Here are 3 takeaways from Penn State wrestling’s wins over Penn and Lehigh

It wasn’t pretty, but the Nittany Lions dug deep and were able to grind out two wins this weekend over in-state opponents Penn and Lehigh.

The same flu-like illness that affected Penn State football against Rutgers, as well as other college sports teams, has been making its way through Penn State’s wrestling team for about the past three weeks, head coach Cael Sanderson said, rendering several starters unavailable or not at full health.

“We knew a week ago that this weekend was going to be a challenge,” he said after the Lehigh dual. “But it’s also an opportunity, right, an opportunity for guys to step up who maybe wouldn’t be in the lineup regularly, and just a chance for everybody to step up whether you’re new to the lineup or if you’re somebody that maybe we need bonus points out of.”

And step up the Nittany Lions did. Senior Nick Lee, the defending national champ at 141 pounds, wrestled both of his matches, despite also not feeling 100%, Sanderson said, which ended up being crucial to both team wins. Backup Donovon Ball filled in for NCAA champ Aaron Brooks at 184 and came away with two victories. And Creighton Edsell picked up two important decisions at 165 pounds.

The Nittany Lions will now get what appears to be a much-needed break, and will return to the mat in two weeks when they travel to Niceville, Florida, for the Collegiate Wrestling Duals on Dec. 20-21.

Here are three takeaways from Penn State wrestling’s dual meets with Penn and Lehigh.

Team mentality strong for Penn State

The Penn State coaching staff often preaches, at least publicly, that all that matters in the wrestling season is the NCAA Championships in March.

While winning big dual meets and Big Ten titles are exciting — all the focus is on preparing for NCAAs.

While that might ultimately be true, Penn State’s wrestlers showed this week that winning these two nonconference duals in December did mean something to them as a team, and that they were willing to make some personal sacrifices to do so.

Heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet wasn’t at 100% this weekend. The coaching staff decided that they would only wrestle him against Penn if they needed to in order to win. When Max Dean sealed the win at 197 pounds, Penn State decided to forfeit at heavyweight. Kerkvliet, however, was ready to wrestle if needed, Sanderson said, and was even pushing to wrestle anyway once he wasn’t.

On Sunday night, the coaching staff was ready to roll out 197-pound All-American Michael Beard at heavyweight against Lehigh’s All-American Jordan Wood. But, again, Dean sealed the win and Penn State forfeited. Regardless, Sanderson was proud that his wrestler was willing to step up — despite what would have been a decent size disadvantage.

“We’re glad we didn’t have to do that because Wood’s obviously one of the best heavyweights in the country and he weighed in at 281 (pounds),” Sanderson said. “But I was really happy with Mike. He was ready to go and he was willing to step up, didn’t hesitate at all.”

Lee also didn’t look himself on or off the mat during media availability, despite his assertion that “I feel pretty good.”

The defending national champ “dug deep,” as Sanderson said, for both of his wins this weekend — a 6-3 decision over Penn’s Carmen Ferrante and a 13-6 decision over Lehigh’s Connor McGonagle.

While Lee’s typical dominance wasn’t on display, Sanderson said after both dual meets that if the senior hadn’t wrestled, they’d likely lose the dual meet.

“If we didn’t need him, he wouldn’t have wrestled this week,” Sanderson said. “He’s one of those guys that’s been sick and and, obviously, he’s banged up a little bit and he still chose to go wrestle. So, that’s just a gutsy kind of leader move on his part. If he doesn’t do that, there’s a good chance we don’t win those duals.”

Penn State still looking for answers at 157 (and 125) pounds

With two losses this weekend, the Nittany Lions are now 0-5 at 157 pounds this season.

Three different wrestlers have so far taken the mat at that weight — Joey Blumer, who Sanderson said is more naturally a 141-pounder, Terrell Barraclough and Tony Negron. Joe Lee, Penn State’s 165-pound NCAA qualifier from last season, has yet to compete.

Negron, a junior transfer from North Carolina State, made a memorable Penn State debut in a 5-4 loss to Lehigh’s No. 10 Josh Humphreys. Negron is tall and has a dangerous reach ability, which allowed him to get in on an ankle pick for the first takedown of the bout.

For a moment, it appeared that Negron had won the match. He got a takedown with seven seconds left in the match to go up 6-5, and the Rec Hall crowd erupted in applause. The takedown, however, was waived off after review.

“He looked good,” Sanderson said. “We haven’t really seen him wrestle, with COVID and everything, and he transferred in. I haven’t really seen him wrestle in multiple years, so you just don’t know. But he wrestled a really tough kid and was obviously right there until the end. So, a lot of potential.”

Barraclough and Blumer both wrestled Lehigh backups in extra bouts after the dual. Blumer beat Steven Storm, 5-1, at 149 pounds and Barraclough earned a 7-2 decision over Luca Frinzi at 157.

As of Sunday, it didn’t appear as though a solution has been settled upon for the weight class.

“You guys have seen the same things I have,” Sanderson said. “So, I think we’ve got some work to do. We’re trying to figure that out.”

Penn State also rolled out a new face at 125 pounds on Sunday, Bucknell transfer Jake Campbell. Penns Valley grad Baylor Shunk had gotten the first four starts, going 2-2. Campbell lost an 11-3 major decision to Lehigh’s No. 12 Jaret Lane.

Increased bonus points are a work in progress

Increasing bonus points has been a point of focus for the Nittany Lions this season and offseason.

While it appeared that Penn State was off to a good start in that department, the bonus points have since tapered off. It’s hard to have too fair of an assessment, however, because of the Nittany Lions’ health issues.

Penn State picked up bonus points in five bouts between the two duals: two major decisions from Carter Starocci, a major decision and pin from Dean, and a major decision from Roman Bravo-Young.

There were a couple times this week where Penn State was set to pick up major decisions, but gave them up with seconds remaining.

Ball gave up the major against Penn’s Jesse Martinez, when he got taken down with 35 seconds remaining. Lee also gave up a late takedown on Sunday to lose the major decision. Penn State had a few other costly late takedowns. Edsell got taken down with 10 seconds left to force sudden victory against Penn, and Beau Bartlett suffered his first defeat of the season when Lehigh’s Manzona Bryant got the takedown with 25 seconds left.

“That’s something that falls on the coaching staff,” Sanderson said after the Penn dual. “We need to make sure our short-time defense and offense is stronger. But we’ll work on that.”

Starocci and Dean have been stalwarts for picking up bonus points, going five-for-five in that department, each with two major decisions, two technical falls and a pin. Brooks and Kerkvliet have also been reliable in that area, when they’ve wrestled, with 100% bonus point rates. Bravo-Young has picked up bonus in all but one of his bouts this season.

The addition of Dean has been a major boost for Penn State’s bonus points potential. The Cornell transfer leads the team with eight four-point near falls, and has one two-point near fall. He and Starocci are tied at 24 for the most dual points.

While bonus points from Dean and Starocci and hard-fought wins from guys like Lee, Edsell and Ball were enough for the shorthanded Nittany Lions to defeat two tough nonconference opponents, but the Nittany Lions will need more bonus points from more wrestlers in order to make it through the Big Ten season — especially if some of their lineup questions don’t get answered.