PISCATAWAY - Anybody who was not among the sell out crowd of 8,057 at Jersey Mike's Arena Friday night for Penn State's 35-3 win over Rutgers in a Big Ten Conference match will take one look at the final score and say Rutgers did not wrestle well.
However, the final score was in no way reflective of the way the Scarlet Knights wrestled.
"Their pace is incredible,'' Rutgers coach Scott Goodale said. "If you don't match it, it can kind of get away from you.''
Penn State (9-0, 3-0), ranked No. 1 in the nation, the three-time defending national champion and the national champion 11 out of the last 13 seasons the NCAA Tournament, does that to teams.
The Nittany Lions have outscored their opponents 389-19. Their starters are a combined 109-5. They make good teams look fairly ordinary.
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"We're a pretty good team. We're a darn good team,'' Goodale said. "We're getting better. We're trending upward. We have got a lot of really good guys in our lineup. They've (Penn State) done that to a lot of good teams. In a lot of spots, they are world class. That's the level we aspire to be at.''
Penn State has won 65 dual meets in a row, dating back to a 19-17 defeat at Iowa on Jan. 31, 2020,.
"They are, obviously, an all-time team,'' Goodale said. "They are in the middle of a dynasty right now.''
Penn State has three returning national champions, two returning national runners-up and two past national third-place finishers. Every one of its wrestlers is ranked in the top seven in the country at their respective weight classes. It is possible Penn State could have all 10 of its wrestlers earn All-American honors March 20-22 in the NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia.
It is an eye-opening experience to see the Nittany Lions up close.
The stats indicate how dominant Penn State was
The Nittany Lions won the final nine bouts.
They recorded four technical falls and had 24 takedowns to Rutgers one. Seven of those takedowns - all in the third period - were by unbeaten redshirt freshman Josh Barr (197). Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) had five takedowns and Shayne Van Ness (149) and four-time national champion Carter Starocci (184) each had four takedowns.
Penn State also had six back points - four by Van Ness and two by Mesenbrink.
The Nittany Lions were also nasty on top. Braeden Davis (133), Tyler Kasak (157) and returning national champion Levi Haines (174) all recorded riding time points. Davis and Barr both rode out their opponents - past NCAA All-Americans Dylan Shawver and John Poznanski - in the second period. Van Ness, Mesenbrink, Starocci also accumulated significant riding time.
"We probably underestimated them a little bit on the mat,'' Goodale said. "They were really good on top. We struggled on the mat.''
An electric atmosphere
The atomosphere was probably similar to what it is like during a Rutgers men's basketball game against a nationally-ranked team. The crowd was the third largest to see a Rutgers wrestling match at Jersey Mike's Arena.
There was anticipation before the match, which happens when the No. 1 ranked team and a team that is as good as this Penn State team is, comes to town.
"It's (the opportunity for fans to see Penn State) is the highest level of our sport,'' Goodale said. "If you're a wrestling fan, you want to see a team like that. It was a great atmosphere.''
While the large majority of the crowd was rooting for Rutgers, there were plenty of fans wearing Penn State apparel in the crowd.
Loud roars were heard whenever a Rutgers did something positive, was close to doing something positive or when the Scarlet Knights' fans though a Penn State wrestler was stalling. The cries for stalling against Penn State 133-pounder Braeden Davis were really loud.
But, there were also loud cheers whenever a Penn State wrestler scored. That was especially the case for Garden State native Shayne Van Ness at 149.
Peterson brings the house down
Rutgers' Dean Peterson (125) nearly blew the roof off the 47-year old building with a late 4-1 win over previously unbeaten freshman and No. 6 Luke Lilledahl.
In a bout where there was little offense until the final flurry, Peterson smartly slowed the pace down while looking like there was a chance he could score. He broke a 1-1 tie with a takedown at the lower center of the mat with 21.9 seconds remaining as the crowd roared and the Rutgers wrestlers and coaches stood up and cheered enthustically.
"I was just trying to keep my pace and stay calm,'' Peterson said. "Obviously, in front of 8.000-9,000 fans, you feel the crowd. You feel the environment. That was awesome. It's so fun to compete in that Jersey atomospher in Jersey Mike's. I feel like that was a big advantage for me. In those last 30 seconds, off the restart, it got me going.''
As the bout ended, Goodale pumped his fist to the crowd.
The win was the 14th in the last 15 bouts for Peterson and made him 2-1 for his career in dual-meet bouts against Penn State wrestlers. He won by technical fall when the teams met in 2023 and sustained a tough 4-1 defeat in sudden victory to eventual Big Ten champion Davis last season.
Shawver loses a tough one.
Davis, who has made the move up to 133 this season, defeated Shawver 2-1 on the riding time point in a matchup of returning Big Ten champions. Shawver won his Big Ten title last season at 133.
Davis, who was the No. 1 seed at 125 in last season's NCAA Tournament was able to ride Shawver out in the second period even though he was called for stalling twic. The second stalling call gave Shawver a point with two seconds left in the period.
An escape with 1:40 left in the third period enabled Davis to tie the bout. Then, in a scramble in the final 30 seconds, which Davis first looked like he was going to be close to a takedown, Davis was able to stave off a reattack by Shawver as the crowd roared and a potentially dangerous call on Shawver resulted in a restart with 3.8 seconds remaining.
A successful homecoming for Van Ness
It was a successful homecorming for Van Ness.
A Someville native and a former Blair Academy star, Van Ness, a sophomore recorded a 17-2 win over freshman Alex Nini
A two-time national prep champion during his days at Blair, Van Ness was third in the NCAA Tournament at 149 in 2023 before he missed most of last season with an injury.
It was the first Big Ten dual-meet bout and second dual-meet bout for Nini, who was the state runner-up at 144 last season and a four-time state placewinner during his scholastic career at Christian Brothers Academy. Nini, who did wrestle aggressively, was taking the place of starter Andrew Clark, who did not weigh in.
Mesenbrink is non stop
Mesenbrink is a non-stop wrestler.
Last season's national runner-up at 165, Mesenbrink recorded his 11th technical fall of the season with the 19-3 win over Anthony Whiite. He also has two pins. Mesenbrink (13-0) has recorded 59 offensive points on the season to his opponents zero after he recorded five takedowns and two back points Friday night.
Mesenbrink was so close to winning the national title last season. He was defeaed 9-8 on the riding time point by Iowa State's two-time national champion David Carr.
A big-time recruit in attendance
Bo Bassett, a standout junior 144-pounder at Bishop McCort Catholic in Johnstown, Pa., was in attendance for the match Friday night as part of his official visit to Rutgers.
Bassett, 2024 Under 20 World bronze medalist at 65 kg and a 2021 Under 17 gold medalist at 65 kg, is ranked the No. 4 overall scholastic wrestler in the country by flowrestling.org.
Rutgers and Penn State are two of the seven finalists for Bassett's services. The othera are Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech.
One of the things that could sway things in Rutgers' favor when it comes to Bassett making his final choice is Scarlet Knights' freshman 133-pounder Mason Gibson was a scholastic teammate of Bassett's. Gibson had originally committed to Penn State before he changed his mind and committed to Rutgers.
Among Rutgers recruits for next season is Bishop McCort Catholic senior 157-pounder Devon Magro
Rutgers has made significant inroads in recruiting highly-recruited wrestlers from Pennsylvania in the last two years. Also, on Rutgers' roster is freshman and starting 157-pounder Conner Harer and highly-regarded freshman 125-pounder Ayden Smith.
Also among Rutgers' recruits for next season is Nazareth (Pa.) senior 141-pounder Tahir Perkins.
Bassett is 107-0 for his scholastic with a PIAA Class AA 139-pound championship in 2024. He did not wrestle in the post-season in 2023. He is 33-0 this season.
Penn State 35, Rutgers 3
125: 19/15 Dean Peterson (R) d. 6/6 Luke Lilledahl 4-1
133: 7/7 Braeden Davis (PSU) d. 9/9 Dylan Shawver 2-1.
141: 3/3 Beau Bartlett (PSU) d. 14/13 Joey Olivieri 7-3
149: 4/3 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) tf. Alex Nini 5:26 (17-2)
157: 3/3 Tyler Kasak (PSU) d. 31/NR Conner Harer 4-0
165: 1/1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) tf. 26/26 Anthony White 6:30 (19-3)
174: 2/2 Levi Haines (PSU) d. 22/23 Jackson Turley 5-2
184: 1/1 Carter Starocci (PSU) tf. 18/19 Shane Cartagena-Walsh 6:57 (17-2)
197: 4/4 Josh Barr (PSU) tf. 16/17 John Poznanski 6:19 (22-6)
HWT: 2/2 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) d. 7/8 Yaraslau Slavikouski 2-0
PRE-MATCH
PISCATAWAY - Everyone in attendance at Jersey Mike's Arena Friday night for the Big Ten Conference wrestling match between Penn State and Rutgers will get an up close opportunity to see what a dynasty looks like.
The match will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network beginning at 8 p.m. A sellout crowd is expected.
No. 1 Penn State - the three-time defending national champion and the national champion 11 of the past 13 seasons the NCAA Tournament has been held - probably has one of the great teams collegiate wrestling has ever seen.
All 10 of the the Nittany Lions' starters are ranked in the top seven in the country in their respective weight class.
Two of them - four-time national champion Carter Starocci (184) and returning national runner-up Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) - are No. 1 in individual rankings.
Levi Haines (174), last year's national champion at 157, and defending heavyweight champion Greg Kerkvliet are ranked No. 2. The only reasons they aren't ranked No. 1 is Haines has a loss in sudden victory to two-time national champion Keegan O'Toole of Missouri and Gable Steveson, the heavyweight champion in 2021 and 2022, returned to Minnesota for his final season of collegate wrestling.
Beau Bartlett (141), the national runner-up last season and a two-time national third-place finisher, Shayne Van Ness (149), a national third-place finisher in 2023, and Tyler Kasak (157), the national third-place finisher at 149 last year, are all ranked No. 3.
The combined record of Penn State's starters is 100-4. Six of them - freshman Lule Lilledahl (125), Bartlett, Kasak, Mesenbrink, Starocci and Kerkvliet - are unbeaten.
The Nittany Lions have outscored opponents 354-16 with four shutouts. They are a bonus point machine.
Can Rutgers be competitive?
Here is an example of how good Penn State is: Sixth-ranked Nebraska is a very good team and wrestled really well last Friday night against the Nittany Lions, and yet, it only won two bouts and was defeated 31-7.
Rutgers (10-3, 2-1), ranked No. 14, is a good team that has wrestled well in its three Big Ten matches. and has a wrestler ranked at nine of the weights with two in the top 10.
But, there is a chance, the Scarlet Knights could get shut out.
Rutgers' best chance to win a bout, if the Nittany Lions field their best lineup, is 133 with returning NCAA seventh-place finisher and defending Big Ten champion Dylan Shawver.
However, Penn State's Braeden Davis is ranked higher and was last year's Big Ten 125-pound champion.
Shawver was the only Scarlet Knight to win a bout in last season's 35-3 defeat to the Nittany Lions at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.
Rutgers will wrestle hard and well. It usually does wrestle well against Penn State, but Penn State is so good, the final score will probably not reflect that.
Lineups
Rankings are from intermatwrestle.com and flowrestling.org
Rutgers wrestlers listed first
125: 19/15 Dean Peterson (14-3) or Ayden Smith (4-4) vs. 6/6 Luke Lilledahl (10-0)
133: 9/9 Dylan Shawver (14-3) vs. 7/7 Braeden Davis (6-2)
141: 14/13 Joey Olivieri (12-3) vs 3/3 Beau Bartlett (11-0)
149: Alex Nini (9-5) vs. 4/3 Shayne Van Ness (10-1)
157: 31/NR Conner Harer (12-5) vs. 3/3 Tyler Kasak (10-0)
165: 26/26 Anthony White (12-5) or Ryan Ford (7-5) vs. 1/1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (12-0)
174: 22/23 Jackson Turley (12-5) vs. 2/2 Levi Haines (10-1)
184: 18/19 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (17-5) vs. 1/1 Carter Starocci (11-0)
197: 16/17 John Poznanski (11-4) or P.J. Casale (7-8) vs. 4/4 Josh Barr (9-0)
HWT: 7/8 Yaraslau Slavikouski (12-3) or John O'Donnell (7-3) vs/ 2/2 Greg Kerkvliet (11-0)
