Penn State wrestling tops Army 32-7: Match breakdown
Penn State welcomed fans to Rec Hall for the first time this season on Thursday night.
The Nittany Lions rolled to a victory.
Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team took eight of 10 bouts en route to a 32-7 win over Army.
“It’s a great feeling being able to come back out here and compete in front of all these loyal fans,” 184-pound defending national champ Aaron Brooks told the Penn State Sports Network. He won his match over Golden Knight Brad Laughlin 21-7.
‘These fans love us and we love them. Being able to come back out here and put on a show for them, it means a lot to us. Not just from that aspect, but when it comes to our team, allowing these young guys to come on here and wrestle in front of this Rec Hall crowd, and get that experience, and those pre-match nerves in a big crowd; overall, it’s just it’s going to help us a lot.”
Here is our post-match breakdown as Penn State improved to 3-0 on the year.
Bout of the night
As expected, it came at 149 pounds, where Beau Bartlett met Army’s P.J. Ogunsanya. It was a match that pitted No. 27 versus No. 20 in the Intermat rankings, respectively.
A scoreless first period led to a pair of escapes in the two periods that followed. With the score tied at one in a two-minute sudden victory period, Bartlett connected on and finished a single leg takedown to win, 3-1, with about 30 seconds to wrestle.
“I think that’s the thing that makes a champion,” Brooks told PSSN. “That grit, and being able to stick in a match, and get that overtime takedown, that’s something that you got to develop in yourself.
“Those skills are just as important as whatever angles he’s getting off next time to score a little more. It’s really cool to see, and fun, when guys come out and wrestle like that.”
Penn State move of the evening
We will get to Bartlett’s winner below, but with the idea of not doubling up, let’s take a different path here.
At 165 pounds, Creighton Edsell was tied 2-2 with Army’s Christian Hunt after two periods. With roughly a minute left, the Penn State grappler shot in and eventually came around for the match-winning takedown. He gave up an escape and fended off a late shot to win, 4-3.
You can watch the move that led to victory courtesy of the following tweet from Penn State Athletics and BTN+:
Notes to know
–Penn State bumped Brandon Meredith up to 141 because Nick Lee was out due to injury, per longtime radio announcer Jeff Byers. He described the issue as something that wouldn’t be long-term.
–Baylor Shunk picked up an 8-4 win at 125 pounds. It included a fine amount of riding-time work by the Nittany Lion.
–Max Dean dominated No. 21 J.T. Brown at 197 pounds. He won by technical fall, 17-1.
Byers’ call of the match
As promised earlier, and again courtesy of the Penn State Wrestling official Twitter account and BTN+, here is Byers’ call of Bartlett’s winning takedown:
Penn State-Army bout by bout breakdown
Courtesy of Penn State Athletics. Penn State wrestlers in bold-face print.
125: Baylor Shunk dec. Ryan Chauvin, 8-4 (3-0 PSU)
133: Roman Bravo-Young TF Dominic Carone, 26-11 in 6:36 (8-0 PSU)
141: Corey Shie dec. Brandon Meredith, 5-2 (8-3 PSU)
149: Beau Bartlett dec. P.J. Ogunsany, 3-1 (SV) (11-3 PSU)
157: Markus Hartman maj. dec. Terrell Barraclough, 9-0 (11-7 PSU)
165: Creighton Edsell dec. Christian Hunt, 4-3 (14-7 PSU)
174: Carter Starocci TF Clayton Fielden, 23-5 in 6:56 (19-7 PSU)
184: Aaron Brooks maj. dec. #28 Brad Laughlin, 21-7 (23-7 PSU)
197: Max Dean TF J.T. Brown 17-1 in 6:49 (28-7 PSU)
285: Greg Kerkvliet maj. dec. Brandon Phillips, 14-3 (32-7 PSU)
Attendance: 6,472
Records: Penn State (3-0, 0-0 B1G); Army West Point (0-1)
