P.J. Duke

UNIVERSITY PARK — In a match tabbed by many as the Dual Meet of the Year, a combination of Ohio State injuries and Penn State excellence conspired to rob the record Bryce Jordan Crowd of much of the drama it had anticipated.

Nonetheless, a Penn State and NCAA indoor record crowd of 16,006 exulted as the Nittany Lions (14-0, 8-0) won nine of 10 bouts to blast the Buckeyes (17-1, 6-1) 36-5 on Friday night. It was the fewest points Ohio State has scored in a dual meet since the 2010-11 season.

Penn State clinched the Big Ten dual meet championship for the sixth straight year, 12th all time, and extended its NCAA-best winning streak to 85. The Nittany Lions last lost a dual meet, Big Ten or otherwise, on Jan. 31, 2020.

Penn State recorded five bonus-point wins in compiling a 25-5 edge in takedowns. P.J. Duke (157) recorded a fall and Shayne Van Ness (149) and Levi Haines (174) rolled up technical falls. Rocco Welsh (184) won by decision in regulation and Luke Lilledahl (125), Marcus Blaze (133) and Cole Mirasola (285) had to gut out decisions in overtime.

Once again, Penn State faced a team with holes in its starting lineup. The Buckeyes were missing No. 6 149-pounder Ethan Stiles, No. 1 157-pounder Brandon Cannon and No. 5 174-pounder Carson Kharchla.

Despite that, Ohio State coach Tom Ryan didn’t offer excuses.

“They’re young, they’re tough, big crowd, 16,000 people, it pulls you through a little bit, you know? And those in those tough matches, being at home helps. We just didn’t get it done where we needed to,” he said.

“It was the toughest team we faced, and that was the least potent lineup we put out there. But despite that, despite that, each man had a chance.”

In a dual meet that featured seven of nation’s top-ranked wrestlers at their respective weights, those omissions sapped some of the competitiveness out of the match. Penn State now leads the all-time series 28-12 and has won the last 11 duals between the two rivals.

“Tom Ryan is an incredible coach. Always has a great team. They always come to compete. They do everything right,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said.

“We have a ton of respect for them as a program and what they do. And even coming into this match, you’re thinking, ‘all right, hey, this is just Round 1. You know, we’re going to see them in a couple weeks (at the Big Ten tournament) and then again a couple weeks after that (at NCAAs).”

On this night, Penn State won three matches that went to overtime, two of them when Nittany Lions faced higher ranked foes. Two of them started the dual and had the packed house in a frenzy.

Lilledahl ignited the crowd at 125 as he notched a 4-1 sudden victory win over No. 2 Nic Bouzakis. The two swapped escapes in regulation, mostly trading hand fighting and head snaps. Lilledahl appeared to hit a double for the winning takedown at the end of regulation, but it was after the buzzer. But 39 seconds into the sudden victory period, the Nittany Lion hit a single and eventually converted it into the winning takedown.

Again at 133, regulation ended tied at 1-1 between Penn State’s No. 4 Marcus Blaze and No. 2 Ben Davino. No one could score in the sudden victory period and the match went to tiebreakers. Davino won the flip and chose bottom to start the first tiebreaker. He escaped in nine seconds to take a 2-1 lead. Blaze started on bottom in the second tiebreaker and Davino rode him past the nine seconds Blaze had established. Blaze, though grabbed a leg from bottom and eventually stepped over and behind Davino for a reversal and rode him the rest of the way for the 3-2 win. As the crowd roared Blaze pounded his chest and pointed to the Penn State corner.

“Over time. they just trust their conditioning in a big one. They’re training and just having great training partners all the time? But really, it just comes down to in a lot of those types of situations, it’s just, I don’t know, you’ve got to find a way,” Sanderson said of Lilledahl and Blaze.

Ohio State got on the board at 141 as top-ranked Jesse Mendez, the two-time NCAA champ, overwhelmed No. 12 Braeden Davis in an 18-2 technical fall in 5:49.

Penn State got those points back at 149 as No. 1 Shayne Van Ness scored six decisive takedowns on Brogan Fielding in a 20-5 technical fall in 6:17 to give the Nittany Lions an 11-5 lead.

Fourth-ranked Duke padded Penn State’s lead to 17-5 at 157. He scored five takedowns on Daxton Chase to open a 15-4 lead after one. In the second, he chose neutral and hooked up an assassin, or reverse headlock, took Chase to his back and pinned him in 3:28.

Coming out of the break, it was all downhill for Penn State as the Nittany Lions would trot out four of its No. 1 wrestlers, from 165 through 197.

At 165, top-ranked Mesenbrink continued his run of bonus point wins in a 12-2 major decision over No. 16 Paddy Gallagher. Mesenbrink scored a takedown in each period in a match slowed by Gallagher’s positioning and defense.

Facing Buckeye backup T.J. Schierl, Haines was once again dominant. Two takedowns and a two-point nearfall gave him an 8-1 lead after one. In the second, he escaped, notched a takedown and then turned Schierl for four more for a 16-1 technical fall in 4:16.

At 184, Welsh, the former Buckeye, reignited the crowd again with a rousing comeback win over No. 8 Dylan Fishback.

Fishback took Welsh down and rode him the rest of the way to lead 3-0 after one. The Buckeye added a second-period escape to lead 4-0 heading into the third. Welsh converted a single to tie the match at 4-4 but Fishback had riding time so Welsh had to cut him loose. Fishback defended and Welsh couldn’t find an opening until the waning seconds when Welsh initiated a flurry and spun around for a takedown on the edge of the mat and held Fishback for the remaining 14 seconds for a 7-6 decision that had the crowd roaring once again.

At 197, Barr was in control throughout, scoring a takedown in each period in a dominating 11-2 major decision.

That set up yet another battle of ranked wrestlers as No. 12 Mirasola faced No. 3 Nick Feldman. Like the 125 and 133 bouts, this one went to the sudden victory period tied at 1-1. Each of them had just missed takedowns in regulation. But 14 seconds into the extra period, Mirasola converted a takedown for a 4-1 win.

“I felt like I was wearing on him the whole time,” Mirasola said. “I knew when I got to overtime I had him. I looked in his face and he was done. I knew it. When he shot, it was an easy reattack.”

Mirasola has faced a series of higher ranked wrestlers and has lost some tough decisions. But he and Sanderson both thought he was ready for a breakthrough.

“He just wrestled hard, smart. Obviously, he gets one of the best heavyweights in the country over the last, even multiple years, so hopefully it’s a big confidence boost for him,” Sanderson said.

“He’s been right there. And just the way he wrestles and his ability to win scrambles and attack legs as a big guy just show that he has a ton of potential. And he’s just starting to figure that out too, because he’s just going to keep getting better and better.”

Penn State wraps up its dual season at 7 p.m. Friday when Princeton visits Rec Hall.

125–Lilledahl, PSU, dec. Bouzakis, 4-1 SV. 133–Blaze, PSU, dec. Davino, 3-2 TB2. 141–Mendez, OSU, won by tech. fall over Davis, 18-2 5:49. 149–Van Ness, PSU, won by tech. fall over Fielding, 20-5 (6:17). 157–Duke, PSU, pinned Chase, 3:28.

165–Mesenbrink, PSU, maj. dec. Gallagher, 12-2. 174–Haines, PSU, won by tech. fall over Schierl, 16-1 (4:16). 184–Welsh, PSU, dec. Fishback, 7-6. 197–Barr, PSU, maj. dec. Geog, 11-2. 285–Mirasola, PSU, dec. Feldman, OSU, 4-1.

Referee: Nick Grasso. Attendance: 16,006. Takedowns: Ohio State 5; Penn State 25. Records: Ohio State (17-1, 6-1); Penn State (14-0, 8-0).