No. 2 Penn State wrestling (4-0) picked up another win against the University of Pennsylvania Friday night. The Palestra saw over 3,000 fans in the state-rival competition.

Although the Nittany Lions were off to a slow start, the second half of the match saw multiple dominating wins and major decisions, and Penn State managed to grab the win.

How It Happened

The dual opened with a 125-pound match between Penn State’s Baylor Shunk and Penn’s Ryan Miller. Miller took a 2-0 lead with 1:15 left in the first round and kept that lead through the first. Campbell started the second on top, but Miller escaped and earned another point making it 3-0. Miller saw another two points at the conclusion of the second to make his lead 5-0. A takedown saw Shunk fall again and some technical points made it 7-2. Bout one ended with an 8-2 victory for Miller.

The 133-pound match saw Brandon Meredith taking the place of No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young face off against Michael Colaiocco. Colaiocco had a swift takedown, giving him a 2-0 lead in the first. Colaiocco had a quick escape resulting in another point in the 2nd. Another quick move by Colaiocco saw a takedown of Meredith which resulted in a 5-0 lead. Colaiocco finished with a last-second takedown and a major decision win with a score of 10-2

No. 1 Nick Lee came out with the first Penn State takedown of the night against Carmen Ferrante, giving an automatic 2-0 lead to open the bout. An escape soon after gave the Quakers a single point, but another takedown gave Lee a 4-1 lead through the first. Lee saw the third takedown in the second extending the lead to 6-2. Ferrante earned all his points from escapes, but it wasn’t enough and Penn State grabbed its first win of the night 6-3.

That was followed by a match against No. 20 Beau Bartlett and No. 23 Anthony Artalona at 149. It was an intense match from the beginning with an Artalona takedown and a quick escape from Bartlett making the score 2-1 through the first. Some more intense play from both wrestlers made for a 3-2 score by the end of the second. An escape from Artalona made the score tied 3-3, forcing the match into overtime. Beau Bartlett was able to stay strong through three overtimes and take the victory 4-3.

The meet continued with the 157-pound match with Terrell Barraclough and Doug Zapf. Strong defense from both sides kept it scoreless through the first period. Zapf got a quick escape at the top of the second giving him the 1-0 lead. Zapf also scored the one-leg takedown furthering his lead to 3-0. Barraclough got on the board with an escape closing the gap 3-1. Zapf was able to hold on and get the 4-2 win. Penn State trailed 10-6 going into intermission.

The second half opened with the 165-pound match against No. 32 Creighton Edsell and No. 33 Lucas Revano. Edsell had the first takedown of the half giving him a 2-0 lead. Two escapes gave both sides a point taking the score to 3-1. A takedown at the buzzer and an additional riding point tied the score 4-4 and forced the overtime periods. Edsell got the takedown in sudden victory taking the bout 6-4.

Within one point of a team lead, No. 1 Carter Starocci stepped onto the mat against Nick Incontrera for the 174-pound bout. Starocci got three takedowns in the first and Incontrera tried to keep up with two escapes, but could not get within reach throughout the entire bout. Starocci finished with a dominating performance once again taking the major decision win 13-3. This put the Nittany Lions up 13-10 for the first time in the match.

Donnavan Ball was the next bout facing Jesse Martinez in the 184-pound battle. Another dominating performance saw an 11-4 decision with multiple takedowns for Ball. Martinez could not climb back in the last two periods leaving the massive win for Ball.

The 197-pound match gave No. 1 Max Dean and Cole Urbas. The momentum continued to be in Penn State’s favor as Dean came out with a 2-0 lead in the first. His strong offensive performance only escalated as he finished his bout with a 10-0 major decision win.

A forfeit in the 285 heavyweight class ended the match with a 20-16 win for the Nittany Lions.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions are set to take on the Lehigh back home this Sunday at 2 p.m at Rec Hall.