Penn State Wrestling: Grades, MVP vs. Ohio State
By Chris Snyder
Penn State Wrestling continues to impress in dual meet victory over rival Ohio State
The No. 2 ranked Penn State Wrestling once again took to the road as they traveled to Columbus to grapple with B1G rival No. 13 Ohio State. The Nittany Lions have absolutely dominated this series and haven’t lost to the Buckeyes since a trip to Columbus back on January 11th 2015 (15-22). Is this foreshadowing or did I just jinx everything?
No worries about jinxes, here! Penn State left Columbus with a hard fought 28-12 win.
Let’s find out how the Nittany Lions pulled it off.
The night started out at 125 where Robert Howard again took the mat up against Malik Heinselman. As with last Sunday against Michigan, Howard had another tough match. However this time he wasn’t able to pull out the win. Time and time again his shots were countered by Heinselman’s quick defense and in the end Heinselman secured the decision 5-2 over Howard (PSU 0 OSU 3).
Now this is what we’ve been waiting for. Bonus points, and lots of them. Both Roman Bravo-Young and Nick Lee absolutely dominated their opponents on the way to a technical fall for RBY 27-8 and a major decision for Lee 15-3 (PSU 9 OSU 3).
Next, Beau Bartlett got the start at 149 against No. 2 Sammy Sasso. Bartlett was able to land a takedown in the 1st, catching Sasso by complete surprise to lead the match. But Sasso proved too much to handle as he gathered himself and wrestled a one-sided match the rest of the way to take the decision over Bartlett 5-3 (PSU 9 OSU 6).
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Brady Berge took his opponent, Ohio State’s Elijah Cleary, to the third period tied 1-1 and ultimately snagged a late takedown to earn a hard fought 3-1 decision (PSU 12 OSU 6). I feel like we just watched this match last Sunday. Either way, another solid performance and another win for Berge.
Side note, the Big Ten Network announced at intermission it would broadcast both the Saturday and Sunday action of this year’s B1G Championships. This is great news for B1G wrestling fans!
Next at 165, Joe Lee faced off against Ethan Smith. An early injury timeout for Lee gave Smith the option for bottom position, where he quickly escaped for a 1-0 lead. With both wrestlers squared up, Lee took a shot and was able to land a takedown where he appeared to have Smith in a good position. Before you could blink, Smith rolled out, put Lee in a horrible spot, and earned the fall as Lee’s back was flat on the mat. Crap. As I mentioned in my preview, not allowing Ohio State to earn any bonus points (let alone a fall) was going to prevent Penn State fans from having to sweat out the final. Well, start sweating (PSU 12 OSU 12).
Plenty of hype surrounded the bout at 174 as Carter Starroci took on Kaleb Romero. The first period saw both wrestlers trying to take shots but no one was able to earn the takedown. The match ultimately went to sudden victory tied 1-1. Late in SV, Romero had a huge opportunity but as we’ve seen with Starocci, he’s hard to take down. Fast-forward to two thrilling tie breakers and Starocci came away with the decision 3-1 over Romero (PSU 15 OSU 12). I’ll have a more in-depth breakdown later.
Aaron Brooks then breezed to a relatively easy win at 184 in earning the major decision 13-4 over Rocky Jordan (PSU 19 OSU 12).
In a tightly contested dual meet, Penn State needed something special. And they got just that when Michael Beard jumped all over Gavin Hoffman from the opening whistle and pinned his opponent for the fall, sealing the victory for Penn State (PSU 25 OSU 12). I can sit here and say I saw this coming from a thousand miles, but I would be lying through my teeth. What a clutch performance from yet another Nittany Lion Wrestler!
Ending the night at heavyweight, Seth Nevills grappled against Tate Orndorff where Nevills was able to earn a late takedown in the third period to win the decision 3-2 (PSU 28 OSU 12).
Penn State fans, are you not entertained?
Now let’s take a look at a couple of key matches.
First key match
133 – Roman Bravo-Young
Grade – A+
RBY continues to show signs he’s going to be a dominant force at 133 for the remainder of the season. Why is this a key match, you’re asking? Because he was able to completely halt the Buckeye momentum stemming from the opening match.
Bravo-Young put on a takedown/escape clinic on his way to a dominating performance and earning Penn State much needed bonus points along the way.
I may have doubted RBY early on in my Top 3 PSU Wrestlers article, but based on his last two matches, he’s starting to show everyone he’s ready to take down the best at 133.