Another dominant Penn State victory, another puzzlingly close Iowa dual

#1 Penn State Nittany Lions 29, #5 Ohio State 9

Kind of…: I said 23-10, but it ended up 29-9 as. OSU only won two matches, a Malik Heinselman pin at 125 and a Sammy Sasso decision at 149. I had Carson Kharchla winning at 165, but Alex Facundo took a 4-1 decision, which does reinforce my previous claim that PSU is a legit threat to make a run at Iowa’s record of 170 points at nationals. Kaleb Romero held Aaron Brooks to a 3-2 win, but PSU pretty much looked as inevitable as you expected them too. Levi Haines (14-2 over Paddy Gallagher), Greg Kerkvliet (9-0 over Tate Orndorff), and Max Dean (pin of Gavin Hoffman), accounted for PSU’s bonus points.

It’s mid-February, certain rites of late winter can be counted on. Pitchers and catchers will report soon, bracket predictions will ramp up in frequency, and the Voltron that is PSU wrestling will take it’s first movements towards fully assembling.

#12 Okie State 24, #6 Michigan Wolverines 15

Kind of…: Know how you sometimes predict bad things to happen just so it doesn’t feel as disappointing when they do? Well, I predicted an Okie State win, and the pessimism didn’t help at all.

I said 19-13, and it finished 24-15, so clearly I’m too hesitant to call for bonus points. I also said the dual would turn on a Travis Wittlake upset of Matt Finesilver, but Finesilver won 2-0, so I’m not somebody you should listen to. I was right that Jack Medley and Daton Fix would cancel each other out, but the each got pins, rather than MD’s, so that was exciting for Bout at the Ballpark attendees. Chance Lamer didn’t go for Michigan, wrecking my 149 prediction. Will Lewan pulled a minor upset over Kaden Gfeller at 157 (3-2, TB-1, so, ugh), and Cam Amine didn’t go at 165, resulting in a Wyatt Sheets TF, so that’s how I missed four of five weights from 149-184. If Michigan sends out their full starting lineup, they probably win the dual 21-18, but this is college wrestling, and dual victories are far from a priority.

#2 Iowa Hawkeyes 18, #11 Minnesota Gophers 13

Atinat: Don’t let the score mislead you: this wasn’t close. Iowa won the first six matches, then sent out backups in three of the final four. There were two surprises for Iowa in this dual, though. The first was that Spencer Lee, in recording his 50th straight win, failed to secure bonus points for the first time this season. The senior got six points off of a takedown and tilt in the first period, but really slowed down in the latter periods, settling for a 7-1 decision. In fact, no Hawkeyes got bonus points in this dual, which was the first time that’s happened since… ever? It hasn’t happened in the last four seasons, and I don’t really feel like going back further than that. Correct me in the comments if you care.

The second “surprise” was that Jacob Warner wrestled a very uninspired match and gave up a buzzer-beating takedown to Michial Foy to lose 2-1. Warner rode out the second period, Foy rode him until riding was under 1:00, cut him, and then took him down when Warner seemingly stopped wrestling about two seconds before the end of the match. Warner’s a senior, and we’ve seen this schtick for about six years now. I’m tired of it. He went on a great run at NCAAs last year, and he’s a three-time all-American, but there’s nobody I’d like to watch wrestle less than Jacob Warner. I’m sorry, I know it’s a rude thing to say about a student athlete, but it’s true.

On the bright side for the Hawkeyes, Woods looked dominant vs Bergeland, Murin fought all seven minutes to beat Blockhus, and Siebrecht bounced back nicely from his loss against Haines with a 4-0 victory over Brayton Lee.

#23 Rutgers Scarlet Knights 28, #28 Maryland Terrapins 7

Atinat: Jesus, Terps. I mean, what the fuck? Maryland got a major decision from Braxton Brown, who is easily the brightest spot of their lineup, and a decision victory from Ethen Miller. They lost the other seven matches, forfeiting 197. Maryland was short two starters, but that did not make a difference. Pretend it accounted for a 15-point swing, and they would’ve lose 19-13. Do better. Up next, Purdue, and their last chance for a Big Ten dual victory this year. And then Penn State, oof.

In a tangent, Maryland defeated Pitt earlier this season. That same Pitt team, with nearly the exact same lineup, just took #3 Iowa State to the limit, losing on criteria. Why is Maryland so much better against non-B1G teams? Sure, injuries have played a part, and I hope the Terps can get fully healthy by tournament time. But is there a subconsious feeling that Maryland doesn’t deserve to wrestle in the Big Ten, and would rather do battle with their less-capable ACC brothers?

#18 Illinois Fighting Illini 17, #27 Michigan State 16

HWAHSQB: Illinois fucked around, but narrowly avoided finding out against MSU. Jake Harrier pulled off an upset against Peyton Omania to put Illinois up 14-0 and it looked like the Illini were cruising until both Braunagel bros. were upset Caleb Fish and Cameron Caffey, which left Illinois only up 17-13 heading into HWT where Ryan Vasbinder pulled off the win, but only by 1-0 decision to let the Illini escape East Lansing with a narrow victory. Danny Pucino recorded a tech fall and those bonus points proved decisive.

#10 Nebraska Cornhuskers 27, #18 Illinois 19

HWAHSQB: Lots of points here as there were 3 pins, 1 tech fall, 2 majors, and a forfeit. The highlight of the match was #2 Mikey Labriola getting the sudden victory win over #12 Edmond Ruth. Although it was a loss, it showed that Ruth is a real deal All-American candidate if there were any doubters left out there. #16 Silas Allred (great name for about ¹⁄₂ the B1G teams) pinned Zac Braunagel which will be an important win for him come tournament seeding time.

#1 Penn State 35, #22 Indiana Hoosiers 8

HWAHSQB: Indiana opened up with a tech fall by Jacob Moran and a sudden victory win by Henry Porter to go up 8-0. From there, it was all PSU. Carter Starocci avenged his only loss to an active wrestler, beating DJ Washington by 11-3 major decision.

#4 Ohio State 21, #14 Northwestern Wildcats 12

HWAHSQB: Northwestern was so close, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. There were a bunch of tight matches in this dual. OSU won two matches in TB, one in SV, and two more by a one point margin. #3 Sammy Sasso beat #4 Yahya Thomas in TB3 and Paddy Gallagher pulled off the upset over Trevor Chumbley in TB3 as well. Other than the Gallagher upset, things went pretty much to form as the Buckeyes pulled away late via a Lucas Davison fall over Tate Orndorff.

#10 Nebraska Cornhuskers 22, Purdue Boilermakers 12

Atinat: Okay, first of all, I want to apologize for listing this as a Sunday dual. That’s what BTN Plus’s schedule had it as, and even though Wrestlestat listed it for Saturday, I thought, surely the guys actually broadcasting the dual will know when it takes place. Guess not. Anyways, this was a real snoozer, as Nebraska sat both Liam Cronin and Peyton Robb, robbing us (get it?) of the only two matches worth tuning in for. Both Purdue starters got decision victories for their team against backups, combining with a sudden victory win at 149 and an 8-2 victory for heavyweight Hayden Copass to give Purdue four match victories. Nebraska got the other six, including 197 by fall and 184 by major to give them 22 team points and the dual win. Zzz.