Penn State Wrestling in full control with a 28-9 victory over Michigan State: Full results
By Chris Snyder
No. 1 Penn State Wrestling continued their Michigan swing with a 28-9 victory over Michigan State in East Lansing
Fresh off of the butt-kicking of Michigan on Friday evening 29-6, No. 1 Penn State Wrestling continued their stay in the state of Michigan as they grappled with the Michigan State Spartans early Sunday afternoon.
And as you would expect, Michigan State was no match for Penn State as the Nittany Lions picked up the win 28-9.
Before getting into the action of the dual meet, it was announced Roman Bravo-Young would be sitting this one out. But there’s no need to worry, RBY will be ready to go on Friday against Iowa.
How No. 1 Penn State Wrestling took down Michigan State
The dual started out at 125 where No. 7 Drew Hildebrandt picked up his second bonus point victory on the season by pitching an 8-0 shutout over his Sparty opponent. Penn State Wrestling was on the board early with a 4-0 lead.
The Spartans and Nittany Lions split the next two matches at 133 and 141 with Baylor Shunk losing a decision 8-3 and Nick Lee picking up a major decision 13-1. After the first three matches on the afternoon Penn State owned an 8-3 lead.
In the next match at 149, Beau Bartlett continued to look impressive as he picked up a 7-2 decision to extend Penn State’s lead to 11-3.
Penn State Wrestling head coach Cael Sanderson talked to Jeff Byers prior to the dual meet and he specifically talked about the progression of Terrell Barraclough, and how he just needed to get over the hump to gain some confidence. And Barraclough’s next match was a perfect opportunity to do this as No. 19 Chase Saldate stood in his way.
The match was a highly entertaining back and forth match. Barraclough was down 1-0 going into the third period, however he owned a 1:12 edge in riding time. If he could escape early and finish the match on his feet then he could pull off the huge upset.
Well, needless to say, Saldate had other plans. He erased a full 30 seconds of Barraclough’s riding time before Terrell was able to break free. No grappler could land a late shot and the match went into sudden victory. And in sudden victory Saldate wasted little time in working into a good position on Barraclough.
Terrell tried to fight it off but he couldn’t prevent the ensuing takedown which gave Saldate the win in sudden victory 4-2.
Dang.
Barraclough always battles hard and one of these days he’s going to break through. But today was not his day. Moving on.
Speaking of battling hard, Brady Berge took to the mat once again at 165 and he once again came away with a victory. Berge built up a nice lead early in the match as he ultimately coasted to the finish line to win a 7-4 decision. At this point the dual stood at 14-6 in favor of Penn State with their four hammers yet to go on the afternoon.
And the final four hammers for Penn State did end the afternoon with a slight chink in their armor.
Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks, and Greg Kerkvliet were all victorious with a technical fall, decision, and fall respectively. However Max Dean fell in a tight match 3-2 to No. 15 ranked Cameron Caffey. This is Dean’s first loss on the year and something tells me he’s going to learn something from it.
Next up for the Nittany Lions is a trip to Iowa City to battle the Iowa Hawkeyes in prime time. The dual is set for Friday, January 28th at 9:00 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network.
No. 1 Penn State 28 Michigan State 9
125 No. 7 Drew Hildebrandt (PSU) maj dec over Tristan Lujan (MSU) 8-0, PSU 4 MSU 0
133 No. 12 Rayvon Foley (MSU) dec over Baylor Shunk (PSU) 8-3, PSU 4 MSU 3
141 No. 1 Nick Lee (PSU) maj dec over Matt Santos (MSU) 13-1, PSU 8 MSU 3
149 No. 19 Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec over Peyton Omania (MSU) 7-2, PSU 11 MSU 3
157 No. 19 Chase Saldate (MSU) dec over Terrell Barraclough (PSU) 4-2, PSU 11 MSU 6
165 No. 16 Brady Berge (PSU) dec over Caleb Fish (MSU) 7-4, PSU 14 MSU 6
174 No. 1 Carter Starrocci (PSU) tech fall over Nathan Jimenez (MSU) 19-3, PSU 19 MSU 6
184 No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) dec over Lane Malczewski (MSU) 4-0, PSU 22 MSU 6
197 No. 15 Cameron Caffey (MSU) dec over No. 2 Max Dean (PSU) 3-2, PSU 22 MSU 9
285 No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) fall over Brad Wilton (MSU) 1:58, PSU 28 MSU 9