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Lions give Sanderson 250th victory as coach

UNIVERSITY PARK — With a snowstorm starting to build in intensity outside Sunday, the Penn State wrestling team wrapped up its 54-0 win over Wyoming in a tidy 1 hour, 16 minutes to give its fans a head start on traveling home safely from the Bryce Jordan Center.

The Nittany Lions ran their consecutive dual meet win streak to 59 and, in the process, gave Cael Sanderson his 250th win as a head coach.

“It just means I’m old. That’s all that means,” Sanderson deadpanned about his milestone win. “That’s news to me. We don’t really worry about that stuff. We’re just focusing on our performance and our effort and just trying to get better every week.”

Consider that last part mission accomplished.

The Nittany Lions rolled to 10 bonus point wins with five falls, four technical falls and a lopsided major decision. Penn State piled up a 29-1 advantage in takedowns.

For Mark Branch, whose Cowboys made the long trek from Laramie, the trip didn’t seem worth the effort he saw on the mat.

“It wasn’t a very fun experience. If you can’t go out and wrestle for seven minutes, you’re probably not gonna learn a lot,” he said.

“Most of those matches were finished early. So, wasted opportunity to try to get more out of it. We know what kind of team Penn State is, and you’re expecting that. But you’ve got to have enough self-respect to battle for seven minutes so you can really maximize the experience.”

The win marked 64 straight wins at home and 11 in a row at the BJC for Penn State.

After enduring some protracted battles in its domination of Lehigh a week ago, the Nittany Lions ramped up their intensity and pinning prowess against the Cowboys.

Beau Bartlett powered his opponent from his feet to his back and scored a fall in just 43 seconds at 141. One match later, Shayne Van Ness shrugged off an initial takedown and built a 10-5 lead before scoring a fall in 4:26.

Van Ness, who looks better than ever a year removed from an injury that sidelined him last season, said he’s learned how to channel his trademark aggression.

“I think that my style has always been kind of aggressive, and with experience, I’ve learned how to hone that into something that I can use,” he said. “Whereas my freshman year, I felt like it was just kind of wild and uncontrolled, and now I’ve kind of narrowed it down into something that I can use, and it’s more of a tool.”

Both 174-pounder Levi Haines and 184-pounder Carter Starocci used bow-and-arrow turns to earn falls, Haines in 2:25 and Starocci in 1:38. At 197, Josh Barr used an old fashioned half Nelson to power his opponent to his back for a fall in 1:48.

Luke Lilledahl started the match at 125 by giving the 7,317 fans a glimpse of why he has been dubbed Lightning Luke. He piled up six takedowns in a variety of quick finishes to earn a 20-5 technical fall in 4:25.

Braeden Davis followed at 133 and used four takedowns to build a 12-3 lead after two. He added a reversal and four-point turn to end the match in 5:27 by an 18-3 score.

At 165, Mitchell Mesenbrink, usually a takedown machine, showed a new technique to notch his seventh technical fall in seven matches so far this year. He scored the initial takedown in just 15 seconds and then turned his opponent twice for a pair of four-point nearfalls. He finished off the match with an escape and quick takedown for a 15-0 shutout in 3:17.

“I feel like every time that I get to go out there, it’s a new creative act. It’s a new canvas and time to have fun and enjoy it and work on the things that I’ve been working on. That’s the same thing, like a lot of the things tonight that I was able to hit, I don’t usually hit those things. And so progressing as a wrestler I don’t think ever ends,” he said.

“A lot of the top stuff that I’ve been doing, working on with the coaches, that’s a new, whole different game, and it’s really exciting, and it makes the sport fun, looking for new challenges and new things that you can constantly keep getting better at.”

Greg Kerkvliet hit four slick takedowns in the first period to open a 12-3 lead. In the second, he turned his opponent twice for four points to finish the match in 3:28 by a 20-3 score.

At 157, Tyler Kasak won a contentious 15-3 major decision in a match that saw each wrestler get poked in the eye and also featured some aggressive shoves.

The Nittany Lions will go through finals week this week while preparing for three dual meets Sunday in Nashville at the Journeymen Collegiate Duals. Penn State wrestles against Binghamton at 3 p.m., Arkansas Little Rock at 5 p.m. and Missouri at 7 p.m.

“I think the setup is three duals, back to back to back, so we’re excited about that. Just competing and the more time we spend together as a team on the road, I think it’s good for the program, good for the guys. It’s good for everyone to kind of spend some time and go compete as a team,” Sanderson said.

“So. we’ll get stronger as we do those things. We’re happy and healthy and we’ll keep going down that path.”

No. 1 Penn State 54

Wyoming 0

(Sunday at University Park, Pa.)

125: No. 12 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, won by tech. fall over Jack Braman, 20-5 (4:25).

133: No. 11 Braeden Davis, PSU, won by tech. fall over Stockton O’Brien, 18-3 (5:27).

141: No. 3 Beau Bartlett, PSU, pinned No. 28 Cole Brooks, :43.

149: No. 2 Shayne Van Ness, PSU, pinned No. 22 Gabe Willochell, 4:26.

157: No. 4 Tyler Kasak, PSU, maj. Dec. No. 19 Jared Hill, 15-3.

165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, won by tech. fall over Cooper Voorhees, 15-0 (3:17).

174: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU, pinned Riley Davis, 2:25.

184: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU, pinned Ethan Ducca, 1:38.

197: No. 7 Josh Barr, PSU, pinned Grant Whitaker, 1:48.

285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, won by tech. fall over Kevin Zimmer, 20-3 (3:28).

Attendance: 7,317.

Ridge Riley Award winner: Mitchell Mesenbrink.

Takedowns: Wyoming 1; Penn State 29.

Records: Wyoming 2-3; Penn State 3-0.

Next match: Penn State at Journeyman Collegiate Duals, Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee. Vs. Binghamton, 3 p.m.; vs. Arkansas Little Rock, 5 p.m.; vs. Missouri, 7 p.m.

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