Penn State wrestling regular season superlatives: Most dominant, best move, biggest change, and more

Penn State wrestling heads to the Big Ten tournament this weekend in Lincoln, Neb.

We’re passing the time between now and then with one final look back at the regular season.

Plenty has happened since head coach Cael Sanderson’s team opened the 2021-2022 dual meet season by beating Sacred Heart and Oregon State in the Journeymen Duals. Below, we pick out our favorite superlatives and invite you to make your own choices and join the discussion inside The Wrestling Room forum.

Who was the most dominant Penn State regular season wrestler?

It feels safe to say that data versus the eye test will draw plenty of possible conclusions here.

Carter Starocci (65), the Lions’ starting 174-pounder, just beat out heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet (64) and 197-pounder Max Dean (63) for most dual meet points scored.

Kerkvliet had the most dual bonus points for Penn State with 22.

Defending NCAA champion Roman Bravo-Young at 133 had by far the most regular season takedowns at 81.

Fellow former champ Nick Lee led Penn State with 17 forced stalling calls. The 141-pound senior also had the most two-point nearfalls and reversals for the 17-0 Nittany Lions.

Then, there is the Hodge Trophy watch list. WrestleStat uses “a custom formula driven by 4 factors, 1) wrestler rating 2) dual strength 3) opponent strength 4) win percentage” to come up with its early look at who the nation’s best wrestler will be. It currently, and unsurprisingly, favors Gable Steveson, the Minnesota star heavyweight. The highest-rated Nittany Lion is Nick Lee at No. 6 followed by 184-pounder Aaron Brooks at No. 8.

The pick is Lee. And yes, we realize any of the wrestlers mentioned above could have been the selection. More bonus points might have been preferable, of course. But, the way he wrestled from start to finish is why we give him the nod in a very close race.

What was the best move of the regular season?

Two come to mind immediately.

One is Roman Bravo-Young jumping over Army’s Dominic Carone for a takedown that netted the Penn State wrestler a technical fall.

RBY doing RBY things. He gets the Tech Fall. #PSUwr pic.twitter.com/GqR3CPZkl5

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) November 19, 2021

The second was Max Dean’s bow and arrow to lock up a win over Iowa’s Jacob Warner. It also cemented a major road dual meet win for Penn State over the Hawkeyes.

One more look at this Bow and Arrow move #psuwr
🏹🏹 pic.twitter.com/ztvA24wkQO

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) January 29, 2022

The pick is Dean, just because of what it meant for him and in the match. But, it’s difficult to pick against that RBY move.

The biggest Penn State wrestling regular season change was?

Let’s face it: There are really own two choices here.

It’s either two-time All-American Drew Hildebrandt joining Penn State at 125 or Brady Berge returning to first wrestle at 165 and late 157 for the postseason.

Both wrestlers joined the Lions at the start of the 2022 portion of the schedule. Hildebrandt finished the regular season 8-1 while Berge had a 5-1 mark. He didn’t wrestle as many matches down the stretch while working on cutting down to 157.

The pick is Hildebrandt. He gives Penn State a legitimate scoring option at 125 that simply did not exist on the roster prior to his arrival.

There is no argument that Berge has a greater postseason potential than Tony Negron or Terrell Barraclough at 157. But, you maybe could have got a little bit out of either taking the mat. That simply wouldn’t have been the case without Hildebrandt at 125.

Best Penn State dual meet win of the regular season

It’s another close call!

Do you go with Penn State absolutely pounding Arizona State at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals? Or, do you hold the road win over Iowa in higher regard?

The pick for this space has to be the win over Iowa. It’s not easy to win at Carver-Hawkeye. And, Iowa being down to its third-stringer at 125 played a big role in the final outcome. But, all of the close matches broke Penn State’s way en route to a resounding win.

But, let’s not forget: The way Sanderson’s team completely dismantled the Sun Devils, 29-10, was super impressive. A match that was expected to be close never truly was. And, Beau Bartlett scored a fine upset triumph over then No. 5 Kyle Parco at 149 pounds.

Odds and ends

–Dean had the regular season’s fastest fall. He decked Rider’s Azeem Bell in just 54 seconds.

–Starocci and Dean led the way with 15 wins apiece. Starocci had the most technical falls with five. In terms of starters, Kerkvliet had the most falls for Penn State with four.

–Our pick for the biggest upset is Bartlett beating Parco. What’s yours?

—The Big Ten tournament starts Saturday and continues Sunday. Big Ten Network will televise most of the event. The rest of it will air on BTN+.