No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Penn State wrestling preview, predictions

No. 5 Ohio State (11-1, 5-0) and No. 1 Penn State (11-0, 4-0) square off on the mat Friday in a huge Big Ten wrestling dual meet, so it’s time for a preview and predictions.

The Buckeyes’ lone loss came to Northern Iowa back in December in an upset but since then, they have been locked in. Penn State just knocked off No. 2 Iowa last week but have another challenge with Ohio State.

It seems like the Nittany Lions established themselves as the top dog once again and are favored coming to Columbus. Ohio State dominated Michigan State in its last time on the mat and beat rival Michigan prior to that dual.

Without further ado, let’s preview and predict the matchups between Ohio State and Penn State.

*Team and individual rankings are via InterMat*

Ohio State vs. Penn State matchups, predictions

125: No. 10 Mailk Heinselman (OSU) vs. Gary Steen (PSU): Heinselman by major decision, 4-0 Ohio State

133: No. 9 Jesse Mendez (OSU) vs. No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (PSU), Bravo-Young by decision, 4-3 Ohio State

141: No. 19 Dylan D’Emilio (OSU) vs. No. 5 Beau Bartlett (PSU), Bartlett by decision, 6-4 Penn State

149: No. 3 Sammy Sasso (OSU) vs. No. 13 Shayne Van Ness (PSU), Sasso by decision, 7-6 Ohio State

157: No. 25 Paddy Gallagher (OSU) vs. No. 9 Levi Haines (PSU), Haines by decision, 9-7 Penn State

165: No. 12 Carson Kharchla (OSU) vs. No. 8 Alex Facundo (PSU), Kharchla by decision, 10-9 Ohio State

174: No. 7 Ethan Smith (OSU) vs. No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU), Starocci by decision, 12-9 Penn State

184: No. 5 Kaleb Romero (OSU) vs. No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU), Brooks by major decision, 16-9 Penn State

197: No. 17 Gavin Hoffman (OSU) vs. No. 4 Max Dean (PSU), Dean by decision, 19-9 Penn State

285: No. 18 Tate Orndorff (OSU) vs. No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU), Kerkviliet by major decision, 23-9 Penn State

Penn State wins 23-9

Things look good right off the bat for Ohio State. Heinselman can take advantage of the weakest spot in Penn State’s lineup but run into a national champion at 133. Bravo-Young has the edge over a very impressive Mendez.

Trailing 4-3, the Buckeyes can pull off an upset at 141, but we’ll give the edge to Bartlett. Since he dropped from 149 last year, he’s been on a tear.

Sasso will pick it up afterwards, getting a win over the young, but impressive, Van Ness. Now it goes back and forth in toss up bouts.

There’s a rankings disparity between Gallagher and Haines. Haines defeated Gallagher while both were in redshirt last year.

After Penn State burned his redshirt, Haines looks like a true podium threat at 157. He’ll get the win here.

But Kharchla will pull off a minor upset over Facundo. The latter has been impressive as a redshirt freshman, but the Buckeyes can take the lead back.

But that’s where it ends for Ohio State as Penn State rolls out three defending national champions in a row. By the time the dual gets to heavyweight, the Nittany Lions will have a 19-9 lead.

Kerkvliet will finish off with bonus points as well.

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If Ohio State can get wins at 141 and 157, you hypothetically have a 17-15 final score in favor of Penn State. That means someone might have to pick off a national champion, and that certainly won’t be easy.

We like Penn State’s chances to remain undefeated. The dual begins Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network in Columbus (Ohio).