the year and ranked No. 17 at 197. True freshman Seth Nevills is 12-2 overall and ranked No. 15 at 285.
Ohio State enters the dual with a 10-3 overall record, 6-2 in conference action. The Buckeyes are led by senior Luke Pletcher, who is 23-0 on the year and ranked No. 1 at 141; and senior Kollin Moore, who is 23-0 at 197 and ranked No. 1 as well. Freshman Sammy Sasso is 21-2 at 149 and ranked No. 1 as well. Sophomore Kaleb Romero is 15-4 at 174 and ranked No. 7, freshman Rocky Jordan is 25-6 and ranked No. 12 at 184, and sophomore Ethan Smith is 15-10 and ranked No. 16 at 165.
Penn State leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes 21-12, including a string of four straight. Penn State won 28-9 last year in Columbus on Feb. 8, 2019. The Lions won the last meeting in State College, a 19-18 victory on Feb. 3, 2018, in Rec Hall.
All rankings listed are InterMat, the long-standing official wrestling ranking service of the Big Ten Conference. InterMat's rankings are available for free with no pay wall at www.intermatwrestle.com.
Penn State closes out its dual meet schedule next Sunday, hosting American University in Rec Hall at 2 p.m. The dual will serve as Senior Day for Penn State.
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.
#2 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (10-2, 7-1 B1G)
125 Brandon Meredith Fr. Limerick, Pa./Spring-Ford 12-11
133 #2 Roman Bravo-Young So. Tucson, Ariz./Sunny Side 15-1
141 #2 Nick Lee Jr. Evansville, Ind./Homeschool 16-0
149 #17 Jarod Verkleeren So. Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield 14-5
Luke Gardner Jr. Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville 6-2
157 Bo Pipher Jr. Paonia, Colo./Paonia 9-11
Brady Berge So. Mantorville, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville 1-0
165 #1 Vincenzo Joseph Sr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic 11-0
174 #2 Mark Hall Sr. Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley 18-1
184 #6 Aaron Brooks Fr. Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown 10-1
197 #17 Shakur Rasheed Sr. Coram, N.Y./Longwood 4-3
285 #15 Seth Nevills Fr. Clovis, Calif./Clovis 12-2
#3 OHIO STATE (10-3, 6-2 B1G)
125 Malik Heinselman So. Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View 14-13
Dylan Koontz So. Plover, Wis./Stevens Point 12-9
133 Jordan Decatur Fr. Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian 11-7
141 #1 Luke Pletcher Sr. Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe 23-0
149 #1 Sammy Sasso Fr. Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth 21-2
157 Quinn Kinner Fr. Mullica Hill, N.J./Kingsway Regional 14-5
Elijah Cleary Jr. Winter Park, Fla./Lake Highland Prep 13-10
165 #16 Ethan Smith So. Latrobe, Pa./Sparrows Point (Md.) 15-10
174 #7 Kaleb Romero So. Mechanicsburg, Ohio/Mechanicsburg 15-4
184 #12 Rocky Jordan Fr. St. Paris, Ohio/St. Paris Graham 25-6
197 #1 Kollin Moore Sr. Burbank, Ohio/Norwayne 23-0
285 Gary Traub Jr. Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore 19-6
Rankings listed are InterMat TPI/InterMat Individual as of 2/11/20
THIS WEEK
Penn State (10-2, 7-1 B1G) hosts No. 3 Ohio State (10-3, 6-2) in the 2020 BJC Dual on Saturday, Feb. 15. The action in the BJC begins at 7:30 p.m. in the BTN national telecast.
UP NEXT
Penn State closes out its dual meet schedule by hosting American University on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. in Rec Hall. The dual will serve as Senior Day for Penn State.
ON THE AIR
TV - BTN national telecast
Radio - WRSC (93.3 FM) or, occasionally, WQWK (103.7 FM)
Radio online - Free all year via Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com
Live Web Video - The Fox Sports App
NOTES:
LEE PINS #5 McKEE TO LEAD LIONS OVER #6 MINNESOTA; NAMED B1G WoW
Junior Nick Lee pinned #5 Mitch McKee in just 1:56 to lead Penn State to a 31-10 road win over Minnesota on Feb. 9 in Minneapolis. Lee was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (2/11) for his performance in the McKee pin and his victory at Wisconsin two days earlier. Joining Lee with key wins over the Gophers was Mark Hall, who downed #8 Devin Skatzka, Vincenzo Joseph who majored Bailee O'Reilly, Roman Bravo-Young who teched Boo Dryden and Aaron Brooks who posted a major over Owen Webster.
BALL AND SHUNK WIN TITLES AT MESSIAH OPEN
True freshmen Donovon Ball and Baylor Shunk both won titles at the Messiah Open on Feb. 8. Shunk posted a 2-0 record at 125 to win the title, including one technical fall. Ball went 4-0 with two majors, a tech and a pin to win teh 184-pound crown.
LEE, VERKLEEREN, JOSEPH WITH RANKED WINS AS LIONS ROLL AT #4 WISCONSIN
Nick Lee, Jarod Verkleeren and Vincenzo Joseph posted impressive wins over ranked opponents in Penn State's 29-10 dual victory at #4 Wisconsin. Lee majored #7 Tristan Moran 14-1 with 4:29 in riding time at 141. Verkleeren posted a 3-2 win over #15 Cole Martin at 149. Joseph rolled to a lopsided 8-0 major over #3 Evan Wick with 4:08 in riding time. In addition, Mark Hall got a pin at 174. Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young, ranked #2 at 133, lost a thrilling 6-5 battle to #1 Seth Gross in the dual.
JOSEPH AND HALL'S DUAL MIXERS LEAD LIONS OVER TERPS
Seniors Vincenzo Joseph and Mark Hall both hit mixers within minutes of each other to help spark Penn State to a 40-3 dual meet win over Maryland in Rec Hall on Feb. 2. Joseph used the move to pin Kyle Cochran at 165 in the second period, getting the fall at the 4:01 mark. Hall then mirrored the move to get a fast fall over Phillip Spadafora at 174, getting a first period pin at 0:51.
PIPHER AND HOOPES POST DUAL FIRSTS IN MARYLAND WIN
Junior Bo Pipher picked up his first Big Ten dual meet win by downing Jahi Jones 3-0 at 157 in Penn State's 40-3 dual meet victory over Maryland on Feb. 2. Sophomore Austin Hoopes, getting the call at 197 later in the dual meet, then grabbed his first dual meet win as a Nittany Lion, posting a 3-2 victory over Niko Cappello.
BRAVO-YOUNG, LEE, JOSEPH AND BROOKS IMPRESSIVE IN DUAL AT #1 IOWA
A classic Big Ten dual came down to the wire but in the end, Penn State dropped its first conference dual meeting in nearly five years (Feb. 8, 2015), losing 19-17 at Iowa on Jan. 31. Roman Bravo-Young was leading #2 Austin DeSanto 5-0 in the first period before receiving an injury default victory at 133, Nick Lee posted a 20-5 tech fall (5:53) over Carter Happel at 141, Vincenzo Joseph notched a 7-5 win over #2 Alex Marinelli at 165 and Aaron Brooks rolled to an 7-3 win over #6 Abe Assad at 184.
STAROCCI WINS EDINBORO OPEN
True freshman Carter Starocci won yet another open tournament, wrestling unattached at 174. Starocci went 4-0 with two majors and a tech fall, plus a win over a non-collegiate foe, to win the crown. Classmate Terrell Barraclough went 4-0 with a loss to a non-collegian in the finals at 149 to place second. True freshman Adam Busiello went 3-0 with two losses to non-collegiate foes at 149, picking up two pins and a major in his first unattached open action for the Lions.
LIONS DOWN #7 NEBRASKA FOR B1G ROAD WIN
Penn State split the dual 5-5 with Nebraska but won the bonus point battle to post a thrilling 20-18 victory in Lincoln in front of a Cornhusker record crowd of nearly 6,000 fans. Roman Bravo-Young majored #13 Ridge Lovett 11-3 at 133, Nick Lee majored #8 Chad Red Jr. 9-1 at 141, Vincenzo Joseph dominated #5 Isaiah White 5-1 at 165 and Mark Hall pinned #6 Mike Labriola at the 6:52 mark at 174. With the Lions trailing by one, true freshman Nick Nevills then controlled #15 Christian Lance for the entire bout to post a 4-0 win at 285 and secure Penn State's 20-18 dual victory.
BRAVO-YOUNG, RASHEED NOTCH RANKED WINS IN DUAL VICTORY OVER RUTGERS
Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young and senior Shakur Rasheed recorded wins over ranked opponents in Penn State's 38-6 victory over Rutgers in Rec Hall on Jan. 19. Bravo-Young used a last second takedown in the second sudden victory period to post a 4-2 (sv2) win over #9 Sammy Alvarez at 133 while Rasheed dominated #18 Jordan Pagano, rolling to a 6-0 victory.
BROOKS AND NEVILLS RECORD FIRST PINS IN REC HALL
True freshmen Aaron Brooks and Seth Nevills each recorded their first career pins in Rec Hall during Penn State's 38-6 dual meet victory over Rutgers on Jan. 19. Brooks pinned Billy Janzer at the 4:36 mark while Nevills capped off the dual by pinning Alex Esposito at 2:24 in the first period.
LIONS ROLL OVER WILDCATS, EDSELL MOVES UP TO 184 AND GRABS FIRST BIG TEN DUAL WIN
The Penn State Nittany Lions won seven of ten bouts to rout #12 Northwestern on Jan. 12. With a handful of starters out, redshirt freshman Creighton Edsell moved up to 184 pounds and picked up his first Big Ten victory. Edsell, stepping in for Aaron Brooks, posted a convincing 4-1 win over Wildcat starter Jack Jessen. Penn State had three tech falls in the dual (Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Mark Hall) and one pin (Vincenzo Joseph).
NEVILLS, RASHEED LEAD LIONS TO WIN OVER #24 ILLINOIS
True freshman Seth Nevills made his Penn State debut in fine fashion, picking up a 6-3 win over Illinois' Luke Luffman to help lead Penn State to a 22-16 victory over visiting Illinois on Jan. 10. With defending NCAA Champion Anthony Cassar out for the year, Nevills got the nod and came up big for Penn State. Senior Shakur Rasheed also competed for the first time all season, getting a 3-0 win over Matt Wroblewski at 197. Mark Hall picked up an impressive DQ win over #8 Joey Gunther at 174, rolling up 17 points before Gunther stalled out of the bout with a fifth stall. Junior Nick Lee also majored #16 Dylan Duncan 13-5 at 141.
KIRKVLIET AND SHUNK SHINE AT HITCHCOCK
The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team had seven wrestlers competing at Millersville University's Floyd 'Shorty' Hitchcock Memorial. Penn State had grapplers competing both attached and unattached at the event and five of the seven wrestlers placed. True freshman Greg Kirkvliet (on the 285-pound title, wrestling unattached at 285. The Minnesota-native went 4-0 with three pins and had an addition win against a non-collegiate wrestler. True freshman Baylor Shunk went 2-1 unattached at 125. The central Pennsylvania native placed third at the event.
DEFENDING CHAMPION TOP RANKED ANTHONY CASSAR AND ALL-AMERICAN KYLE CONEL LOST FOR THE SEASON
Head coach Cael Sanderson announced on Tuesday, Jan. 7, that top-ranked senior heavyweight Anthony Cassar will miss the remainder of the year with an injury and that All-American transfer senior Kyle Conel will also be out the rest of the year due to injury.
SEVEN LIONS WIN TITLES AT WILKES OPEN
Penn State sent 22 wrestlers, both attached and unattached, to the Wilkes Open on Sunday, Dec. 22. The Lions came away with seven titles at the open tournament. Penn State had 19 of its 22 competitors place in the top five at the event. The Nittany Lions had seven champs, four runners-up, one third-place, four fourth-place and three fifth-place finishes. Freshman Brandon Meredith (125), sophomore Roman Bravo-Young (133), sophomore Jarod Verkleeren (149), true freshman Joe Lee (165), senior Mark Hall (174) and true freshman Michael Beard (197) all won titles.
STAROCCI WINS AT 174, BEARD AND LEE SHINE AS UNATTACHED FRESHMEN AT THE SCUFFLE
Penn State had three true freshmen competing unattached at the 2020 Southern Scuffle. The two-day event took place in Chattanooga on Jan. 1-2. All three Lions placed at the tournament with Carter Starocci winning the 174-pound crown. Starocci went 6-0 with a pin, a tech and two majors to win yet another tournament title. Michael Beard went 3-2 with two majors and two wins over top-six ranked foes to take fourth at 197 and Joe Lee went 5-2 with ranked wins, two techs and a pin to take fifth at 165.
MEREDITH DOWNS #10 COLAIOCCO, BROOKS WINS BY TECH FALL IN PSU'S 33-7 VICTORY OVER PENN
Redshirt freshman Brandon Meredith downed #10 Michael Colaiocco of Penn 8-5 to spark Penn State to a 33-7 victory over Penn in sold out Rec Hall on Dec. 8. True freshman Aaron Brooks posted a 19-4 tech fall over Penn's Jesse Quatse at the 6:03 mark as well. Both Lions were making their Rec Hall dual debuts.
MARK HALL WINS 100TH CAREER MATCH
Senior Mark Hall posted a 19-4 technical fall over Penn's Neil Antrassian on Dec. 8, 2019, to win his 100th match as a Nittany Lion. Hall's victory helped spark the Lions to a 33-7 win over the Quakers and improved his career mark, at the time, to 100-5.
AARON BROOKS MAKES DUAL DEBUT WITH WIN AT LEHIGH
True freshman Aaron Brooks made his Penn State dual meet debut in the Nittany Lions' 23-10 dual victory at Lehigh on Dec. 6. Brooks rolled to a 10-5 win over Mountain Hawk junior Chris Weiler, notching three early takedowns to set up the win.
HALL HAMMERS #2 KUTLER TO LEAD LIONS IN BIG WIN AT #14 LEHIGH
Senior Mark Hall dominated #2 Jordan Kutler in Penn State's rousing 23-10 victory at #14 Lehigh on Dec. 6. Hall rolled to a 7-2 victory as the Nittany Lions won seven of ten bouts in front of a record-setting sellout crowd in Lehigh's Stabler Arena.
STAROCCI DOWNS #12 HARVEY TO WIN GMU OPEN TITLE
True freshman Carter Starocci claimed the 174-pound title with a win over a nationally ranked foe in the finals. Starocci went 4-0 with two pins to win his second open tournament title of the year, having already won the Clarion Open earlier this season. Starocci took on Army's Ben Harvey in the finals and posted a 3-2 victory. Harvey entered the tournament ranked No. 12 nationally by InterMat at the time.
TRIO OF LIONS WIN MAT-TOWN OPEN TITLES
Seven members of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team took part in the Mat-Town Open at Lock Haven University on Sunday, Dec. 1, in Lock Haven, Pa. All seven wrestled unattached and three true freshmen won individual titles at their respective weight classes. True freshman Aaron Brooks went 3-0 at 184 to win Penn State's first title of the day. Brooks had one pin along the way to the 184-pound crown. True freshman Michael Beard went 3-0 at 197 to win his title. Beard had two tech falls and a major decision. True freshman Seth Nevills went 3-0 at 285 to win the heavyweight crown. Nevills had two pins in his three victories.
RBY, JOSEPH, HALL, CASSAR PICK UP RANKED WINS & LEE GETS TF IN DUAL AT #6 ARIZONA STATE
Penn State, wrestling down two starters and giving up a forfeit victory, split bouts with Arizona State 5-5 but had its 60-dual win streak (dating back to the end of the 2014-15 season) snapped in a close 19-18 loss at #6 Arizona State on Nov. 22. Wrestling in front of an ASU record crowd of over 8,500, the Lions won five of the nine matches wrestled, all in impressive style. #3 Nick Lee rolled to an 18-3 tech fall at 141, #3 Roman Bravo-Young posted a 7-6 win over #16 Josh Kramer at 133, #1 Vincenzo Joseph notched a strong 7-4 win over #5 Josh Shields at 165, #1 Mark Hall rolled to an 11-3 major over #8 Anthony Valencia at 174 and #1 Anthony Cassar dominated #5 Tanner Hall in a 9-5 victory. But ASU had four bonus points to Penn State's three and grabbed the dual victory in Tempe.
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, 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 -- 111 wins
Vincenzo Joseph -- 85 wins
* Overall winning % (min. 30 matches)
Mark Hall -- 7th at 94.9 (111-6)
* Falls in PSU history
Mark Hall -- 7th at 39
Shakur Rasheed -- 19th at 28
Vincenzo Joseph -- nearing top 20 at 24
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.
