Penn State wrestling climbs out of early hole as Lehigh’s Michael Beard hands Max Dean 2nd loss

Sunday marked the 110th meeting between Penn State and Lehigh on the wrestling mat.

In the most recent 11 meetings, the Nittany Lions came away with wins. It didn’t change on Sunday inside Stabler Arena as Penn State had to rally for a 24-12 win over the Mountain Hawks.

“I think our guys wrestled well. It’s obviously early, so we’re still trying to figure things out,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “In big matches like this, where the crowd is into it and you’re wrestling a quality opponent in every weight, it’s a blessing to kind of see what we need to work on and where we need to go, just like every year. It’s a process. We love Lehigh. Lehigh is a great rival in state. They bring it. The fans show up and their kids are tough.”

There was tons of news coming out of this win, but the biggest news might have been No. 1 Max Dean suffering a second straight loss. It came at the hands of a former Nittany Lion in Michael Beard.

With Penn State leading the dual 19-9, the highly anticipated Dean-Beard bout took place.

Beard quickly got to work by recording a single-leg takedown 25 seconds into the match on Dean. The No. 1 wrestler escaped, and took a 3-2 lead with just under one minute left in the first period with a takedown of his own.

Dean was docked with two quick stall calls and it was 3-3 after one period.

In the second period, Dean had two escapes and a takedown to Beard’s takedown and escape. It was 7-6 Dean heading to the third period.

Beard tied it right away by escaping from the bottom to start. Beard used what he learned in the Nittany Lions’ room against Dean, pushing the pace and tallying two more takedowns in the third period for an 11-9 upset win.

“I’m not worried. Obviously, we love Max,” Sanderson said. “He works his tail off. He’s wrestling, competing and everything. He didn’t have the weekend he wanted but it’s December here.”

Sanderson added on Beard: “We’ve always known Beard is good. I mean, they had a close wrestle-off last year in the room. He was one of ours for a while. I think this (gives) Max an opportunity to kind of reset and work on some little things that that he needs to work on.”

Greg Kerkvliet finished the dual out with an easy 18-0 technical fall of Nathan Taylor in 4:01 of wrestling. Kerkvliet amassed 14 near-fall points in the win, nearly pinning Taylor in the first period.

Penn State earned the win without No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young. Sanderson said after the match that it was RBY’s decision.

However, it came with a price as the Nittany Lions were in a hole after two bouts.

Lehigh’s Carter Bailey used a late first-period takedown hold up in a 3-1 win over Gary Steen at 125 pounds. Karl Shindledecker, who is listed as a 125-pound wrestler, bumped up into the hole with RBY out.

He took on No. 19 Connor McGonagle, and fought well to just a 6-1 loss. Penn State trailed 6-0.

Beau Bartlett finally got the Nittany Lions on the board with an 8-4 win over Malyke Hines at 141. Shayne Van Ness earned a huge win to continue the rally.

Van Ness took on No. 26 Manzona Bryant, who beat Bartlett last season at 149 pounds inside Rec Hall. Bryant tallied the first point with a quick takedown that seemed to wake Van Ness up.

The redshirt freshman escaped, took Bryant down, and on the way down locked up a cradle. Van Ness had plenty of time to tighten it up and decked Bryant in 2:28 to give Penn State a 9-6 lead.

At 157 pounds, Terrell Barraclough took on No. 8 Josh Humphreys. Humphreys only managed a 6-3 win, but never escaped from under Barraclough in the second period. The dual was tied 9-9 at the break.

“Van Ness and (Alex) Facundo did a nice job. Even Shindledecker,” Sanderson said. “He’s a 25 pounder, and got thrown in against a tough guy. He weighed in light and went out (and) fought for us as a team. It was good to see.”

Facundo swung momentum back into the Nittany Lions’ favor out of the break by earning a 6-2 win over two-time NCAA qualifier in Brian Meyer at 165 pounds.

Carter Starocci looked like a man possessed in the third period of his 22-8 major decision over Jake Logan. The two-time NCAA champ rattled off 10 takedowns — seven alone in the third period.

Aaron Brooks made a return to the lineup after sitting out Friday night against Rider. He picked up an 8-3 win over Tate Samuelson before Dean and Beard squared off.

No. 1 Penn State 24, No. 17 Lehigh 12

Sunday at Bethlehem

125: No. 26 Carter Bailey, L, dec. Gary Steen, 3-1

133: No. 19 Connor McGonagle, L, dec. Karl Shindledecker, 6-1

141: No. 9 Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. No. 30 Malyke Hines, 8-4

149: No. 20 Shayne Van Ness, PSU, pinned No. 26 Manzona Bryant IV, 2:28

157: No. 8 Josh Humphreys, L, dec. No. 30 Terrell Barraclough, 6-3

165: No. 17 Alex Facundo, PSU, dec. Brian Meyer, 6-2

174: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU, major dec. Jake Logan, 22-8

184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU, dec. No. 22 Tate Samuelson, 8-3

197: No. 9 Michael Beard, L, dec. No. 1 Max Dean, 11-9

285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, tech. fall No. 22 Nathan Taylor, 18-0 (4:01)

Takedowns: PSU 22, L 12

Records: Penn State (3-0), Lehigh (3-3)

Next match: No. 19 Oregon State at No. 1 Penn State, Dec. 11, 2 p.m.