(Photo: Travis David V Whittaker/WCSN)
On December 14, 2018 the Arizona State Wrestling team traveled to State College for a highly anticipated match against the number 1 ranked team in the nation, Penn State University.
Starting off the meet in the 125-lb weight class was Arizona State’s redshirt freshman, Brandon Courtney. This was his first ever collegiate appearance, but his nerves did not get to him. Courtney wrestled Penn State sophomore Devin Schnupp. Courtney jumped out to an early lead in the first period and held on throughout the remainder of the match. This match gave Courtney his first collegiate win and gave Arizona State an early 3-0 lead. After the match, coach Zeke Jones stated “he’s got a bright future. He is good now and will be good down the road.”
Next up, was Arizona State’s Ryan Millhof, who typically wrestles in the 125-lb weight class but was moved up into the 133-lb weight class to wrestle Roman Bravo-Young from Penn State. Bravo-Young is a freshman at Penn State from Tucson, AZ, and received the Arizona State Championship Outstanding Wrestler honors all four years of high school. He also had a perfect record of 182-0 in his high school career.
In the match between Bravo-Young and Millhof, Bravo-Young had an early lead and went into the second period leading 4-1 with 2:18 minutes of riding time. Bravo-Young ended up winning the match by major decision. Penn State took the lead, 4-3 in the team score.
In the 141-lb weight class Arizona State’s Cory Crooks wrestled Penn State’s Nick Lee. Lee became an All-American in the 2017-18 season, and won the match by pinning Crooks in the first period. This pin gave the Nittany Lions a lead of 10-3.
For Arizona State at 149-lbs, Josh Maruca visited his home state of Pennsylvania for this match, against Penn State’s Brady Berge. The score was tied 2-2 going into the third period but Berge got an escape point followed by a two point take down with about 30 seconds left in the match. The final for this match was 5-4, with Berge on top. Penn State now led 13-3.
Next up, Arizona State’s Christian Pagdilao and Penn State’s Jason Nolf. Nolf is a two-time NCAA Champion and is looking for his third title this season. Nolf had an early lead in this match and maintained it throughout. Nolf went on to win, 17-3. This was a major decision giving the Nittany Lions a lead of 18-5 over Arizona State.
A marquee match of the night was Penn State’s Vincenzo Joseph and Arizona State’s Josh Shields.
These two opponents have been wrestling together since they were young. Josh Shields is a Pennsylvania native and wrestled with Joseph in the Young Guns Wrestling Club in Central Pennsylvania. On December 14, 2018, they now became opponentS rather than teammates. Joseph came away with a 11-2 major over Shields, giving Penn State a 21-3 lead.
The night’s most anticipated match, a rematch of the NCAA championships, was Valencia versus Hall. The last time these two met was March 17, 2018. Valencia won this match making him a national champion. This was a big moment for Valencia because just a year earlier, he had lost to Hall in the NCAA semifinals and Hall went on to win the tournament. On December 14, the two top wrestlers in the 174-lb weight class got the opportunity to go head to head once again. This was a tight and low scoring match, Hall came out on top 4-0. The home crowd rallied around Hall and electrified Penn State’s Rec Hall. After the meet, coach Zeke Jones stated about the crowd “I think certainly when you have a home crowd that’s helpful, it gives you that eleventh man in wrestling. You don’t win a national title or an Olympic gold medal in your own gym, you do it in someone else’s.”
After the tough loss, Penn State did not let up. In 184-lbs Penn State’s Shakur Rasheed took down Arizona State’s Kordell Norfleet. The final was 15-0, which now put Penn State up 29-3.
Penn State ended the night with two pins. Bo Nickal (197) pinned Austyn Harris 35 seconds into the first period. Penn State’s Anthony Cassar pinned Brady Daniel in the third period.
This was a tough match for Arizona State and they ended up falling to Penn State 41-3. The next time they will be seen on the mat is December 29, 2018, at the Midlands Championship in Illinois.
