Penn State Wrestling: Revisiting the best matches of 2021-2022 season
By Chris Snyder
Match No. 2
Date: 12/20/2021
No. 2 Penn State vs. No. 9 Cornell
No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) maj dec over No. 16 Jonathan Loew (COR) 15-3
Following their 29-9 thrashing of UNI in the first round of the Collegiate Wrestling Duals, Penn State was set to face Cornell in the next round. And the Big Red represented the Nittany Lions’ toughest opponent to date on the season with a No. 9 dual ranking and eight ranked grapplers in their lineup.
It was going to be a fight to the finish and with Penn State’s recent recovery from an illness outbreak, the outcome was essentially a coin flip.
Things didn’t start out on the right foot for the Nittany Lions as Jake Campbell was pinned 58 seconds into the match by the talented Vito Arujau. Cornell was up 6-0 before I got back to the couch from grabbing a family-sized bag of chips.
RBY and Nick Lee then each won major decisions of their own to give back the lead to Penn State 8-6. However this was short-lived as Beau Bartlett lost a major decision to No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis 11-3, Joe Lee looked like he didn’t want anything to do with being on a wrestling mat and lost 4-2, and Creighton Edsell lost a close match to No. 9 Julian Ramirez.
Cornell opened up a 16-8 lead and they were threatening to up a can of you-know-what on Penn State.
But Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks, Max Dean, and Greg Kerkvliet were going to have a say in the matter before the final horn blew.
The first of the hammers, Carter Starocci, kicked things off with a less than convincing 3-2 win over No. 12 Chris Foca. But hey, a win’s a win.
I guess.
However, doubts were starting to creep into my mind about the outcome of the dual. Keep in mind, that a large chunk of the Nittany Lions lineup was finally on the mend following the flu.
Aaron Brooks included. Couple this with a relatively easy beginning stretch of the season where a lot of the top Penn State guys had yet to face solid competition, and you had a recipe for an upset.
This also brings Starocci’s razor-thin win against Foca into better perspective. Even highly talented wrestlers in the best wrestling room in the country with the best coaching staff still need to be tested to get their footing going into a season.
Which brings us to the 184 match between Aaron Brooks and No. 16 Jonathan Loew.
Just two hours prior to his match against Loew, Brooks clawed his way to a 3-2 decision over No. 4 Parker Keckeisen (UNI). This marked Aaron’s first return to the mat in over a month due to illness and his first match against a ranked opponent.
And now he was set to take on another difficult opponent in the span of 120 minutes. Would conditioning be an issue? How about any lingering rust from being out of action for several weeks?
Oh, and following Starocci’s win, Penn State was still down 16-11 to Cornell. The Nittany Lions appeared on the ropes with zero room for error.
Well, Aaron Brooks quickly answered my questions and he shoved their can of whoopin’ right down their throats from the opening whistle.
Brooks got on the board early in the match with a takedown and he rolled Loew to his back to add an additional four near-fall points. Aaron then let Loew up and promptly took him back to the mat to lead the match 8-1 heading into the second period.
Brooks started the second in the top position and he once again let Loew up for the escape. And then Aaron took him back to the mat. This ongoing theme continued throughout the rest of the second period and Brooks was up 12-3 with 2:14 in riding time going into the third.
Loew attempted to wave the white flag but Brooks was having none of it. With 30 seconds remaining in the match, Aaron snagged another takedown and rode out Loew as the clock hit triple zeros. Thus capping the impressive 15-3 major decision.
Aaron Brooks completely vaporized a competitive wrestler following a stint on the DL and following a hard-fought match the same night. And he barely broke a sweat in the process.
Let’s also not forget, that Jonathan Loew went on to be an All-American at 184 in the 2022 NCAA Championships. The dude is a top-flight grappler.
This win showed one thing, and that is the fact Aaron Brooks is a ridiculously good wrestler.
Max Dean and Kerk Kong went on to win both of their ranked matches by way of decisions and Penn State held on for the 21-16 win.