Penn State Wrestling hits the mat this Sunday for their first dual meet action of the season as they host inter-state foe Lehigh. The Nittany Lions and Mountain Hawks are no strangers to each other, as this will be their 111th meeting in program history. Penn State Wrestling maintains the all-time series lead with a 73-34-3 overall record. But, Lehigh has not been what most experts would call an “easy out” for Cael Sanderson‘s program in their last handful of matchups: 12/9/19 – Penn State 23 Lehigh 1012/5/21 – Penn State 23 Lehigh 1612/4/23 – Penn State 24 Lehigh 12 Penn State rides a 44 dual meet winning streak ahead of their clash with the Mountain Hawks, but let’s take a look at the dual meet coverage before slotting out the possible matchups.
How to watch Penn State Wrestling vs. Lehigh
Date: Sunday, December 3rdTime: 2:00 p.m. ESTWhere: Rec Hall (University Park)TV: B1G NetworkListen: Free via Lionvision at GoPSUsports.comFREE Live Stream: FuboTV (FREE TRIAL)
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Now let’s turn to the potential matchups ahead of the action on Sunday as both squads may have a bit of shuffling in their lineups. All numbers are based on the most recent InterMat rankings.
Penn State Wrestling vs. Lehigh Potential matchups
No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 24 Lehigh 125 – Braeden Davis or Robert Howard or Gary Steen (PSU) vs. No. 33 Luke Stanich or Sheldon Seymour (LEH)133 – No. 3 Aaron Nagao (PSU) vs. No. 5 Ryan Crookham or Connor McGonagle (LEH)141 – No. 2 Beau Bartlett (PSU) vs. No. 10 Malyke Hines (LEH)149 – No. 2 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) vs. Owen Reinsel (LEH)157 – No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) vs. No. 24 Max Brignola (LEH)165 – No. 16 Mitch Mesenbrink (PSU) vs. No. 32 Jake Logan or Hunter Mays (LEH)174 – No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU) vs. Thayne Lawrence (LEH)184 – No. 2 Bernie Truax (PSU) vs. Caden Rogers (LEH)197 – No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) vs. No. 10 Michael Beard (LEH)285 – No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) vs. No. 12 Nathan Taylor (LEH)
Penn State Wrestling vs. Lehigh Prediction
Based on the results Penn State fans have seen from the trio at 125 pounds, Braeden Davis appears to be the leader in the clubhouse at this point. But as it pertains to this dual meet, it simply doesn’t matter. Sanderson could trot out a metal folding chair at 125 and the Nittany Lions are still going to crush Lehigh. Aaron Nagao, Beau Bartlett, and Aaron Brooks will continue to sharpen steel with steel with their potential top 10 matchups. And Levi Haines and Greg Kerkvliet can also get some early season tests with their ranked bouts. Just look at the sheer volume of “No. 1’s, No. 2’s, and No. 3’s” on the list from above. And you could divide Mesenbrink‘s ranking by two and then subtract a couple of more points for his true ranking, but that will for sure work itself out the rest of the year. As for the result of this dual meet? My prediction is “Points, and more points”. Prediction: Penn State Wrestling 41, Lehigh 0
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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.
