No. 1 Penn State shakes off early upset, controversy dominates No. 7 Ohio State 28-9 in dual

Penn State wrestling did what it always does: win. The Nittany Lions beat Big Ten foe Ohio State 28-9 in front of a raucous blue and white crowd Friday night.

Freshman 125 pounder Braeden Davis, who climbed to No. 3 at the weight in the recent rankings, avoided a late takedown by Ohio State backup Vinny Kilkeary. Kilkeary appeared to have a takedown for the upset win and even after review, the officials did not reverse the call.

After that at 133 pounds, Nic Bouzakis upset Aaron Nagao to tie things up for the Buckeyes at 3-3 through two bouts. In a high scoring affair, Bouzakis showed Penn State’s transfer could be beaten with style.

Still, the Nittany Lions recovered and won five in a row to practically wrap up the dual.

“We always see things from our own perspective … the rules are a little bit different now,” head coach Cael Sanderson said of the finish to Davis and Kilkeary’s match. “There’s reaction time. There was one takedown for them and one for us where they let things play out a little bit, and that’s what they’re supposed to do.

“They’re supposed to be patient with the reaction time. Last year, the skin of your finger drags along the mat, and it’s a takedown. I think it’s been a fine rule. You just know you have to really secure that takedown and have control for a little bit of time there.”

It looked like Penn State wouldn’t drop another bout on the night. That was until true freshman Ryder Rogotzke pinned No. 5 Bernie Truax. It was the 12th pin for Rogotzke and he burned his redshirt in the process.

In other words, it was probably worth it for the Buckeyes as Gavin Hoffman, a former All-American, has been shelved with injuries and just a 5-4 record this year. He hasn’t wrestled since January 5th.

“Rogotzke is a pinner, and you could see the whole time he was going to try different things,” Sanderson said. “He got us. I thought Bernie was wrestling really well. Hit a couple nice takedowns. We probably need to challenge those positions a little bit. I think we were just kind of flee the position a little bit more instead of holding our ground and relying on fundamentals. That stuff happens. It’s sports. If it was our guy pinning their guy it would have been more fun, but all good. We’re moving on.”

Penn State 28, Ohio State 9

125 pounds: No. 3 Braeden Davis, PSU d. Vinny Kilkeary, OSU, 4-3 (3-0)
133 pounds: No. 12 Nic Bouzakis, OSU d. No. 5 Aaron Nagao, PSU, 12-7 (3-3)
141 pounds: No. 2 Beau Bartlett, PSU d. No. 3 Jesse Mendez, OSU, 4-1 sv (6-3)
149 pounds: No. 12 Tyler Kasak PSU d. No. 19 Dylan D’Emilio, OSU, 7-1 (9-3)
157 pounds: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU md. Isaac Wilcox, Ohio State, 11-3 (13-3)
165 pounds: No. 7 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU d. No. 20 Bryce Hepner, OSU, 10-4 (16-3)
174 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU d. No. 11 Rocco Welsh, OSU, 4-2 (19-3)
184 pounds: Ryder Rogotzke, OSU pins No. 5 Bernie Truax, PSU, 3:59 (19-9)
197 pounds: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU tf. No. 22 Luke Geog, OSU, 22-6 (6:21) (24-9)
285 pounds: No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU md. No. 12 Nick Feldman, OSU, 12-0 (28-9)