Penn State Wrestling: Nittany Lions flex their muscles in National Collegiate Duals
By Chris Snyder
Breaking down the action for the Penn State Wrestling team in the opening night of the 2022 National Collegiate Duals
The Nittany Lions dominated their way to the title in the Blue Pool in last season’s National Collegiate Duals. And this year the venue changed from Florida to Louisiana. Would the outcome be any different?
Nope.
Penn State Wrestling was on cruise control tonight as they disintegrated Central Michigan 50-3 in the opening dual and then throttled UNC 37-3 in the night cap.
Let’s take a look at the action!
Action in the dual started out at 125 where Gary Steen lost a hard fought decision 5-4. It looked like there was a possibility Steen earned a late takedown against Walker as time expired, however following a review, the officials upheld the original no-call.
Steen has really wrestled his tail off, however it just hasn’t translated into many wins yet. Hopefully he gets over the hump soon and starts to gain some confidence. Central Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 leading following the first match.
Then the Nittany Lions tried to pull off their best Oprah impression by handing out falls to the other team and to everyone in attendance.
Roman Bravo-Young pinned his opponent in the first period and Beau Bartlett followed suit by turning his foe’s back to the mat in the second period.
Then making his Penn State dual debut, Levi Haines quickly dispatched his opponent with a fall 1:38 into the first period. After these three matches the Nittany Lions pulled out to a 24-3 lead.
Alex Facundo continued to look dominant as he breezed his way to a 16-7 major decision and Penn State owned a 28-3 lead with four matches remaining.
Carter Starocci kept the fall-train chugging along by picking up a first period pin 2:21 into the match. Then Aaron Brooks made quick work of his foe by putting his back to the mat 1:18 into the bout.
Max Dean also joined the pin-parade when he cinched a second period fall. That made seven, yes seven, falls for Penn State in the dual meet.
Seth “Big Snacks” Nevills next got the nod at 285 to make his first appearance of the year. And he made the most of his first match by crushing his Central Michigan opponent by way of a major decision, 17-5.
If the strategy was to come out and fire on all cylinders and obliterate the competition as fast as possible, then mission accomplished!
The seven falls earned by the Nittany Lions ties a school record first set back in 1983 against Millersville and again in 2018 against Kent State.
Central Michigan 3 No. 1 Penn State 50
125 Anthony Walker (CM) dec. over Gary Steen (PSU) 5-4, CM 3 PSU 0
133 No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (PSU) fall over Vince Perez (CM) 2:07, CM 3 PSU 6
141 No. 5 Beau Bartlett (PSU) fall over Jimmy Nugent (CM) 4:09, CM 3 PSU 12
149 No. 17 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) fall over No. 20 Johnny Lovett (CM) 4:47, CM 3 PSU 18
157 Levi Haines (PSU) fall over No. 31 Corbyn Munson (CM) 1:38, CM 3 PSU 24
165 No. 14 Alex Facundo (PSU) major dec. over Tracy Hubbard (CM) 16-7, CM 3 PSU 28
174 No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU) fall over Alex Cramer (CM) 2:21, CM 3 PSU 34
184 No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) fall over Ben Cushman (CM) 1:18, CM 3 PSU 40
197 No. 5 Max Dean (PSU) fall over Cam Wood (CM) 3:21, CM 3 PSU 46
285 Seth Nevills (PSU) major dec. over Bryan Caves (CM) 17-5, CM 3 PSU 50
The second dual of the night for Penn State started at 125 and I wish I could say Gary Steen pulled out the “W”, but I can’t. Steen dropped another tough match 5-1 and UNC got on the board early 3-0.
RBY then got things rolling for Penn State by earning a takedown riddled technical fall 26-11 to put the Nittany Lions on the board and in the lead, 5-3.
Beau Bartlett and Shayne Van Ness next prevailed in hard earned decisions, 4-1 and 2-0 respectively, to extend Penn State’s lead over UNC 11-3.
Levi Haines got the call once again for the NIttany Lions at 157, and he kept the winning ways going by winning a decision 4-1 over his UNC counterpart. At the halfway mark, Penn State lead UNC 14-3.
The grind it out attitude continued for the Nittany Lions with Alex Facundo working hard for Penn State’s fourth straight decision win. This time a 5-2 decision and the Nittany Lions further extended their lead to 17-3 on the night.
Remember when I said the Nittany Lions were grinding out the dual against UNC? Yeah, that was fun.
Well Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks had other things on their mind on the night.
Starocci was all over his UNC foe from the opening whistle and worked a dominant technical fall 18-3 and Aaron Brooks must have been double parked somewhere outside of the arena because he pinned his opponent a mere 0:54 into the match.
With only two matches remaining, Penn State owned a commanding 28-3 lead in the dual.
Max Dean kept the bonus points flowing for the Nittany Lions as he cruised to a 10-2 major decision and Penn State further added to their lead on the hapless Tar Heels, 32-2.
Greg Kerkvliet then put the proverbial cherry on top by winning a technical fall 17-2 over his UNC opponent.
It wasn’t the fall-fest Penn State Wrestling fans saw in the opening dual, but my goodness was it just as dominant.
No. 17 North Carolina 3 No. 1 Penn State 37
125 No. 33 Jack Wagner (UNC) dec. over Gary Steen (PSU) 5-1, UNC 3 PSU 0
133 No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (PSU) tech. fall over Jace Palmer (UNC) 26-11, UNC 3 PSU 5
141 No. 5 Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec. over No. 25 Lachlan McNeil (UNC) 4-1, UNC 3 PSU 8
149 No. 17 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) dec. over Jayden Scott (UNC) 2-0, UNC 3 PSU 11
157 Levi Haines (PSU) dec. over Danny Nini (UNC) 4-1, UNC 3 PSU 14
165 No. 14 Alex Facundo (PSU) dec. over Nicholas Fea (UNC) 5-2, UNC 3 PSU 17
174 No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU) tech. fall over Clay Tenold (UNC) 18-3, UNC 3 PSU 22
184 No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) fall over No. 17 Gavin Kane (UNC) 0:54, UNC 3 PSU 28
197 No. 5 Max Dean (PSU) major dec. over No. 31 Max Shaw (UNC) 10-2, UNC 3 PSU 32
285 No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) tech. fall over Brandon Whitman (UNC) 17-2, UNC 3 PSU 37
Next up for the Nittany Lions is the finals in the Blue Pool against No. 7 Iowa State. The dual is set to start at 8pm EST and can be streamed on Rokfin if you have a paid subscription.