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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Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet paces before wrestling at 285 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 066 Jpg /

No. 5 Tony Cassioppi 7-2 decision over No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet

Grade: C

Right out of the gate Kerkvliet’s supreme athleticism was on full display as he took a low shot to earn a takedown on Cassioppi 30 seconds into the match. The Penn State fans got to see exactly how good Kerkvliet really can be in the dual meet the prior week as he took down the undisputed No. 2 at heavyweight, Michigan’s Mason Parris.

However, something changed in this match. Rather than using his reach and quickness advantage, Kerkvliet attempted to throw Cassioppi on two separate occasions when the grapplers worked in tight. Which ended up being a recipe for disaster.

Cassioppi took Kerkvliet to the mat both times and basically dominated the match after he gave up an opening takedown.

Now here’s what I’m not sure about. Is it possible that with the dual meet already in the hands of Penn State, Kerkvliet maybe went off script a little? Just to give Cassioppi a look that Kerk can use against him later on in the year?

I have no idea, and although I do not know a lot about anything, I do know you shouldn’t try to ever throw Tony Cassioppi.

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