Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson talks Braeden Davis' tight win, Bernie Truax getting pinned, and more

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State wrestling will be No. 1 again next week after it beat No. 7 Ohio State 28-9 on Friday night at Rec Hall. The Lions won eight of 10 matches en route to their 52nd consecutive dual meet victory.

“Ohio State always has a great team and they came ready to wrestle tonight,” Sanderson said. “They pushed us pretty dang good. We’re going to keep getting better and keep looking forward to the next match and preparing for the postseason. That’s the fun stuff. It was a great match tonight. Ohio State did a great job.”

Here’s what we learned from Sanderson’s post-match news conference.

Sanderson weighs in on Davis’ finish

Penn State 125-pound freshman Braeden Davis improved to 14-0 when he beat Ohio State’s Vinny Kilkeary 4-3. The bout ended in controversy. The Buckeye threw Davis late and looked to have a takedown on the buzzer. After a review, it wasn’t awarded, and Ohio State coach Tom Ryan received a warning after he exploded at both referees in disbelief. What did Sanderson see?

“We always see things from our own perspective … the rules are a little bit different now. There’s reaction time. There was one takedown for them and one for us where they let things play out a little bit, and that’s what they’re supposed to do.

“They’re supposed to be patient with the reaction time. Last year, the skin of your finger drags along the mat, and it’s a takedown. I think it’s been a fine rule. You just know you have to really secure that takedown and have control for a little bit of time there.”

In other words, Sanderson felt Kilkeary did not have enough control before the horn sounded. As we wrote in our four takeaways, the outcome will be debated moving forward.

What happened with Bernie Truax and Aaron Nagao?

The shocker of the night came at 184 pounds. First-year Nittany Lion Bernie Truax had a second period lead. Then, he suddenly found himself on his back. Ohio State’s Ryder Rogotzke threw the Penn State wrestler to his back and pinned him at the 3:59 mark. What happened?

“Rogotzke is a pinner, and you could see the whole time he was going to try different things. He got us. I thought Bernie was wrestling really well. Hit a couple nice takedowns. We probably need to challenge those positions a little bit. I think we were just kind of flee the position a little bit more instead of holding our ground and relying on fundamentals. That stuff happens. It’s sports. If it was our guy pinning their guy it would have been more fun, but all good. We’re moving on.”

The Lions’ only other loss came at 133 pounds. No. 5 Aaron Nagao dropped a 13-7 decision to No. 12 Nic Bouzakis.

[Nagao] did some nice things,” Sanderson said. “He’s going to keep getting better. He does everything right. His best matches are going to be when they count the most. We believe that 100 percent. I feel bad for him. But it’s all practice.”

Penn State impressed by Tyler Kasak

Freshman Tyler Kasak all but cemented his role as the starter at 149 pounds by beating Ohio State’s Dylan D’Emillio by decision, 7-1. He burned his redshirt in the process.

“He’s just solid and he’s got some athleticism and tricks as you see,” Sanderson said. “He’s just a pretty good wrestler. He beat a veteran, a tough kid, who was maybe an All-American last year. It was a good win for him today.

“I think he’s really confident and he loves to compete. He likes to be out there. He’s the same. He’s not overly anxious or nervous. That’s one of those things they either have it or don’t.”

Added 141-pound standout Beau Bartlett, who toppled Jesse Mendez 4-1 in sudden victory during the bout of the night, on Kasak:

“He’s pretty good. It’s really cool seeing him wrestle now that Shayne is not wrestling. It’s cool to see him step up and wrestle. Lot of good matches.”