Penn State wrestling continues dual win streak vs. Hofstra

Penn State wrestling improved to 2-0 on the season after a dominant 43-10 victory over Hofstra. The Nittany Lions now extend their dual win streak to 46 in a row. Here is the breakdown of all the action in Rec Hall for Cael Sanderson and the Nittany Lions.

Davis shines in Rec Hall debut at 125

Penn State fans have been clamoring for star freshman Braeden Davis to wrestle at 125 all season. Davis got his opportunity in his first match at Rec Hall and was impressive with an 11-2 major decision over Hofstra’s Dylan Acevedo-Switzer.

Davis now improves to 8-0 on the season and the discussion will only build as Cael Sanderson decides whether to burn his redshirt or not this season. If the freshman is given the opportunity to wrestle against tougher competition and wins, we may see something similar to the Levi Haines decision last season.

Nagao bounces back at 133

Aaron Nagao bounced back from his loss last week to now No. 1 Ryan Crookham of Lehigh. Ryan Arbeit of Hofstra will have to wait another week to pick up his first win of the season, as he suffered a tech fall to No. 4 Aaron Nagao 21-6 at the 4:20 mark. It was a good boost of confidence for Nagao after the loss last week and proves that he is still one of the top wrestlers at 133.

Evans Tech Fall at 141

David Evans improved to 6-2 on the season with an impressive 19-4 tech fall win at the 6:13 mark. Evans controlled the match from start to finish and never allowed Hofstra’s Alex Turley to record a takedown. While No. 2 Beau Bartlett is the starter at 141, it was a strong performance by Evans to show just how deep the Penn State wrestling room is.

Pierce struggles at 149

With Shayne Van Ness announced to have a season-ending injury earlier this week, it remained to be seen who was going to take control of 149 for the Nittany Lions. Connor Pierce got the start of 149 and allowed a first-period takedown to Hofstra’s Noah Tapia.

Things didn’t get better for Pierce as Tapia was in control from start to finish and picked up the 11-2 major decision to get Hofstra on the board. It will be interesting to see if Sanderson has a revolving door moving forward until someone takes the starting spot.

Haines gets pin at 157

No. 1 Levi Haines proved why he is the top-ranked wrestler in the country at 157 with a quick and effortless pin of Dylan Zenion at 157. Haines got the Rec Hall crowd energized heading into the intermission with the fall as he improved to 5-0 on the season and gave the Nittany Lions a 20-4 lead heading into the intermission.

Mesenbrink gets pin at 165

Mitchell Mesenbrink, fresh off his debut at Rec Hall last week, got another milestone this week with his first pin in the historic venue. Similar to Haines before the break, Mesenbrink was in attack mode early and got the fall at 1:24 of the 1st period to improve to 9-0 on the season.

With plenty of talent in the Big Ten, we will find out soon enough just how much of a national contender the redshirt freshman will be this season. Certainly a great start to his career in the Blue and White.

Starocci rolls to another tech fall at 174

No. 1 Carter Starocci went to work with ease in the 1st period getting whatever he wanted en route to a 12-3 lead at the horn. The 3-time national champion rode Hofstra’s Eric Shindel for the entire 2nd period, but couldn’t get the pin.

In the 3rd period, Starocci continued to try and get the pin, but Shindel wrestled very tough. Starocci had to settle for a 19-3 tech fall at 3:31. It was the 60th consecutive win for Starocci as he now improved to 4-0 on the season.

Truax gets fall at 184

No. 2 Bernie Truax went to work quickly and picked up a takedown just 5 seconds into the match. He dominated Will Conlan of Hofstra quickly and picked up the third pin of the day for the Nittany Lions at the 1:51 mark. The Cal Poly transfer improved to 5-0 on the season.

Brooks pins at 197

No. 1 Aaron Brooks picks up yet another pin for Penn State wrestling. After Nikolas Miller of Hofstra hung with the national champion through a period, Brooks eventually got the fall at the 4:22 mark. It was an efficient season debut at Rec Hall for Brooks, who rested last week against Lehigh.

Fricchione gets pinned at 285

Greg Kerkvliet got the rest, and that meant that freshman AJ Fricchione got the opportunity against No. 21 Keaton Kluever of Hofstra. Kluever was the only ranked wrestler for the Pride, and he was on the offensive early with three takedowns early and led 9-3. Kluever eventually would get the freshman on his back and pick up the fall for Hofstra.

Rest and youth led to dominant win

Cael Sanderson has rested some of his typical starters once again this week against a clearly overmatched Hofstra squad. We saw David Evans filling in for Beau Bartlett this week at 141, and he picked up an impressive technical fall with the opportunity.

Connor Pierce got the start at 149 and was outmatched. But he still gave Penn State wrestling a different look at 149. The same could be said at heavyweight, where Greg Kerkvliet was given the day off, and freshman AJ Fricchione was outmatched by a ranked Keaton Kluever of Hofstra.

The lineup featured 4 freshmen this week, but none was more anticipated than Braeden Davis at 125. The true freshman had a dominant performance and once again looks to be the best option for Penn State at that weight class.

Penn State wrestling was going to be able to set the score in this one, and if the Nittany Lions really wanted to, they probably could have shut out the Pride with a full lineup. This was a great opportunity for backups to get some experience outside of the Penn State wrestling room.

The Nittany Lions next travel to Oregon State on January 5th, and that may be the first time this season that we see a full lineup.