Penn State Lineup Starting To Take Shape

Penn State Lineup Starting To Take Shape

Penn State held unofficial wrestle-offs at the Keystone classic, with wrestlers meeting in the semis at 149 and 285 pounds.

Nov 18, 2018 by Wrestling Nomad
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Today at the Keystone Classic, there were two specific matches Penn State fans wanted to see: Brady Berge vs Jarod Verkleeren and Nick Nevills vs Anthony Cassar.

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Today at the Keystone Classic, there were two specific matches Penn State fans wanted to see: Brady Berge vs Jarod Verkleeren and Nick Nevills vs Anthony Cassar.

Keystone Classic Brackets in FloArena

The first happened in the 149lb semis. Berge had to take injury time in the first, looking like he tweaked his knee trying to defend a shot from Verkleeren. The way the match was going, it appeared it would be the difference, as Verkleeren led 2-1 late in the third period, with all points coming from escapes.

But then after going out of bounds with 14 seconds remaining, Berge shot right off a restart. Verkleeren tried to whizzer to fight Berge off his left leg, but the Minnesota native immediately limp armed out. At that point, the ref held up two but quickly waved it off. With 10 seconds left now, Verkleeren tried to dive under to pass a leg. He was held in danger as the match ended, and Berge got the 3-count to get a takedown under the rule implemented last year that a wrestler cannot stay on their back defending a shot.

At this point it went to an official review. Both head coach Cael Sanderson and assistant Casey Cunningham were on the mat during the review. The call on the mat was upheld, so Berge won 3-2. He forfeited to #10 Mitch Finesilver of Duke in the finals. Below were Berge's results on the day.

Brady Berge at Keystone Classic

R32: 20-5 TF (5:34) over Anthony DeMartin, Duke

R16: 18-0 TF (3:43) over Mason Rambarose, Sacred Heart

QF: 13-4 MD over Brock Wilson, Harvard

SF: 3-2 Dec. over Jarod Verkleeren, Penn State


A few matches later, Cassar took on Nevills in the 285lb semis. With 51 seconds remaining in the first, Cassar shot a lefty hi-c, which he eventually turned into a cradle that Nevills quickly fought out of. The score remained 2-1 going into the second, where Cassar took neutral.

Just over a minute into the second, Cassar shot another psuedo lefty hi-c that turned into a blast double right away. The Jersey native would ride Nevills for the remainder of the period.

Nevills took bottom in the third and wasn't able to get out until there were 39 seconds left. The two-time All-American tried one more shot, but Cassar was ready to re-attack and pulled up a single for two. Although Nevills shot a few times in the match, he was never close to scoring. Cassar won 7-2, with three takedowns and 2:46 of riding time, dethroning the #2 heavyweight in the country.

Anthony Cassar at Keystone Classic

QF: Fall (1:20) over Ben Goldin, Penn

SF: 7-2 Dec. over Nick Nevills, Penn State

Final: 11-3 MD over Joey Goodhart, Drexel


That means, for now at least, Brady Berge is clubhouse leader to start for the Nittany Lions at 149, and Anthony Cassar has taken control of the heavyweight spot for PSU.

The last piece of the puzzle is 125lbs. Devin Schnupp got the start against Kent State in the season opener, losing 12-8 to Jake Ferri. Schnupp and Justin Lopez competed today at 125, with both losing in the first round. Lopez beat Mike Simonetti of Franklin & Marshall 7-5 on the back side, and then beat Blair Orr of Penn 3-2. He would finish off his tournament with a 5-3 loss to Drexel true freshman Antonio Minnino.

Schnupp also won two matches in the consolation bracket. He first majored Ryan Burns of Sacred Heart 16-5, then beat Dante Minnino 10-4. His tournament ended with a 10-3 loss to Andy Richard of App State.

True freshman Brody Teske has yet to wrestle this season, leaving open the option that he could still be redshirted.