Penn State wrestling tops Iowa: 3 takeaways from the Lions' win over the Hawkeyes
Penn State wrestling earned its second win at the Bryce Jordan Center in as many trips as the No. 1 Nittany Lions knocked out the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes 23-14 in front of a sold-out crowd.
Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team won six of 10 bouts. It earned his 100th Big Ten dual meet victory and the Lions’ 39th consecutive dual meet win.
Here are our takeaways.
Penn State burned Levi Haines’ redshirt
One of the top questions going into Friday night’s dual centered on whether or not Penn State would burn freshman phenom Levi Haines’ redshirt. Sanderson opted to do so. And, it worked out as expected.
With his match against No. 15 Cobe Siebrecht tied at one in the third period, Haines connected on a single leg shot to control the Hawkeye for a 3-1 lead. Siebrecht escaped, but Haines fended him off the rest of the way for a 3-2 victory that fired up the BJC crowd.
While Sanderson and co., were deliberate in deciding whether or not to use up a year of Haines’ eligibility, they made the right call, and he rewarded them for it. The Nittany Lion already ranks in the top 10 nationally at No. 9 and figures to only move up from here as his march toward March and the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments officially begins.
RBY delivered
Penn State sent Marco Vespa to the mat at 125 pounds instead of Gary Steen to face top-ranked Spencer Lee. The Nittany Lion lost by technical fall and only surrendered five team points instead of the six many thought that weight class would via an expected Lee fall. Still, the Nittany Lions needed an answer. And, multi-time NCAA champ Roman Bravo-Young delivered in the next match.
‘RBY’ matched up against longtime friend and former Nittany Lion Brody Teske in the 133-pound bout. He led 6-2 late in the third period and continued his quest for bonus points via an endless pursuit of shots when he caught the Hawkeye on a counter with a cradle and locked up a fall with less than 15 seconds to go. It was both the move of the match and the winning one, even if the margin of victory was more than the six team points he earned.
Penn State has won so many dual meets over the last decade thanks to its biggest stars winning bouts just as Bravo-Young did. It will go down as one of the most memorable victories of his already storied career.
No toss-ups late
Most outside observers saw the last two matches of a meet that started at 125 pounds as tossups. But, Max Dean and Greg Kerkvliet made sure they were decisive winners in both.
In a rematch of last year’s NCAA final at 197 pounds, Dean put exemplary work on display to bring Iowa’s Jacob Warner back to the mat amid a scramble early in the third period before riding him out for a 2-0 triumph that gave the Nittany Lions a 20-14 lead.
The only way Penn State could lose the dual meet at heavyweight was if No. 3 Tony Cassioppi pinned No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet at heavyweight. The Nittany Lion beat the Hawkeye late in 2022 in an exhibition match at the NWCA All-Star Classic, so that was unlikely. Kerkvliet made sure of it, though, by scoring the bout’s only takedown while amassing 2:27 in riding time to secure a 4-1 win and the final margin of victory in the team race.
