No. 1 Penn State Wrestling Dominates Hofstra at Rec Hall
The top-ranked Penn State wrestling team rolled to another big victory Sunday, winning eight bouts, all with bonus points, to claim a 43-10 final over Hofstra. The Nittany Lions (2-0) scored four pins, three technical falls and a major decision in their final dual meet of the calendar year. A crowd of 6,589 filled Rec Hall for the 68th consecutive Penn State wrestling sellout.
Penn State wrestled without two highly ranked starters, No. 2 Beau Bartlett (141 pounds) and No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet (285), who are preparing for the upcoming U.S. Open in Texas. However, top-ranked Levi Haines (157), Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (197) picked up big victories in the match. All three wrestlers have scored bonus points in every bout this season. No. 2 Bernie Truax (184) and No. 4 Aaron Nagao (133) added bonus points as well.
"We just have a really exciting team," Penn State coach Cael Sanderson told reporters in State College after the match. "Obviously a very, very talented team with a lot of experience. This group of guys always stepped up in the big moments, and the moments just get bigger and bigger. We're just going to have some fun. I like where we're at. It's a lot of fun to go into battle with these guys and our staff, and we have some pretty dang good wrestlers right now."
The Nittany Lions continue to work through two weight classes, 125 and 149, the latter following news that returning All-American Shayne Van Ness is out for the season with an injury. Freshman Braeden Davis (8-0) made his dual-meet debut for the Lions at 125, scoring an 11-2 major. Sanderson said that "we're starting to lean that way" in wrestling Davis full-time at the weight class.
At 149, redshirt freshman Connor Pierce made his Penn State debut, falling 11-2. Sanderson said that the Lions continue to work through options at 149.
Penn State resumes its dual-meet schedule Jan. 6 when it visits Oregon State for a long-distance dual. The Nittany Lions return to Rec Hall on Jan. 14 for their Big Ten opener against Indiana.
Penn State 43, Hofstra 10
125: Braeden Davis (Penn State) dec. Dylan Acevedo-Switzer 11-2
133: No. 4 Aaron Nagao (Penn State) tech. fall Ryan Arbeit 21-6 in 4:20
141: David Evans (Penn State) tech. fall Alex Turley 19-4 in 6:13)
149: Noah Tapia (Hofstra) dec. Connor Pierce 11-2
157: No. 1 Levi Haines (Penn State) pin Dylan Zenion 1:02
165: No. 14 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) pin Matt Waddell 1:24
174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) tech. fall Eric Shindel 19-3 in 5:38
184: No. 2 Bernie Truax (Penn State) pin Will Conlon 1:51
197: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) pin Nikolas Miller 4:22
285: No. 21 Keaton Kluever (Hofstra) pin AJ Fricchione 4:32
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