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Trio of technical falls help Lions win again

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team rolled over Ohio State 27-13 in a Big Ten road dual on Friday night.

Penn State (13-0, Big Ten 7-0) rode the momentum of three technical falls to the win in Columbus. The dual was wrestled in front of a sellout crowd of 4,232 in Ohio State’s Covelli Center. The Buckeyes fell to 13-3, 5-3 in the Big Ten.

The dual began at 125. True freshman Luke Lilledahl, ranked No. 7 at 125, was leading 6-2 midway through the second period when No. 21 Brendan McCrone connected on a cradle to get the pin at 3:58 and put Ohio State on top 6-0 early. Sophomore Braeden Davis, ranked No. 8 at 133, returned to action and posted a strong 8-5 win over No. 11 Nic Bouzakis, using takedowns in the second and third to grab the victory.

Senior Beau Bartlett, ranked No. 3 at 141, took down No. 1 Jesse Mendez in late in the first period and rode it to a 4-2 win over the Buckeye, tying the dual meet at 6-6. Sophomore Shayne Van Ness, ranked No. 2 at 149, battled No. 7 Dylan D’Emilio for seven minutes and used a last second takedown to break a 1-1 tie and post a 4-2 victory to put Penn State back on top in the dual. With No. 1 Tyler Kasak not competing, true freshman Joe Sealey made his Nittany Lion season debut at 157. He dropped a tough 10-1 bout to Brandon Cannon and the Nittany Lions trailed 10-9 at halftime.

Sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink, ranked No. 1 at 165, zipped through five takedowns in the first period and forced three stalls to roll to a 19-4 technical fall (4:39) over Brock Herman to start the second half. Junior Levi Haines, ranked No. 2 at 174, battled back from a first period deficit, using a takedown midway through the third period to notch a hard fought 6-4 win over No. 5 Carson Kharchla. Haines’ win put the Nittany Lions up 17-10.

Graduate Carter Starocci, ranked No. 1 at 184, dominated No. 19 Ryder Rogotzke, rolling up seven takedowns in a resounding 22-7 tech fall, getting the tech with 2:02 riding time at 7:00. Redshirt freshman Josh Barr, ranked No. 3 at 197, mirrored Starocci’s performance with his own tech fall. Barr had six takedowns, five in the third period, to roll to a 20-5 tech at 7:00 (with 1:24 in riding time). Barr’s win put Penn State up 27-10. With No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet not competing at 285, true freshman Cole Mirasola made his Penn State dual meet debut against No. 9 Nick Feldman. Mirasola battled Feldman tough but dropped a 10-3 decision and Penn State walked away with a strong 27-13 dual meet victory.

The Nittany Lions dominated the dual meet, posting a 25-6 takedown edge while winning seven bouts. Penn State tallied six bonus points off three technical falls (Mesenbrink, Starocci, Barr).

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