No. 1 Penn State Wrestling grades, MVP from throttling of No. 3 Iowa

Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson, left, high-fives wrestler Drew Hildebrandt after his major decision win at 125 pounds during a NCAA Big Ten Conference wrestling dual against Iowa, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.220127 Penn St Iowa Wr 033 Jpg /

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Iowa’s Austin DeSanto, left, talks with Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young after their match at 133 pounds during a NCAA Big Ten Conference wrestling dual, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.220127 Penn St Iowa Wr 010 Jpg /

No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young 3-2 decision over No. 3 Austin DeSanto

Grade: B+

“Really man? RBY beat the No. 3 ranked wrestler in Iowa and you’re only giving him a B+?”

Yes, but here’s why.

This is a list of items I know regarding Bravo-Young:
-Last Sunday, he missed the dual against Michigan State
-His left shoulder was taped up
-RBY is normally the aggressor looking for his shots in every match

Now conversely, here are some things I don’t know:
-Was RBY fully healthy?
-Or was there something else at play in his match against DeSanto?

Because from my vantage point in watching the dual meet, Roman looked a bit off at times as DeSanto appeared to force the tempo the entire match. Obviously, RBY prevailed in the end but he had to display some other-worldly defense to get out of one too many spots on Friday.

Hence why he gets a B+ in my book.

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