Penn State Wrestling: Revisiting the best matches of 2021-2022 season
By Chris Snyder
Continuing our series as we look back at some of the best individual matches of the 2021-2022 Penn State Wrestling season
As promised, this is the next edition of our on-going series following the conclusion of every Nittany Lion Wrestling season.
In the first installment, we covered some matches that may have slipped the minds of some of the Penn State Wrestling faithful. And let’s face it, who can remember every single one-off match against Penn and Cornell foes when the season ended the way it did?
#championshipbrisket
Well let’s continue this stroll down memory lane and see if I can joggle your minds even further.
Best Penn State Wrestling matches of the 2021-2022 season – cont.
Match No. 1
Date: 01/21/2022
No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 3 Michigan
No. 16 Brady Berge (PSU) dec over No. 10 Cameron Amine (MICH) 3-1
Prior to this matchup against Michigan’s Amine, Berge had exactly one win in his Penn State career against a top 10 ranked grappler. That lone victory was his 3-2 decision win against Iowa’s No. 5 ranked Kaleb Young in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Not only that, but Berge was fresh off his return to the Nittany Lion wrestling room after taking a brief hiatus from coaching at South Dakota State. His only match up until this one, was a 5-1 decision win against Andrew Clark of Rutgers.
Did I mentioned Brady was also wrestling up a weight class (165) from his usual spot at 157? Apparently coffee and an endless supply of churros is a coach’s best friend*.
Lastly, this dual was being held in the unfriendly confines of the Crisler Center amid a “Maize Out”.
So to recap, Brady Berge has one career win against a top 10 ranked opponent, he hadn’t wrestled a competitive match in roughly 10 months, he was wrestling against a stronger and bigger foe than he’s usually used to, and it was on the road.
No problem.
And from the opening whistle, Brady was clearly the aggressor of the two in looking to get to his offense first.
Berge took a low shot early in the match, which Amine swiftly countered and fought away. But with just inside a minute left in the first period, Brady snagged an ankle pick and secured a takedown to lead the match 2-0.
He then rode Amine out for the remainder of the period.
Berge began the second on top and Amine quickly escaped to move the score to 2-1. Following the escape, neither wrestler took any committed shots and the period ended with them still trying to feel each other out.
The third period started with Berge on bottom, clinging to a 2-1 lead, and with just under a minute of riding time secured. If Brady could get a quick escape, then he could defend the rest of the match and make Amine come to him.
Which is exactly what transpired.
Berge fought out of Amine’s grip to get the escape and pushed his lead to 3-1 with 1:30 left in the final period.
Following a flurry of shots by Amine, which Brady easily defended, Berge went back on the offense himself. A shell shocked Amine and sold out Michigan crowd could do nothing as the final seconds ticked away.
Brady Berge defeated his second ever top 10 ranked opponent on the road in a pivotal part of the dual in only his second match of the season.
Boom.
On a side note, Cameron Amine went on to finish 4th at 165 in the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Thus he is the highest NCAA finisher Brady Berge has ever defeated.
* – for context, I gain 6 pounds just looking at cheesecake