No. 1 Penn State Outlasts No. 2 Iowa, Asserting its Wrestling Dominance

Roman Bravo-Younger and Max Dean, two of Penn State’s returning nationwide champs, delivered dramatic wins to carry the No. 1 Nittany Lions to a 23-14 victory over No. 2 Iowa on Friday within the most-anticipated faculty wrestling match of the season.

Bravo-Younger (133 kilos) pinned former teammate Brody Teske, who started his profession with Penn State, within the third interval for a turning-point Lions’ win. Dean (197) then defeated Jacob Warner 2-0 in a rematch of their 2022 NCAA championship bout, primarily securing the staff victory.

Penn State (11-0) received its thirty ninth consecutive match and delivered coach Cael Sanderson his one hundredth profession Large Ten victory. Since 2015, the Lions are a shocking 67-1 in Large Ten duals, having misplaced solely to Iowa in 2020. The Lions additionally ended Iowa’s 15-match win streak.

Penn State saved the matside seats for VIPs. Soccer coach James Franklin had his normal seat on the aisle subsequent to Sanderson, whereas his freshman All-American linebacker Abdul Carter sat subsequent to former star Micah Parsons. A number of seats down, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi cheered alongside to Athletic Director Patrick Kraft.

An introduced crowd of 15,998 on the Bryce Jordan Heart tied the NCAA attendance for an indoor faculty wrestling match, which Penn State and Iowa had set in 2018. What’s extra, Penn State additionally took the chance to indicate off its 2023 Rose Bowl trophy.

Here is how the Lions defeated Iowa.

285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Tony Cassioppi 4-1

Every week after sustaining his first loss, Kerkvliet recovered in an enormous method, punctuating the staff victory with a robust win over Cassioppi. The Iowa heavyweight wanted a pin to save lots of the staff win, however Kerkvliet nonetheless was the aggressor in producing the 4-1 win.

Kerkvliet (9-1) fell to Michigan’s Mason Parris to lose his No. 1 rating however seemed each bit the championship contender towards Cassioppi. Having misplaced to the Iowa wrestler 3 times final season, Kerkvliet now has received two straight, together with an exhibition bout late final 12 months. 

197: No. 4 Max Dean dec. No. 7 Jacob Warner 2-0

In a rematch of the 2022 national-championship bout, Dean wrestled a completely bruising third interval, driving Warner for all the 2 minutes for an important victory. The bout might need been Dean’s finest this season, notably since he misplaced twice in December.

Dean, who defeated Warner 3-2 in that title bout, escaped within the second interval to forestall Warner from reaching 1 minute of driving time. Then he erased that deficit and rolled up a driving level by overwhelming Warner with power and management.

The victory was pivotal, giving the Lions a 20-14 lead that required Cassioppi to provide a pin.

184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) tech. fall Drake Rhodes 22-7

With out common starter Abe Assad, ranked twelfth nationally, Iowa despatched primarily Rhodes, successfully ending the match. Brooks, one other two-time nationwide champ,

Understanding his place, Brooks (7-1) piled up factors for his third technical fall of the season. Brooks’ victory gave Penn State a 17-14 lead, setting the stage for Dean’s robust victory.

174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec. No. 16 Nelson Manufacturers 2-1

Starocci, usually one among Penn State’s highest-scoring wrestlers, completed what needed to be an aggravating with a 2-1 riding-time win. Starocci, who has 59 takedowns, could not generate any offense towards Manufacturers, who sought to generate little of his personal till the tip.

However Manufacturers had little shot of ending a shot, contemplating that Starocci (11-0) hasn’t given up a takedown all season. As a substitute, Starocci relied on driving time within the third interval for the win.

165: No. 13 Patrick Kennedy dec. No. 5 Alex Facundo 2-1 (tiebreaker)

In his second Large Ten additional time bout, Facundo could not muster extra drama. Facundo escaped within the first tiebreaker interval and held on to edge the redshirt freshman. Kennedy continued Iowa’s controlled-wrestling technique, producing a victory the Hawkeyes needed to have.

157: No. 9 Levi Haines (Penn State) dec. No. 15 Cobe Siebrecht 3-2

Haines dramatically burned his redshirt with an necessary Penn State victory. The true freshman scored a third-period takedown, most likely of the most important of his younger profession, to cease Iowa’s two-bout win streak. The Hawkeyes led 11-9 on the match’s intermission.

Haines (13-1, 3-0 Large Ten) has solidified his spot in Penn State’s lineup with some enormous wins. He upset Michigan’s Will Lewan 3-1 in additional time final week, then returned in a significant spot towards Iowa.

149: No. 7 Max Murin (Iowa) dec. 13. Shayne Van Ness 4-1

Murin scored a third-period takedown on an aggressive little bit of late offense to complete the second of two key Hawkeyes selections. Neither Van Ness nor Beau Bartlett at 141 may generate any important offensive photographs, which made the bouts look slightly comparable. But Murin was extra aggressive, and it paid off.

141: No. 2 Actual Woods (Iowa) dec. No. 4 Beau Bartlett 4-1

In a duel of top-five wrestlers, Woods and Bartlett placed on a present for about 20 seconds. Then Woods scored the one takedown and received a reserved bout with a riding-time edge.

Nonetheless, this was the primary of two necessary toss-up victories for Iowa. The loss was the primary of the season for Bartlett (14-1).

133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Younger (Penn State) pin No. 17 Brody Teske 6:46

Opponents nonetheless have not discovered that late assaults on Bravo-Younger hardly ever work  — and infrequently result in catastrophe. Main 7-2 late within the third, Penn State’s two-time nationwide champ appeared headed to a easy resolution when Teske, his one-time teammate, took an opportunity.

Large mistake. Teske’s fly-by did not work, and Bravo-Younger countered by turning a takedown right into a pin. This was an enormous early turning level within the match, with Penn State getting six staff factors as an alternative of three.

125: No. 1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) tech. fall Marco Vespa 18-2

What makes Sanderson so savvy? Seemingly innocuous strikes like this one. Vespa (0-3) gave Lee a lankier look that Lee hasn’t seen usually. He additionally started the bout with a why-not shot that just about grew to become a cradle.

After all, the three-time nationwide champ prolonged his win streak to 49 with a technical fall. However Lee did not get his seventh straight pin, and Iowa could not money the additional staff level.

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State information, opinion and perspective on the SI.com community. Writer Mark Wogenrich has coated Penn State for greater than 20 years, monitoring three teaching staffs, three Large Ten titles and a catalog of nice tales. Observe him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And take into account subscribing (button’s on the house web page) for extra nice content material throughout the SI.com community.