Penn State-Rider wrestling preview: Lions look to finish dual season with perfect mark

The final Penn State wrestling dual meet of the 2021-2022 season is here.

Head coach Cael Sanderson’s Nittany Lions take on Rider today at Rec Hall. The home side is a heavy favorite over the Broncs as it looks to complete a perfect regular season in front of a packed crowd. The Lions hold a 6-0 all-time series lead over The Broncs.

How to watch, follow, Penn State-Rider

Match time is set for 2 p.m. ET in State College. It will not be televised. However, subscription-steaming service BTN+ will carry the action.

Longtime Penn State radio play-by-play announcer Jeff Byers will call the bouts as they unfold from matside. A stream of that can be found, for free, on Lionvision.

The official Penn State wrestling Twitter account, @pennstateWREST, also provides match-by-match updates. Finally, you can join us to discuss the dual as it happens inside the BWI Wrestling Room forum.

The biggest questions for Penn State before the match

There are two. Neither will be seen as a surprise.

The first is a simple one: Who will actually wrestle for the Lions?

Penn State has been without 174-pound defending national champion Carter Starocci of late as he nurses an injury. Brady Berge (more on him below) was out against Ohio State and Nebraska two weekends ago, as well. Then, 197-pound starter Max Dean was absent against the Cornhuskers.

It’s almost postseason tournament time. That means Sanderson and co., are busy crafting a plan for each wrestler to be at his best during the Big Ten tournament and beyond. And, part of the preparation for that could include some starters sitting out Sunday.

“We’ll see when we get to Sunday how many of our guys we wrestle or not,” Sanderson said earlier this week.

“We’ll do what’s in each of their own best interests, and we’ll make that decision probably the day before or a couple of days leading up [to the match]. The goal obviously is to have everybody ready to roll at the Big Ten Tournament and most importantly, at the national tournament.”

Question two focuses on Berge.

The speculation has been rampant and endless about whether or not he’s planning to drop down to 157 pounds for the postseason. He sat out two weekends ago to focus on his weight and conditioning, Sanderson said. That vague response has kept the rumor mill churning. We’ll see where he weighs in at, assuming he’s in the lineup, later today.

The bout of the match will be?

This is usually a pretty easy question to answer. Or, at the very least, there are some options to pick from.

That is not the case in the regular season finale. Rider comes to town with a 4-8 mark on the year. Add in uncertainity about the Penn State lineup and the fact that The Broncs have just one ranked wrestler, and it’s anyone’s guess.

In the spirit of taking a shot (pun intended), we’ll have to go with No. 25 Quinn Kiner (12-5) vs. top-ranked and undefeated Nittany Lion Nick Lee at 141 pounds.

Expected Penn State-Rider starting lineups

Rundown courtesy of Penn State Wrestling, and as always, is subject to change. Penn State wrestlers are in the bold-faced type.

125 pounds: Tyler Klinksy vs. No. 5 Drew Hildebrandt

133 pounds: Richie Koehler vs. No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young

141 pounds: No. 25 Quinn Kiner vs. No. 1 Nick Lee

149 pounds: Cole McComas vs. No. 19 Beau Bartlett

157 pounds: Alex Bobchin vs. Terrell Barraclough OR Tony Negron

165 pounds: Michael Wilson vs. Brady Berge OR Creighton Edsell

174 pounds: Shane Reitsma vs. Mason Manville OR No. 1 Carter Starocci

184 pounds: Evan Vasquez vs. No. 1 Aaron Brooks

197 pounds: Azeem Bell vs. No. 1 Max Dean OR Michael Beard

285 pounds: David Szuba vs. No. 5 Greg Kerkvliet