Match Notes: Penn State vs Rutgers

Match Notes: Penn State vs Rutgers

Live updates from a dual between #2 Penn State and Big Ten opponent Rutgers.

Jan 19, 2020 by JD Rader
Match Notes: Penn State vs Rutgers
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are traveling to State College, Pa. to take on the second ranked/fifth ranked dual team in the country, the Penn State Nittany Lions. Follow along as I provide real-time updates.

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The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are traveling to State College, Pa. to take on the second ranked/fifth ranked dual team in the country, the Penn State Nittany Lions. Follow along as I provide real-time updates.

Projected Lineups

125: #15 Nic Aguilar vs Brandon Meredith

133: #11 Sammy Alvarez vs #4 Roman Bravo-Young

141: JoJo Aragona vs #2 Nick Lee

149: Gerard Angelo or Nick Santos vs Jarod Verkleeren Or Luke Gardner

157: Michael VanBrill vs #7 Brady Berge or Bo Pipher

165: Brett Donner vs #1 Vincenzo Joseph

174: Joseph Grello or Willie Scott vs #1 Mark Hall

184: #25 Billy Janzer vs #9 Aaron Brooks

197: #18 Jordan Pagano vs #23 Shakur Rasheed or Austin Hoopes

285: Alex Esposito vs Seth Nevills

And it appears we will be starting at 125. I thought there might be a chance they started at 141 to save RBY vs Sammy Alvarez for last, but this just means we don't have to wait to see it!

And here we go, WBB ends just in time! Penn State going with the always aesthetically pleasing white out.

125

A battle of redshirt freshman 

1st: 30 seconds into still not a whole lot happening. Meredith now comes out and gets in on a shot and he's going to score the opening takedown about a minute in. Aguilar quickly to his feet and escapes. Now Aguilar gets in on a low level attack on the edge, Meredith scrambles for a second, but Aguilar will secure the takedown. Meredith hits a shifty hip heist and is able to escape before going out of bounds and only being rode for a couple of seconds. 30 seconds to go and Aguilar gets another takedown right before the end of the period. Takedowns at the end of periods are so big. 5-3 Aguilar.

2nd: Aguilar chooses to go down. Gramby from Aguilar and he'll get the reversal. Aguilar riding tough now, and with about 30 seconds left in the period he hits the minute riding time mark. Meredith able to get to his feet only once as Aguilar finishes the period on top. 7-3 Aguilar.

3rd: Meredith goes down. Meredith to his feet and this time is able to escape. 20 seconds into the third.Aguilar shoots a double, Meredith drapes over top, they get into a scramble, Meredith leg passes, Aguilar loses the leg for a second, but does secure the takedown with 30 seconds left. And he will ride out for the 10-4 win.

Rutgers: 3 PSU: 0

133

Here we go! RBY vs Sammy Alvarez

1st: RBY fires off a double at the 45 second mark, but isn't able to get past the head hands defense of Sammy. RBY tries an underhook throw by to a shot, but it's defended. Now Sammy shoots his first shot with 30 seconds left, but RBY downblocks. And that will be the last shot of the period. 0-0.

2nd: Sammy goes down. Immediately gets to his feet, RBY returns. Sammy right back up and escapes. Alvarez shoots a low single, RBY drapes over top and grabs feet, now RBY leg passes, Alvarez stands up, and the ref will stop it for potentially dangerous. 1 minutes left. RBY in on a single, Alvarez whizzers, Alvarez goes cut back, and they go out of bounds. That was a crazy good scramble! Both guys did a good job of wrestling through the position. And the end the period on their feet. 1-0 Alvarez.

3rd: RBY goes down. RBY stand up and escapes 15 seconds in. RBY shoots a double and comes up to a body lock, now drops back down on to the legs, Alvarez grabs an ankle and passes, and is holding on, RBY trying to put him in danger, but the period ends. Another crazy good and really long scramble. THe PSU crowd wanted a takedown call, but it wasn't there, and now we get some extra wrestling! 1-1.

SV: Not much action. Alvarez did fire off a half shot and RBY came slightly close to scoring on a go behind, but that's it.

TB: RBY was riding really tough, dropped down to an ankle and had a really hard return, but Alvarez did a great job of standing up and getting out with five seconds left. Now RBY goes down. RBY gets to his feet and escapes about halfway through. RBY in on a single leg, but time expires. More free wrestling! 2-2 with 11 seconds of riding time in favor of RBY.

SV2: Not much happening for the first 45 seconds, but now RBY fakes a shot, Alvarez shoots a shot but gets extended as RBY jumps over him and scores. Oh my goodness that was so quick and clean! Now RBY beach ball flexes for the Rec Hall crowd! That was a really good match. Despite losing, I'm still really impressed with Alvarez's ability to scramble. 

Rutgers 3 PSU 3

141

#2 Nick Lee vs JoJo

1st: NIck Lee with a high crotch attempt at the 30 second mark, but JoJo with an impressive cartwheel defense. Snap down and a go behind takedown for Lee one minute in. Good job by Lee sticking with the go behind attempt. NIck Lee really riding hard with a right side arm bar. Aragona spending a lot of time on his belly. Now Lee chooses to let go Aragona out with 1 minute left and 30 seconds later he gets a really nice outside single/dump. And keeps Aragona on his belly for the rest of the period, 4-1 Lee.

2nd: Aragona goes down. Aragona to his feet 15 seconds in, escapes and right away Lee takes him back down, and immediately cuts him. JoJo shoots, but Lee scores in a go behind. 1 minute to go in the period and Lee extends his lead to 5. Lee now riding tough, working arm arm bars and wrists, butchers, and tilts, but not able to score any back points. 8-3 Lee.

3rd: Lee chooses down. Lee to his right right away, Aragona returns, but Lee sits out and escapes, and immediately jumps front head and goes behind for the takedown, cuts Aragona and takes him back down. He's scoring faster than I can type! Now Lee uses a bar arm and cross face to turn Aragona. And that's how it will end, Aragona spent the last 45 seconds on his belly after being turned, the PSU crowd was calling for stalling, but it will end 19-4 with riding time in favor of Nick Lee

PSU 8 Rutgers 3

149

Verkleeren gets the nod for the Nittany Lions

1st: Verkleeren in on a right sided single and gets the quick finish for two 25 seconds in. Santos to his feet right away and escapes. Now 2 minutes in and Verkleeren goes super duck for the takedown and a thank you to ESPN for showing an immediate replay! Santos escapes with 30 seconds left and gets in on a right sided single of his own, but Verkleeren is able grab ankles and hold on to avoid being taken down as time expires. 4-2 Verkleeren.

2nd: Verkleeren goes down. He stand up right away and escapes. Not much happening now. A whole lotta forehead to forehead and leaning. 5-2 Verkleeren

3rd: Santos goes down. Santos stands up and escapes right away. David Taylor on the mic notes how escapes can really keep a wrestler in a match and how this match is a good example and I have to agree. Verkleeren leads takedown battle 2-0 but it's still 5-3. Santos not being super active, but now picks up the pace with 30 seconds left, and with 8 seconds left Verkleeren picks up a go behind takedown and will win 7-3.

PSU 11 Rutgers 3

157

Bo Pipher will go for Penn State, and they show PSU head football coach James Franklin, but he's not wearing white. Not very good school spirit imo.

1st: 2 minutes in and no score yet. Not a real commitment to an attack yet from either guy. Van Brill spending some time in a three point stance. Now Pipher gets in on a single leg, but Van Brill scrambles and gets in on a leg of his own, but the position is stalemated. 0-0

2nd: Van Brill goes down. Pipher riding by hooking the right ankle of Van Brill with his left leg and putting weight on Van Brill's right arm with his right leg. Really good ride. 30 seconds to go and Pipher still on top riding tough. And he will get the ride out, so still 0-0 but Pipher with two minutes of riding time.

3rd: Pipher goes down. Pipher goes quad pod off of the whistle. Van Brill hits a merkle and it looks like to me Pipher is on his back, but the ref isn't counting. Now Rutgers is challenging. Pipher was right at/around 90 degrees for a couple seconds. If they don't award any backs, that was a great job by Pipher to avoid exposing. And ESPN interestingly interviews Rutgers head coach Goodale while the review is going on. And officials say call stands, no backs. 1:15 to go, Van Brill on top. Pipher goes back to quad pod position, but Van Brill doing a good job of keeping weight on Pipher's hands. And Van Brill will get the rideout, so we'll see the elusive 0-0 OT match!

SV: A couple half shots from Van Brill, and just as David Taylor says it looks like each guy is content going into the rideouts, Pipher gets in deep on a shot, but time expires. 

TBs: Pipher goes down first and Van Brill goes right back to his inside ankle hook ride and gets the rideout. Now Van Brill goes down and right off the whistle sits out and scores the escape! Pipher frantically firing off shots, but can get past the head hands defense of Van Brill and he'll win 1-0. Now he pounds his chest as boos reign down upon him.

PSU 11 Rutgers 6

And now we have hit ye old intermission, so here's the RBY OT takedown for your viewing pleasure.


165

And we're back! Vincenzo walking out to Rush, paying respect to Neil Peart. Respect.

1st: Cenzo with the early takedown basically off the whistle and cuts Donner at the 1 minutes mark. He quickly gets back in on Donner's legs and scores another takedown, and we've got blood time coming from Donner. And Cenzo will elect to go neutral upon the restart. Donner shoots a single, but Cenzo goes front head and gets the go behind takedown. Now Cenzo choosing to ride and the period will end 6-2 Cenzo.

2nd: And Donner is now going with the Jon Read wrap to stop the bleeding on his chin. Cenzo goes down, stand up and escapes right away. Now Cenzo firing off a flurry of shots and gets to a high crotch for the takedown. Now as Cenzo hits two minutes of riding time, Donner is hit for stalling much to delight of the Rec Hall crowd. And with 6 seconds to go, Donner is hit with stalling again, so it will be 10-2 going into the 3rd.

3rd: Donner goes neutral, shoots 15 seconds in, but Cenzo goes behind for the takedown. Donner escapes and Cenzo is keeping up the pace. He gets to a double leg with a minute to go and now locks up a cradle and gets the pin with 45 seconds left in the match!

PSU 17 Rutgers 6

174

Now #1 Mark Hall vs Joseph Grello. Mark hall going with the all white look: headgear, singlet, shoes, and socks.

1st: Mark Hall with a nice slide by takedown 45 seconds in. Mark Hall trapping the near side ankle of Grello, a ride that several guys have been using in this dual. Grello gets to his feet at 1:30 but Hall switches to a double leg for the return. Now Hall slipping in legs, Grello to his feet again, but they go out of bounds. 33 seconds left in the period. Now Grello is able to escape off of the restart with 22 seconds left, but Hall shoots and scores with 11 seconds left. 4-1 Hall.

2nd: Hall chooses down. Hall to his feet, Grello tries to return, but Hall sort of switches/kind of ended up on top and picks up the reversal. And with 3 seconds left in the period, Grello gets to his feet and doesn't escape, but does get a stalling called on Hall. 6-2 Hall with 3:08 of riding time.

3rd: Grello chooses neutral. Hall goes super duck and is close to scoring, but Grello is able to circle back in front and keep it 6-2. 1 minute to go, still no score. Hall has fired off a couple shots. Hall gets to a leg, but it's stopped as Grello sits the position because Grello screams in pain. He's holding the back of his left knee. And Grello is going to injury default with 22 seconds left. 

PSU 23 Rutgers 6

184

#9 Aaron Brooks vs #25 Billy Janzer

1st: 1 minute in and no score. A lot of good hand fighting. Janzer trying to dig left side underhook. With 3 seconds left in the period, Brooks fired off a half shot and then came into a super clean duck under to pick up the takedown. 2-0 Brooks.

2nd: Brooks chooses down. Stands up and escapes quickly. Now with 40 seconds left in the period, Brooks gets to a single leg right as Janzer is called for stalling. And immediately locks up a cradle and gets the pin! Just like that!

PSU 29 Rutgers 6 

197

#23 Shakur Rasheed vs #18 Jordan Pagano and the commentator, Mike Couzens, notes that not only did Pagano start his career at Penn State, he and Rasheed were even roomates

1st: Shakur gets a high crotch cleanly and scores 15 seconds into the match. Shakur riding tough with that same near ankle trap ride. He's got 2 minutes of riding time with 45 seconds to go. And the period will end with Shakur up 2-0 with almost 3 minutes of riding time. 

2nd: Shakur chooses bottom. Shakur to his feet off of the whistle, but good mat return from Pagano. Shakur to his feet off a restart, Pagano returns, Shakur goes switch, but Pagano follows and drives him out of bounds. Shakur once agin to his feet off of the restart and Pagano is called for stalling as they go out of bounds, and that is the second stall (I missed the first), so now Shakur up 3-0. And off of another restart, Shakur goes switch and gets the reversal with 45 seconds left in the period. 5-0 Shakur.

3rd: Pagano chooses neutral. One minute in, Pagano has fired off two decent shots, but Shakur able to fend them off. Now Pagano gets extended on a shot attempt and Shakur gets extremely close to getting the go behind, but no call and they go out of bounds. Now Cael is challenging. Call stands, no takedown. And that's how the match ends. 6-0 Shakur with riding time.

PSU 32 Rutgers 6

285

Seth Nevills walks out to Power by Kanye West to take on Alex Esposito.

1st: Esposito shoots off of the whistle, but Nevills sprawls and now they're scrambling. Esposito leg passes, but Nevills comes up and secures the takedown and picks up two back points in the process. Nevills slips his right leg in and hips over Esposito to pick up four back points, now he switches off to a butcher and he will get the fall two minutes and 26 seconds into the match!

FINAL PSU 38 Rutgers 6

Well, that will do it for me. A good Penn State team puts a beating on a young Rutgers team. Thanks for tuning in friends and wrestling fans!