No. 1 Penn State Wrestling shook off some early losses to throttle No .3 Iowa 29-6 on the road.
With the win, Nittany Lions head coach Cael Sanderson notched his 200th dual meet victory while at Penn State, and is one of 12 active Division I coaches to accomplish this feat at the same school.
Let’s take a look at how everything unfolded. Now onto the action!
Penn State Wrestling vs. Iowa Recap
The dual started out at 125 where Braeden Davis was in a fight from the very beginning. Davis was taken down in the first period, however he was not able to answer in the match. Ayala’s defense and tough positioning didn’t allow any room for Braeden to strike and he dropped his first match of the year in losing a 4-2 decision.
Next up at 133, Aaron Nagao took a nice low shot, turned it into a takedown, and promptly rode Schriever out for the remainder of the first period. Nagao then escaped early in the second period and managed to score a quick takedown early in the third period.
Aaron continued to crank down in the top position and he turned Cullan for two near fall points before the horn sounded at the end of the match. The 11-0 major decision for Nagao got the Nittany Lions on the board and they lead the Hawkeyes 4-3 after the first two matches of the night.
The next matchup at 141 was definitely one of the most anticipated of the night. When you have No. 1 against No. 2, it’s always going to be exciting.
Beau Bartlett struck first with a takedown in the first period, however Woods broke free for an escape with around a minute left. Woods escaped again in the second period from the bottom position and both guys finished squared on and on their feet.
Bartlett started the third period on bottom and escaped to make the score 4-2 in his favor. The two grapplers fought hard at the center of the mat but it was Bartlett who struck once more with a single leg. He then worked it for his second takedown and Bartlett cruised to the 7-2 decision.
Tyler Kasak was down 3-1 midway through the second period after a takedown by Rathjen in the first period. Caleb snagged his second takedown late in the second period and Kasak was down 6-2 going into the final period. Kasak gave up the escape in the third period and promptly took Rathjen to the mat for his first takedown.
The match stood at 8-5 and Tyler needed another takedown. Which is exactly what he did. Tyler then rode him out and we went to sudden victory. Halfway through SV, a scramble ensued following a shot by Rathjen. And the Hawkeye was able to force his way around and he secured the winning takedown. The 11-8 win for Iowa cut their lead to 7-6 in favor of Penn State.
Action continued next at 157 between Levi Haines and Jared Franek. And it was Haines who took control of the match early. Levi shot low, powered through with a takedown, and rode Franek out for the rest of the first period. Haines started from the bottom position in the second and quickly broke free for the escape. Franek countered with a committed shot, however Levi spun this for his second takedown of the match.
Levi Haines was just simply too much too handle. His defense was incredible, his strength was on full display, and he crushed Jared Franek 12-0 to take the major decision while piling up almost three minutes of riding time in the process.
And at the halfway mark the Nittany Lions lead Iowa 11-6. At 165 it was Mitchell Mesenbrink’s high energy that was on full display. Before Caliendo could even blink, Mesenbrink drove through with two first period takedowns and he took a 6-1 lead going into the second period. Mesenbrink kept the pressure up and forced the second stall call against Caliendo before he struck for his third takedown.
To Caliendo’s credit, he was able to get his own takedown but it was too little, too late. Mitchell’s 12-6 decision pushed Penn State’s lead to 14-6 on the night.
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Carter Starocci continued the pressure from the Nittany Lions in his match against Patrick Kennedy. Starocci had already secured three takedowns late in the second period and Kennedy grabbed a single leg and it looked like he might pull through for a takedown. But Carter somehow countered and powered through for yet another takedown.
The three-time NCAA champion fought off Kennedy for the remainder of the match and he pulled through with the 13-5 major decision.
With three matches left on the night, Penn State lead Iowa 18-6.
At 184, Bernie Truax got back to his winning ways with an 8-0 major decision against Aiden Riggins. But it was far from easy. Truax found himself in some tough positions throughout the match and he did just enough to stave off his counterpart’s offense.
With only two matches remaining in the dual, the Nittany Lions lead the dual 22-6.
At 197, Zach Glazier gave Aaron Brooks everything he had. Unfortunately for him, it just wasn’t enough. Brooks handed Glazier his first loss of the season in the 5-1 decision and the Nittany Lions poured on the points by extending their lead to 25-6 on the night.
In the final bout of the night, Greg Kerkvliet slammed the door shut on the dual meet and he kept the fans in the Carver-Hawkeye Arena on their hands. His 9-1 major decision gave the Nittany Lions the dominant 26-6 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
The Nittany Lions are back on the mat this Monday evening for their annual Bryce Jordan Center dual where Penn State will be hosting No. 14 Rutgers. Action is set to start at 7:00pm EST and the dual meet will air nationally on the Big Ten Network. Fans wear black and enjoy the Nittany Lion pink and black singlets!
No. 1 Penn State 29 No. 3 Iowa 6
125 – No. 7 Drake Ayala (IOWA) dec. over No. 2 Braeden Davis (PSU) 4-2, PSU 0 IOWA 3
133 – No. 6 Aaron Nagao (PSU) major dec. over No. 20 Cullan Schriever (IOWA) 11-0, PSU 4 IOWA 3
141 – No. 1 Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec. over No. 2 Real Woods (IOWA) 7-2, PSU 7 IOWA 3
149 – No. 12 Caleb Rathjen (IOWA) dec. over No. 10 Tyler Kasak (PSU) 11-8 SV, PSU 7 IOWA 6
157 – No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) major dec. over No. 5 Jared Franek (IOWA) 12-0, PSU 11 IOWA 6
165 – No. 7 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) dec. over No. 6 Mikey Caliendo (IOWA) 12-6, PSU 14 IOWA 6
174 – No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU) major dec. over No. 7 Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) 13-5, PSU 18 IOWA 6
184 – No. 6 Bernie Truax (PSU) major dec. over Aiden Riggins (IOWA) 8-0, PSU 22 IOWA 6
197 – No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) dec. over No. 11 Zach Glazier (IOWA) 5-1, PSU 25 IOWA 6
285 – No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) major dec. over Ben Kueter (IOWA) 9-1, PSU 29 IOWA 6
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
