By Pat Donghia gopsusports.comUNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (2-0, 0-0 B1G) rolled to a 43-10 win over visiting Hofstra (0-2) on Sunday in Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions picked up four pins in the lopsided non-conference win.

Four Nittany Lions made their dual meet debuts in front of another Rec Hall sellout crowd for head coach Cael Sanderson and the Nittany Lions, and the Penn State starting line-up featured four freshmen.

The dual began at 125 where Braeden Davis made his Penn State dual debut. Davis rolled to an 11-2 major over Hofstra’s Dylan Acevedo-Switzer to give Penn State an early 4-0 lead. Sophomore Aaron Nagao, ranked No. 4 at 133, dominated Ryan Arbeit, notching a 21-6 technical fall at 4:20. David Evans made his Nittany Lion dual debut at 141 for No. 2 Beau Bartlett and impressed the Nittany Lion faithful, posting a 19-4 technical fall at 6:13 to give the Nittany Lions a 14-0 lead.

Redshirt freshman Connor Pierce made his Penn State dual debut at 149 and dropped a tough 11-2 major to Hofstra’s Noah Tapia, cutting the Lion lead to 14-4. Sophomore Levi Haines, ranked No. 1 at 157, notched a fast fall in the first half’s final bout, pinning Dylan Zenion at 1:02. The Nittany Lions led 20-4 at halftime.

Freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink, ranked No. 14 at 165, began the second half like Haines ended the first, picking up a fast fall at the 1:24 mark over Matt Waddell to give the Nittany Lions a 26-4 lead. Senior Carter Starocci, ranked No. 1 at 174, rolled to a 19-3 technical fall at the 5:38 mark against Eric Shindell and the Nittany Lions led 31-4.

Graduate Bernie Truax, ranked No. 2 at 184, continued Penn State’s bonus point burst with a pin of his own, picking up the fall over Will Conlon at 1:51 of the first period. Senior Aaron Brooks, ranked No. 1 at 197, added yet another pin for the Nittany Lions pinning Nikolas Miller at 4:22. True freshman AJ Fricchione made his Penn State dual debut, stepping in for No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet at 285. Fricchione battled tough but gave up a fall at 4:32 in the second period and Penn State settled for the 43-10 victory.

The Nittany Lions posted a 30-6 takedown edge in the dual meet. Penn State won eight of ten bouts and picked up 19 bonus points off four pins (Haines, Mesenbrink, Truax, Brooks), three tech falls (Nagao, Evans, Starocci) and a major (Davis).

Penn State is now 2-0, 0-0 B1G. Hofstra falls to 0-2. The Nittany Lions return to dual meet action on Friday, Jan. 5, at Oregon State. The dual is an 8 p.m. Eastern start (5 p.m. local). Many Nittany Lions will compete before that, taking part in the 2023 Senior Nationals/US Olympic Trials Qualifier in Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 15-17.

The 2023-24 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by the Family Clothesline. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via X/twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.

1 Penn State 43, Hofstra 10

December 10, 2023 – Rec Hall – University Park, Pa.

125: Braeden Davis PSU maj. dec. Dylan Acevedo-Switzer HOF, 11-2 4-0
133: #4 Aaron Nagao PSU tech fall Ryan Arbeit HOF, 21-6 (TF; 4:20) 9-0
141: David Evans PSU tech fall Alex Turley HOF, 19-4 (TF; 6:13) 14-0
149: Noah Tapia HOF maj. dec. Connor Pierce PSU, 11-2 14-4
157: #1 Levi Haines PSU pinned Dylan Zenion HOF, WBF (1:02) 20-4
165: #14 Mitchell Mesenbrink PSU pinned Matt Waddell HOF, WBF (1:24) 26-4
174: #1 Carter Starocci PSU tech fall Eric Shindel HOF, 19-3 (TF; 5:38) 31-4
184: #2 Bernie Truax PSU pinned Will Conlon HOF, WBF (1:51) 37-4
197: #1 Aaron Brooks PSU pinned Nikolas Miller HOF, WBF (4:22) 43-4
285: #21 Keaton Kluever HOF pinned AJ Fricchione PSU, WBF (4:32) 43-10
Attendance: 6,589 (68th-straight sellout in Rec Hall; 77th in last 79 events, including 9 of 11 in BJC)
Records: Penn State (2-0), Hofstra (0-2)
Up Next for Penn State: at Oregon State, Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. local)

DUAL MEET BOUT-BY-BOUT:

125: True freshman Braeden Davis made his Penn State dual meet debut against Hofstra’s Dylan Acevedo-Switzer at 125. Davis turned a high shot into a scramble at the 2:40 mark, finishing off the takedown for a 3-0 lead at 2:14. Acevedo-Switzer escaped after a :54 Davis ride to make the score 3-1 and that score held to the end of the first period. Leading by two, Davis chose down to start the second period and quickly worked his way to an escape and a 4-1 lead. Davis worked his way to a takedown for a 7-1 lead and then finished the period on top to carry over 1:00 of riding time into the third period. Acevedo-Switzer chose down to start the third period. Davis controlled the action on top for nearly a minute before the Pride wrestler escaped to a 7-2 score. Davis had 1:52 in riding time. Davis continued to work his offense and added a late takedown to secure the major decision. He added 2:02 in riding time and rolled to the 11-2 win.

133: Sophomore Aaron Nagao, ranked No. 4 at 133, took on Ryan Arbeit. Nagao wasted no time taking Arbeit down, opening up a 3-0 lead with a quick takedown. He controlled action on top for almost 1:30 before allowing Arbeit out to a 3-1 score. Nagao fought off a slight Arbeit shot, worked his way to a takedown and :40, cut Arbeit loose and quickly took him down a third time to lead 9-2 with 1:59 in riding time after one. Arbeit chose down to start the second period and Nagao cut him loose on the start. He then moved in and took the Pride wrestler down again to open up a 12-3 lead. Nagao picked up another takedown, cut Arbeit loose at 1:10 and then moved in to take him down two more times quickly, opening up an 18-5 lead at :55. He cut Arbeit loose once more and finished off the match with a final takedown, posting a 21-6 technical fall at the 4:20 mark.

141: David Evans made his Penn State dual meet debut at 141 for No. 2 Beau Bartlett against Hofstra’s Alex Turley. Evans scored quickly, taking Turley down for a 3-0 lead less than :20 into the bout. Turley managed an escape after nearly 1:00 of Evans’ control but Evans continued to press on offense, taking Turley down once more to up his lead to 6-1. Evans controlled the action on top, building his riding time up over 2:00 with a strong ride and forcing Turley into a first stall warning in the process. Evans finished the period on top and led 6-1 with 2:20 in riding time. Evans chose down to start the second period and worked his way to an escape and a 7-1 lead at 1:40. Evans continued to shoot, turning a low single into another takedown and a 10-1 lead with 1:05 on the clock. Evans once again finished the period on top and led 10-1 with 3:13 in riding time after two periods. Turley chose down to start the third period and escaped to a 10-2 score. Evans continued to shoot, however, and took a 13-2 lead with another takedown. He cut Turley loose, took him down, cut him once more and finished off the technical fall with a final takedown, posting the 19-4 tech at 6:13.

149: Redshirt freshman Connor Pierce made his dual debut for Penn State and met Noah Tapia at 141. Pierce shot quickly, working a low single into a battle on the mat that went nearly 1:00 before a potentially dangerous hold stopped the action and the bout resumed in neutral, 0-0. Tapia connected on a low shot off the reset and took a 3-0 lead at :44. He then turned Pierce for three back points as the period wound down and led 6-0 after one. Tapia chose down to start the second period and escaped to a 7-0 lead. He moved in on a low shot, but Pierce countered the effort and forced a stalemate at 1:32, trailing 7-0. Tapia added another takedown and led 10-0 with over 1:00 riding time. Pierce worked his way to an escape and a 10-1 scored at :25. Trailing by nine, Pierce chose down to start the third period but Tapia controlled action on top. Pierce escaped to a 10-2 score as the bout ended but, with 3:33 in riding time, Tapia posted the 11-2 major decision.

157: Sophomore Levi Haines, ranked No. 1 at 157, battled Dylan Zenion. Haines scored quickly, taking Zenion down for a 3-0 lead. He then worked his way to shoulder control, turning Zenion to his back and finishing off the fast fall, getting the pin at 1:02 in the first period.

165: Freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink, ranked No. 14 at 165, took on Hofstra’s Matthew Waddell. Mesenbrink fought off an early Waddell shot and then moved in on offense, taking Waddell down for a 3-0 lead at 2:15. He followed Haines’ lead from the first half and turned Waddell’s shoulders to the mat, picking up a first period pin at 1:24.

174: Senior Carter Starocci, ranked No. 1 at 174, faced off against Eric Shindel. Starocci took Shindel down quickly, cut him loose and took him down a second time for an early 6-2 lead. Starocci ducked under for a third takedown and a 9-3 lead at 1:52, picked up a fourth takedown at 1:40 and worked his time edge up near 1:00 while trying to turn Shindel for the fall. Starocci maintained top control for the rest of the period and led 12-3 with 1:54 in riding time after one. Waddell chose down to start the second period and Starocci worked to turn the Pride wrestler. As the clock hit 1:10, Waddell gave up a first stall warning. Starocci picked up a stall point with :34 on the clock to lead 13-3. He nearly turned Waddell to his back on the outside circle, but the Pride grappler was able to roll out of bounds and out of trouble. Starocci picked up another stall point at :02 and lead 14-3 with 4:01 in riding time after two. Shindel stalled once more, giving Starocci a 16-3 lead and Starocci finished off the bout with another takedown to post the 19-3 tech fall at 5:38.

184: Graduate Bernie Truax, ranked No. 2 at 184, met Will Conlon. Truax took Conlon down quickly, opening up a 3-0 lead right out of the gates. He picked up a second takedown at 2:30, then a third at 1:48 to lead 9-2 before the midway point of the first period. Truax turned Conlon for four back points, settled in for the fall and got the first period pin at 1:51.

197: Senior Aaron Brooks, ranked No. 1 at 197, met Nikolas Miller. Brooks notched a takedown at the 2:19 mark and cut the Pride grappler loose to a 3-1 score. He then moved in on a high shot, lifted Miller off the mat and finished off the takedown to lead 6-1 at 1:30. Brooks controlled Miller on top, looking to turn him. Miller managed to not give up back points and Brooks led 6-1 with 2:04 in riding time after one. Brooks chose neutral to start the second period and quickly took Miller down a third time to lead 9-2 after a Pride escape. Brooks bulled through a fourth takedown to open up a 12-2 lead with 1:10 on the clock. He then turned shoulder control into a fall, picking up the pin at the 4:22 mark.

285: True freshman AJ Fricchione stepped in for No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet at 285 and battled No. 21 Keaton Kluever. Fricchione fought off and early Kluever shot but the ranked Pride grappler finished off the move to open up a 3-0 lead. Fricchione escaped after just :21 to cut the lead to 3-1. Kluever tripped Fricchione to the mat for a second takedown at :45, opening up a 6-1 lead. Fricchione worked his way to a late escape and trailed 6-2 after one. Kluever chose neutral to start the second period and took Fricchione down to lead 9-2 at 1:35. Kluever then worked his way into position for a pin, getting the fall at 4:32.