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Penn State Wrestling regular season awards: Who’s the Nittany Lions’ MVP?

By Chris Snyder

ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 20: Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State celebrates after beating Dayton Fixx of Oklahoma State in the 133lb weight class in the first-place match during the NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championship at the Enterprise Center on March 20, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 20: Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State celebrates after beating Dayton Fixx of Oklahoma State in the 133lb weight class in the first-place match during the NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championship at the Enterprise Center on March 20, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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Penn State Wrestling
Penn State’s Max Dean, top, wrestles Iowa’s Jacob Warner at 197 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 064 Jpg /

Breakout Star

Max Dean
15-1

Ranked Wins
No. 19 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) decision 4-2
No. 8 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) major decision 10-1
No. 7 Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) decision 9-6
No. 8 Patrick Brucki (Michigan) decision 6-4
No. 4 Jacob Warner (Iowa) decision 8-3

Max Dean, a former Cornell standout, burst onto the Penn State Wrestling scene this year by blowing the doors off of his first six opponents. Try this on for size: major decision, technical fall, technical fall, major decision, fall, and technical fall.

I think it’s fair to say his performance this season has been nothing short of electric. Oh, and he might lead the team in nicknames according to my neighbor who happens to be a mega-Penn State wrestling fan.

Dean has been labelled “Mr. Break ya Back”, “The Ligament Tester”, and my personal favorite “The Vet” (the name of the old Eagle’s stadium which destroyed everyone’s knees).

But regardless of what nickname you prefer, Max Dean has been a breakout star for Penn State this season. Which isn’t an easy task for a former NCAA runner-up finisher from back in 2019. It’s also not easy when wrestling on a team as star-studded as the Nittany Lions.

Just watching him plow through the collegiate wrestling competition this season has been incredible to watch. And yes, I do know he lost a match to Michigan State’s Cam Caffey, but I’m considering that an outlier when analyzing Dean’s full data set.

If I were to say the words “bow and arrow”, what immediately comes to mind? For me it’s the look of pain on the face of Jacob Warner as Dean wrenched down on him on the mat in Iowa City.

Will Max Dean be able to use his patented move to breakout and be crowned a Big Ten and NCAA Champion? Only time will tell.

Honorable Mention:
Greg Kerkvliet
14-1

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