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Penn State Wrestling: 5 Things we’ve learned so far this season

By Chris Snyder

PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 18: Roman Bravo-Young of the Penn State Nittany Lions stands with head coach Cael Sanderson during a time-out in the 133 pound championship match at the Keystone Classic on November 18, 2018 at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 18: Roman Bravo-Young of the Penn State Nittany Lions stands with head coach Cael Sanderson during a time-out in the 133 pound championship match at the Keystone Classic on November 18, 2018 at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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With the early portion of the 2021-2022 wrestling season coming to a close, we wanted to take a look at five things we’ve learned about the Penn State Wrestling Team so far

For obvious reasons, the start of this wrestling season is infinitely better than last year for Penn State Wrestling. Namely, because there was actually some wrestling action in November and December.

And, if you’ve followed the Nittany Lions this year, then you know it’s been a fun ride so far.

From the perfect 8-0 dual record, to the flu-riddled back-to-back duals against Penn and Lehigh, to winning the title in the National Collegiate Duals this past week. There have been plenty of “ups” and “downs” to go around.

So why not take a look as some things we’ve learned so far this year?

Don’t mind if I do!

5 things we’ve learned about Penn State Wrestling this season

Things we’ve learned No. 1 – The back end of this lineup is scary good

If you’ve lived under a rock, or in Iowa City, for the past two months, then let me introduce you to Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks, Max Dean, and Greg Kerkvliet.

These talented Nittany Lions are currently the starting wrestlers at 174, 184, 197, and 285.

And so far this season they have a combined 28-0 record, have outscored their opponents 299-50, including five falls, and have a combined bonus point percentage of 82%.

Not too bad, right?

The Penn State Wrestling faithful have been spoiled with having several all-time Nittany Lion greats strung together in the same lineup before.

In the 2012-2013 season, it was David Taylor, Matt Brown, Ed Ruth, and Quentin Wright from 165 to 197.

In 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph, Mark Hall, and Bo Nickal dominated from 149 to 184.

Then there was the 2018-2019 group of Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph, Mark Hall, Shakur Rasheed, and Bo Nickal.

This year’s group may be up there all of them.

And this isn’t taking away from what Roman Bravo-Young and Nick Lee are able to do towards the front of the lineup. Because those guys are every bit as important as the back end.

Starocci and Brooks have already won NCAA titles and Max Dean finished runner-up in the last season he hit the mat. All three of these guys look like they’re in top form already and it would take a herculean effort to knock them off the top.

Oh, and then there’s Greg “Kerk Kong” Kerkvliet. This is the first time since he transferred to State College that Penn State fans have been able to see him wrestle fully healthy. And it’s safe to say he looks dangerous. Just ask his last opponent.

Unfortunately, it appears as though this group is only going to include four consecutive weight classes as we’ll discuss in the next slide.

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