No. 1 Penn State defeats No. 7 Nebraska to clinch Big Ten regular season title

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Nittany Lions (16-0, 8-0) ranked No. 1 in the latest InterMat Tournament Power Index (TPI), downed No. 7 Nebraska (5-4, 2-4) by a 21-13 score to clinch the 2022 Big Ten regular season (dual meet) championship. The dual was wrestled in front of over 6,500 fans in the 60th-straight sellout crowd in Rec Hall (and the 67thof 69 home sellouts, including seven of nine in the near-16,000 seat Bryce Jordan Center).
 
Wrestling without three starters, head coach Cael Sanderson's squad was undaunted and finished off the conference slate with yet another win. The dual victory caps off a perfect run through the Big Ten season and Penn State has claimed its eighth Big Ten regular season title (outright or co-) since 2012.
 
Senior Drew Hildebrandt, ranked No. 6 at 125, got Penn State off to a positive start with a 4-0 win over Jerimiah Reno, including 2:49 in riding time. Senior Roman Bravo-Young, ranked No. 1 at 133, rolled up ten takedowns and 4:02 in riding time to post a 23-8 technical fall at the 7:00 mark over Dominick Serrano. Bravo-Young's win put the Nittany Lions up 8-0. Senior Nick Lee, ranked No. 1 at 141, controlled No. 8 Chad Red Jr. for seven minutes in a 4-1 victory that included 1:20 in riding time.
 
Sophomore Beau Bartlett, ranked No. 18 at 149, lost a tough 6-0 decision to No. 8 Ridge Lovett as the Huskers cut Penn State's dual lead to 11-3. Sophomore Terrell Barraclough took No. 5 Peyton Robb to the limit at 157. Barraclough battled the Husker until the final seconds, nearly scoring a winning takedown as the bout ended. But Robb fought off the Barraclough low double for the final :15 and Barraclough lost a hard-fought 3-2 decision. The Husker win cut Penn State's lead to 11-6 at halftime.
 
With No. 11 Brady Berge out, junior Creighton Edsell once again got the call at 165 and came up with a huge win. Edsell rolled up nearly 3:00 in riding time in a dominant 9-2 win over Tahjae-Jenkins Taylor. Edsell's victory put the Nittany Lions up 14-6.  With No. 1 Carter Starocci not wrestling, Mason Manville got the nod at 174 and lost a tough 14-4 major decision to No. 5 Mike Labriola. Junior Aaron Brooks, ranked No. 1 at 184, dominated No. 9 Taylor Venz in a marquee match-up at 184. Brooks controlled the entire bout, rolling up six takedowns and 2:15 in riding time to post an impressive 14-4 major decision. His win put Penn State up 18-10.
 
With No. 2 Max Dean out, sophomore Michael Beard got the nod at 197 and took on No. 3 Eric Schultz. Beard battled Schultz throughout the bout, appearing to grab a victory with a late takedown. But two stall calls on Beard as Schultz tried to flee the mat, with Beard holding the Husker's leg and trying to pull him in, gave the third-ranked Husker a 6-4 win. Sophomore Greg Kerkvliet, ranked No. 5 at 285, finished off the dual victory by controlling No. 12 Christian Lance for the full seven minutes. Kerkvliet got takedowns in each period to roll to an 8-2 win and secure the 21-13 dual victory.
 
Penn State rolled up a 26-9 takedown advantage, including a 10-2 margin in the third period. The Nittany Lions picked up three bonus points off a tech fall (Bravo-Young) and a major (Brooks).
 
Two extra bouts were contested after the scoring portion of the dual meet. While not counting towards the team score, the bouts are official NCAA contests. Brandon Meredith used a late takedown to beat Edwin Thomsen 7-6 at 133. Donovon Ball won a 197, tallying three takedowns in an 8-2 win over Brandyn Van Tassel.
 
Penn State is now 16-0 overall and finished the Big Ten portion of its dual season at 8-0, claiming the Big Ten regular season (dual meet) title outright. Nebraska falls to 5-4, 2-4. The Nittany Lions will host Rider on Sunday, Feb. 20, in their final dual of the regular season. The action begins at 2 p.m. in Rec Hall.
 
All rankings listed by Penn State wrestling are InterMat individual and team TPI.