The Penn State Nittany Lions were unfazed by Carver-Hawkeye Arena. They weren’t bothered by Iowa’s win streak, and they didn’t care that the defending champions had most of their stars back again this year.
Behind tough, gritty wins from Drew Hildebrandt, Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks and Max Dean, the Nittany Lions prevailed over the Hawkeyes 19-13 in a hostile environment to hold on to their No. 1 ranking.
TRACKING 125: The top NCAA wrestling contenders in the lightest weight class
Hildebrandt was the only Nittany Lion to score bonus, as he beat Jesse Ybarra 9-0 to kick off the dual and send some early momentum Penn State’s way, but NCAA champions Nick Lee and Carter Starocci also made headlines by earning overtime wins against their No. 2 ranked opponents.
Iowa won all of the matches they were predicted to win on paper as well as heavyweight, and the Hawks kept themselves in the team race though the first nine bouts by holding Penn State to just one bonus point win. Max Murin worked for a hard-fought decision against Beau Bartlett at 149 pounds to put Iowa on the board first, and his teammates Kaleb Young and Alex Marinelli both followed with victories of their own — Marinelli’s win came by major too in a notable rebound victory after last weekend’s loss to Carson Kharchla of Ohio State. Iowa heavyweight Tony Cassioppi also gave the Black and Gold something to cheer about at the end of the intense night, as he beat No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet 7-2 with strong takedowns and fearless wrestling.
NO. 1 LIONS: No. 1 Penn State dominates No. 3 Michigan 29-6
Iowa and Penn State will see each other again at the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA championships, but, as it stands now, the Nittany Lions remain No. 1, and head coach Cael Sanderson’s squad is on top again.
Full weight-by-weight results
| WEIGHT | NO. 1 PENN STAE | NO. 2 IOWA | RESULT | TEAM SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | No. 7 Drew Hildebrandt | Jesse Ybarra | HILDEBRANDT 9-0 | PSU 4-0 |
| 133 | No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young | No. 3 Austin DeSanto | BRAVO-YOUNG 3-2 | PSU 7-0 |
| 141 | No. 1 Nick Lee | No. 2 Jaydin Eierman | LEE 6-4 | PSU 10-0 |
| 149 | No. 19 Beau Bartlett | No. 10 Max Murin | MURIN 4-1 | PSU 10-3 |
| 157 | Tony Negron OR Terrell Barraclough |
No. 12 Kaleb Young | YOUNG 2-0 | PSU 10-6 |
| 165 | No. 11 Brady Berge | No. 5 Alex Marinelli | MARINELLI 10-2 | PSU/IOWA 10-10 |
| 174 | No. 1 Carter Starocci | No. 2 Michael Kemerer | STAROCCI 2-1 | PSU 13-10 |
| 184 | No. 1 Aaron Brooks | No. 17 Abe Assad | BROOKS 8-3 | PSU 16-10 |
| 197 | No. 2 Max Dean |
No. 4 Jacob Warner |
DEAN 8-3 | PSU 19-10 |
| 285 | No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet | No. 5 Tony Cassioppi | CASSIOPPI 7-2 | PSU 19-13 |