Penn State Wrestling vs. Rutgers: preview, key matches, and prediction

Mar 19, 2021; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Nick Lee celebrates after defeating Rutgers Scarlet Knights wrestler Sebastian Rivera in the 141 weight class during the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2021; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Nick Lee celebrates after defeating Rutgers Scarlet Knights wrestler Sebastian Rivera in the 141 weight class during the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Penn State Wrestling hosts its first Big Ten test against Rutgers this Sunday in Rec Hall

The No. 14 ranked Scarlet Knights of Rutgers head to Happy Valley to face No. 1 ranked Penn State Wrestling on Sunday afternoon, inside what promises to be a racous Rec Hall.

The wrestling action is set to start at 5 p.m. and for the first time all season, and outside of paying their normally bloated cable bill, Penn State Wrestling fans will be able to watch a dual meet on tv without having to pay any extra fees. The dual meet is scheduled to be televised on ESPNU.

As of the writing of this article, the dual meet is still on for Sunday.

However, the weather may play a factor as a large winter storm is supposed to barrel through the Mid-Atlantic region between Sunday afternoon and early Monday morning. From what I can tell, most meteorologists are predicting anywhere between 1″ and 100″ of snow … Thanks for narrowing it down!

So, how about we take a look at the projected lineup for both squads, lock in on several key matchups, and throw a projected outcome onto the dartboard.

Here’s a look at Penn State Wrestling’s lineup heading into Sunday:

No. 1 Penn State Wrestling (10-0)

125 – No. 9 Drew Hildebrandt (2-0)
133 – No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (7-0)
141 – No. 1 Nick Lee (7-0)
149 – No. 19 Beau Bartlett (8-2)
157 – Tony Negron (1-4) OR Brady Berge (0-0)
165 – No. 24 Creighton Edsell (7-3)
174 – No. 1 Carter Starocci (10-0)
184 – No. 1 Aaron Brooks (8-0)
197 – No. 2 Max Dean (10-0)
285 – No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet (8-0)

The slightly revamped Nittany Lions 2021-2022 squad has been off to a tremendous start to the season. Undefeated in dual meets, the winner of the Blue pool in the Collegiate National Duals, and an absolute wrecking ball of a lineup from top to bottom.

So far in the Big Ten regular season, Penn State has demolished Maryland (46-0) and rolled past Indiana (29-11)  in back-to-back duals.

One thing to note is that both Roman Bravo-Young and Nick Lee missed the dual against Indiana due to being under the weather. At this point, there is no reason to believe they will miss the dual this Sunday, so I fully expect to see them suit up.

Also, you’ll notice a large “OR” at the 157 spot. With the recent announcement from Brady Berge indicating he was going to put his coaching career on hold and come back to State College to give it one more shot, it can potentially give the Nittany Lions yet another formidable opponent for other teams to worry about.

As mentioned before, Tony Negron has wrestled his heart out, however, Berge will be an almost immediate upgrade at 157. The only question remaining is when are we going to see Brady?

I can answer with the utmost confidence that the Penn State Wrestling faithful will see him this Sunday. Maybe …

No. 14 Rutgers (11-1)

125 – Dylan Shawver (13-3)
133 – No. 20 Joey Olivieri (15-3)
141 – No. 3 Sebastian Rivera (14-0)
149 – No. 18 Mike Van Brill (10-1)
157 – Robert Kanniard (6-6)
165 – Andrew Clark (10-11)
174 – Jackson Turley (3-3)
184 – No. 5 John Poznanski (12-0)
197 – No. 7 Greg Bulsak (14-0)
285 – Boone McDermott (9-6)

Going into the 2021-2022 wrestling season many experts were saying this year’s Scarlet Knight team could potentially be their best one ever. And for good reason.

Rutgers is anchored by top-tier Big Ten talent in Sebastian Rivera, John Poznanski, and Greg Bulsak. Add this to their nucleus of highly talented young grapplers and it’s a recipe for success.

But so far this season things haven’t exactly turned out exactly how the experts predicted it.

While the big guns for Rutgers have held up their end of the bargain, it’s been the younger guys who have stumbled slightly. The freshman rotation of Dylan Shawver, Robert Kanniard, and Andrew Clark are only a combined 29-20 on the season. Add to this the early season struggles of sophomores Boone McDermott and Jackson Turley, and it’s no surprise Rutgers only comes in as the No. 14 ranked team in the country.

Most recently the Scarlet Knights took their 11-matche winning streak to Madison to face the No. 22 ranked Badgers. And they did not return home with their 12th.

Wisconsin won six of the ten matches on the day and they exposed some of the weaknesses of the Rutgers lineup on their way to a 19-14 win.

Rutgers is still a strong team and they aren’t going to just bow at the feet of the No. 1 team in the nation come this Sunday. With that let’s take a look at several key matchups in the dual meet.