Penn State Wrestling: Lions Top Lehigh in Home Debut

Five wrestlers make their Rec Hall debuts for the Nittany Lions, who juggle the lineup vs. the Mountain Hawks.

Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson said the post-Thanksgiving period historically hasn't been great for his team. But the top-ranked Nittany Lions worked through lineup changes and some close early matches to defeat Lehigh 30-10 on Sunday.

Hosting its first dual of the season before a sellout Rec Hall crowd, Penn State wrestled without top-ranked Aaron Brooks (197 pounds) and second-ranked Shayne Van Ness (149), both of whom will compete at the 2023 Senior Nationals this month. Sanderson said their absences against Lehigh were not related to the upcoming tournament, through which they seek to qualify for next year's U.S. Olympic Team Trials in State College. Rather, Sanderson said he built Sunday's lineup based on availability. Five Penn State wrestlers made their Rec Hall debuts against Lehigh.

"For the most part, our mentality would always be, just wrestle our best team, and we're trying to figure out what that is maybe at a weight or two," Sanderson told reporters after the match at Rec Hall. "But it's, who ready to go and who's available and we'll wrestle our best team. That's pretty simple. We're not trying to really calculate anything. With finals coming up, and coming off a week after Thanksgiving has not been our best time in the past as far as having everybody ready to roll. But we're going to wrestle our best team on that day."

Penn State's best team included three-time NCAA champ Carter Starocci, who rolled to his fourth bonus-point victory of the season. Starocci (174) led 9-2 midway through the first period before pinning Thayne Lawrence in 2:07. Starocci has two pins and a technical fall this season, along with an 11-0 major decision of 2019 NCAA champ Mekhi Lewis.

The liveliest match landed at 133, where third-ranked Aaron Nagao of Penn State wrestled No. 5 Ryan Crookham. The Lehigh wrestler, who already has a win over the defending NCAA champ Vito Arujau of Cornell, converted two third-period takedowns into a 6-4 victory. Sanderson said Nagao benefited from the match.

"Aaron will be fine," Sanderson said. "That's a tricky match against a tough opponent. I'm glad that we were able to get that match now. It gives us an opportunity to get better prepared for that in the future. Aaron is as solid as they come. He'll be perfectly OK."

Top-ranked Levi Haines (157) scored a 12-6 decision over Max Brignola (ranked No. 24), and No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet dominated 11th-ranked Nathan Taylor 11-1 at heavyweight. Penn State also got wins from second-ranked Beau Bartlett (141) and Bernie Truax, who scored a technical fall at 184. 

Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) wrestled a strong bout, scoring a 17-2 technical fall over Jake Logan. Sanderson also praised Tyler Kasak, who wrestled up a weight class at 149 in defeating Lehigh's Drew Munch 7-6.

With Brooks out, former Penn State wrestler Michael Beard scored a 20-6 major over Lucas Cochran at 197. Sanderson also went with Gary Steen at 125 over unbeaten freshman Braeden Davis (7-0). Steen fell to Lehigh's Sheldon Seymour 4-1.

Penn State returns to the mat Dec. 10 against Hofstra at Rec Hall.

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