Wrestling Postview: Penn State Beat Up—But Did Not Pin—The Black Knights of Army West Point

Seeing wrestling fans back in Rec Hall (6,472 of them) was a most welcome sight!

The Black Knights of Army West Point came in fit and tough and, despite giving up quite a few back points, absolutely refused to concede any pins.

The Nittany Lions won 8 out 10 bouts, 5 by Bonus Points. They won the takedown battle 41-4 and secured two Major Decisions, three Technical Falls and zero Pins en route to a 32-7 final score.

125 Baylor Shunk DEC Ryan Chauvin 8-4; PSU 3-0

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

133 Roman Bravo-Young TECH FALL Carone 26-11 6:35; PSU 8-0

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

141 Corey Shie DEC Brandon Meredith 5-2; PSU 8-3

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

149 Beau Bartlett DEC P.J. Ogunsanya 3-1 SV1 8:35; PSU 11-3

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

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157 Markus Hartman MAJ DEC Terrell Barraclough 9-0; PSU 11-7

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

165 Creighton Edsell DEC Christian Hunt 4-3; PSU 14-7

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

174 Carter Starocci TECH FALL Clayton Fielden 23-5 6:56; PSU 19-7

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

184 Aaron Brooks MAJ DEC Brad Laughlin 21-7; PSU 23-7

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

197 Max Dean TECH FALL J.T. Brown 17-1 6:49; PSU 28-7

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

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285 Greg Kerkvliet MAJ DEC Brandon Phillips 14-3; PSU 32-7

Heather Weikel | Black Shoe Diaries

Recap Links

Links to recaps from others on the PSU Wrestling beat:

• GoPSUSports
• The Daily Collegian, Ben Serfass
• Center Daily Times, Lauren Muthler (includes Cael post-meet video)
• State College Dot Com, Will Pegler

Cael

“I think we wrestled fine.

I don’t think we wrestled out of our minds or anything.”

The Takery

In what should come as no surprise, the Army guys are tough! Only Starocci’s and Dean’s opponents gave up any Near Fall points, and they refused to allow themselves to be pinned. It’s somewhat of a comforting sentiment to know these lads will one day be protecting our country.

Next up is a two-week break until an away-home split weekend with Pennsylvania rivals UPenn and Lehigh, on 12/3 & 12/5, respectively.

Echoing Jeff Byers from the broadcast, it was nice to see the local boy from Centre Hall, Baylor Shunk, get a win in his Rec Hall debut. I’d love to be a fly on the wall these next two weeks, to see how he battles with newcomer Drew Hildebrandt, and to see how Cael decides when to unleash whom.

For currently known upcoming opponents, RBY isn’t likely to be tested until January, but during the off week next week, we’ll dig deeper into possible matchups at the holiday duals event in Florida.

Nick Lee looked chipper cheering on his teammates. Hopefully the community guesses that his withholding yesterday was merely precautionary and that we’ll see him as his old relentless self in the Palestra.

Beau Bartlett hasn’t taken many shots from neutral in his three bouts thus far. He rolled up four takedowns against Sacred Heart, but earned zero against Oregon State’s Cory Crooks and only one last night against Ogunsanya. Part of that may be the level of competition in the last two duals, but there also seems to be an emphasis on hand-fighting here early in the season. I wonder if that has been a coaching focus, as Bartlett works to compete at a weight class many consider up one weight from his ideal.

Terrell Barraclough was ill last weekend and may not have looked as fresh as he could last night. Add to that an insane leg ride from Army stud Markus Hartman, and Bear Claw was unable to show us anything more than effort to avoid getting turned and keeping the loss to a mere Major. Byers told us last week that he had beaten Joe Lee in a wrestle-off, so it’ll be interesting to see who Cael sends out at 157 in two weeks.

Creighton Edsell is fun to root for! His big farm boy strenth seems a bit more effective at 165 than maybe it has at 174 in the past, and he’s undefeated. He’s still got improvement to make in neutral, where he’s only earned five takedowns in three bouts so far, but he’s also put up 22 bout points and sent 10 points to the team in total. On the mat, he rides hard and gets out from bottom; what’s not to like?

Newcomer Alex Facundo is still out there competing unattached until the coaches make the call, so we’ll keep an eye on him in upcoming open tourneys.

174 through 285 has looked as fierce on the mat as they did on the preseason paper. Hoo boy, is that ever a fun way to close out duals. It should be make for absolutely must-see viewing in Carver Hawkeye Arena on January 28, when the Lions could very likely be trailing before Carter Starocci takes the mat.