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By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
UNIVERSITY PARK -- It's not often that a freshman get you the biggest win in one of the biggest dual meets of the season. That not only happened once, but twice for Penn State wrestling on Friday night, in back-to-back bouts.
Freshmen 157-pounder Levi Haines and 165-pounder Alex Facundo both took home wins in sudden victory, lifting the top-ranked Nittany Lions to a huge 30-8 victory over No. 4 Michigan on Friday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Attendance for the night was 15,975, which wasn't quite a sellout, but still made for a raucous crowd at times, especially for Haines and Facundo.
"This was pretty fun to wrestle here," said Facundo, who defeated the Wolverines' fifth-ranked Cameron Amine. "The crowd was pretty electric. I just had to keep my head straight and wrestle my match."
The score was tied at 5-5 after the two 30-second tiebreaker periods in the 165-pound match. Since Facundo had a 14-second advantage in riding time over Amine, Facundo was awarded the extra point to win the match.
Haines, a Pennsylvania kid from Biglerville High School, got the crowd on its feet after beating 10th-ranked Will Lewan, 3-1, in the sudden victory period.
"This has been a really neat experience," said Haines. "I've only ever been to one Bryce Jordan Center match before. It was a unique experience being part of this."
Not a bad night at the office for the Nittany Lions and coach Cael Sanderson, who said Friday's dual with the Wolverines had the potential to be tightly contested.
"These two (Haines and Facundo) got us big wins," said Sanderson. "But it's not all about winning the dual, but it's about getting better and being able to beat the top kids in the country. We're getting better.
"They're both very talented wrestlers. They're consistent, hard workers, coachable. They're both trying to get better, and this is what you get."
The most anticipated bout of the night only put a light damper on the festivities for the Lions as top-ranked heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet fell to Michigan's second-ranked Mason Parris, 3-1. Kerkvliet is now 3-2 for his career against Parris.
The only other win Michigan could muster was to begin the dual at 125 pounds as Jack Medley earned a 19-3 technical fall on PSU's Gary Steen.
Penn State got a pin from Carter Starocci at 174 pounds, and major decisions from Shayne Van Ness (149), Aaron Brooks (184) and Max Dean (197). Along with Haines and Facundo, Penn State also got decisions from Roman Bravo-Young and Beau Bartlett.
Penn State (9-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) will return to Rec Hall on Sunday afternoon for a 1 p.m. dual meet with Michigan State. The Spartans fell at Rutgers, 16-15, on Friday night.
"I think this was a fun change of scenery," Sanderson said. "There's a lot of excitement. It was great all the way around."
125 - Jack Medley (M) tech. fall Gary Steen (PSU), 19-3 5:37. (0-5); 133 - Roman Bravo-Young dec. Dylan Ragusin (M), 4-2. (3-5); 141 - Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec. Cole Mattin (M), 7-2. (6-5); 149 - Shayne Van Ness (PSU) maj. dec. Fidel Mayora (M), 14-4. (10-5); 157 - Levi Haines (PSU) dec. Will Lewan (M), 3-1 SV. (13-5)
165 - Alex Facundo (PSU) dec. Cameron Amine (M), 6-5 SV. (16-5); 174 - Carter Starocci (PSU) pinned Max Maylor (M), 4:15. (22-5); 184 - Aaron Brooks (PSU) maj. dec. Matt Finesilver (M), 14-4. (26-5); 197 - Max Dean (PSU) maj. dec. Brendin Yatooma (M), 10-1. (30-5); 285 - Mason Parris (M) dec. Greg Kervliet (PSU), 3-1. (30-8)
Ridge Reilly Award: Levi Haines
Michigan State at Penn State
When: Sunday
Start: 1 p.m., Rec Hall, State College, Pa.
Records: Michigan State (7-3, 0-3 Big Ten); Penn State (9-0, 2-0 Big Ten)
Internet: Big Ten+; www.gopsusports.com
Notable: The Spartans were also in action on Friday night at Rutgers, finishing the night with a 16-15 loss. The Nittany Lions return to Rec Hall for one match after a 30-8 win over Michigan on Friday night. … Michigan State has six wrestlers ranked by InterMet, but the highest comes at 197 where Cameron Caffey is No. 14 in the nation. … The Spartans are the only team left on the schedule that's unranked in the InterMat rankings, except for Clarion.
Mirror prediction: Penn State, 34-3
Mirror prediction record: 8-0
-- Andy Stine