Five takeaways from Penn State wrestling's weekend sweep
After about two weeks off for the holiday season, Penn State wrestling returned to the mats to start the Big Ten conference part of the dual season this weekend.
The Nittany Lions were able to ease their way back into things, squaring off with perennial bottom dweller Maryland on Friday night, before returning to Rec Hall on Sunday to take on Indiana.
Led by a debuting Drew Hildebrandt, Penn State rolled the Terps to the tune of a 46-0 shutout victory on Friday. The Nittany Lions then waltzed passed the Hoosiers, despite a pair of key absences in the lineup, winning the last five matches of the dual and snaring a 29-11 victory.
Below are five key takeaways from Penn State's successful start the conference run.
1. And just like that, 125 becomes a strength
Perhaps the worst-kept secret in the college wrestling world the last couple months was that returning All-American Drew Hildebrandt would be transferring to Penn State from Central Michigan to complete his final year of eligibility.
That move was made official just last week as Hildebrandt was added to the Nittany Lions' roster. The redshirt senior made his debut on Friday in impressive fashion, picking up a first-period pin of Maryland's Zach Spence. Hildebrandt then made his Rec Hall debut against Indiana's Jacob Moran, picking up a relatively comfortable 6-2 victory.
The challenges will continue to get tougher for HIldebradt as the season progresses, but a weight class that had looked like a black hole for Penn State suddenly appears to be a strength.
2. There's levels to this...
Maryland's Kyle Cochran has had an impressive season for the Terps, most recently taking home the 184-pound championship at the prestigious Southern Scuffle. But on Friday, he learned that there are levels to this sport when he came up against defending national champion Aaron Brooks. Brooks dominated the match from the opening whistle on the way to a 19-7 major decision victory.
Then, on Sunday, Brooks came up against eighth-ranked DJ Washington of Indiana. While Washington picked up the first takedown of the match, the first Brooks has conceded all year, it was all Brooks from that point on. The reigning champ poured it on down the stretch, picking up a 13-4 major decision over an exhausted Washington.
3. The ick is still lingering around the PSU program
The first semester saw a non-COVID related illness roll through the Penn State program, causing a number of different lineup shakeups and some less than stellar performances from those who returned but had yet to regain fitness. While it appeared that phase of the season had passed Penn State, that apparently was not the case as both Roman Bravo-Young and Nick Lee were held out of the Indiana dual due to illness.
4. A healthy Kerkvliet is a dangerous Kerkvliet
The wrestling world knows how good Greg Kerkvliet can be. The former No. 1 overall recruit has a resume as good as anyone at the cadet and junior age levels and was an All-American a year ago. But injuries and illness had been holding him back from reaching his true potential over the course of his first year in Happy Valley.
For now, those appear to be behind him. Kerkvliet is healthy and has already added about 10 pounds from the beginning of the season, weighing in at 237.4 pounds on Sunday against Indiana. A healthy, reinvigorated Kerkvliet showed just how dangerous he could be over the course of the weekend. Albeit against lesser competition, the sophomore rolled to a pair of technical fall victories, posting a total of 38 points over the two matches despite not seeing the third period in either.
5. The Nittany Lions are now the hunted, rather than the hunter
Penn State is back in a familiar position under head coach Cael Sanderson. With the announcement that Iowa's Spencer Lee would be out for the year due to a knee injury and the Hawkeyes looking generally underwhelming, the Nittany Lions assumed the mantle as favorites to win the national championship in March.
It's a spot that Penn State is used to being in, but also one that will be new for most of what is a young lineup. Even those with experience, such as Hildebrandt and Max Dean, came over from other programs. There's no reason to believe Sanderson and his staff won't have Penn State prepared to deal with all that comes with being the favorite, but it will be interesting to see how the squad deals with it over the next three months.
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