Penn State wrestling blasts Maryland: Takeaways, a Brady Berge update, more

Penn State wrestling started 2022 the same way it ended 2021: Victorious.

Head coach Cael Sanderson’s Nittany Lions were dominant from start to finish in a 46-0 blowout victory over Maryland in College Park. The Lions won all 10 regular bouts and Terrell Barraclough picked up an exhibition victory at 157 to give Penn State a clean sweep on the road.

“We feel great,” 157-pounder Tony Negron told the Penn State Sports Network. “It was nice to get that win. We’re just a group of guys that really love each other. We work hard. We just feed off our energy.

“Whenever anyone’s out there, we’re always rooting. One guy after another, we have a really good bond.”

Here are our takeaways from the evening.

Hildebandt has a quick Penn State debut

Penn State brought 125-pound two-time All-American Drew Hildebrandt in for the spring semester. He started things off with a bang.

Head coach Cael Sanderson said earlier in the week that it was unclear whether or not the former Central Michigan standout would be cleared to wrestle for the Lions on Friday night. He was, and decked Maryland’s Zach Spence in 1:38. The win by fall was as fast as it was easy.

Check it out in the embedded Twitter clip below from the official Penn State Wrestling account.

Drew Hildebrandt find the half nelson for the pin! #PSUwr pic.twitter.com/uDMYm2hvlU

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) January 8, 2022

Lions’ first five light it up

It’s no secret that the strength of the Penn State lineup comes in the back half of the starting 10. But, the first five had a stellar Friday night.

After Hildebrandt set the tone for what lied ahead, defending NCAA champion Roman Bravo-Young won by technical fall in 3:26. Nick Lee then notched his own at 141 in 4:14, followed by a pin for Beau Bartlett at 149 pounds in 4:48. Negron then sent Penn State into intermission with a 26-0 advantage after beating Maryland’s Lucas Cordio 11-2 for his first dual meet victory at the collegiate level.

“It’s really good,” Negron told the Penn State Sports Network. “It gets the ball rolling. We got a lot of big matches coming up. It’s just experience at this point for me. As I get more matches, I feel more comfortable, more confident, and I just look to build off of it.”

Second half went as expected for Penn State

To the surprise of no one at the Xfinity Center, Penn State cleaned up in the meet’s second half.

Creighton Edsell kicked things off with a decision at 165. Carter Starocci then also won by decision at 174 before Aaron Brooks thoroughly dominated Kyle Cochran en route to a 19-7 major decision at 187.

At 197, Max Dean won by technical fall in six minutes before Greg Kerkvliet closed things out for Penn State at heavyweight with an 18-3 technical fall in 4:42 to secure the 46-0 team win.

Is Berge headed to 165?

Longtime Penn State radio play-by-play announcer Jeff Byers said multiple times during Friday night’s broadcast that Brady Berge could be headed to 165.

The two-time NCAA qualifier announced on Thursday that he was leaving his post as an assistant coach at South Dakota State to return for one final season with the Lions. He stepped away from competition in 2021 due to concussions.

Most assumed that Berge would battle for the starting spot at 157 since it’s been such an up and mostly down spot for the Lions so far. But, while Byers said things would still have to play out, it certainly was suggested that 165 was much more likely for Berge than 157.

As for when he could see the mat, Byers said that could happen a week from this Sunday.

Complete Penn State-Maryland bout results

Rundown courtesy of Penn State Athletics:

#1 Penn State 46, Maryland 0

January 7, 2022 – College Park, Md.

125: Drew Hildebrandt PSU pinned Zach Spence MD, WBF (1:38) 6-0
133: #1 Roman Bravo-Young PSU tech fall King Sandoval MD, 16-1 (TF; 3:26) 11-0
141: #1 Nick Lee PSU tech fall Danny Bertoni MD, 18-1 (TF; 4:14) 16-0
149: #20 Beau Bartlett PSU pinned Michael North MD, WBF (4:48) 22-0
157: Tony Negron PSU maj. dec. Lucas Cordio MD, 11-2 26-0
165: #24 Creighton Edsell PSU dec. Gaven Bell MD, 7-1 29-0
174: #1 Carter Starocci PSU dec. Dominic Solis MD, 8-3 32-0
184: #1 Aaron Brooks PSU maj. dec. Kyle Cochran MD, 19-7 36-0
197: #2 Max Dean PSU tech fall Kevin Makosy MD, 20-5 (TF; 7:00) 41-0
285: #4 Greg Kerkvliet PSU tech fall #26 Zach Schrader MD, 18-3 (TF; 4:42) 46-0

Extra bouts (official NCAA contests, do not count in dual score):
157: Terrell Barraclough (Kaysville, Utah) dec. Conner Decker MD, 6-0

Records: Penn State (9-0, 1-0 B1G); Maryland (4-2, 0-1 B1G)