Sunday, December 3
University Park, Pa.
2:00 PM
Lehigh University
10
at
30
Penn State
Photo by: Sam Janicki
Mountain Hawks Show Strong Fight But Come Up Short At No. 1 Penn State
12/3/2023 4:50:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 20 Lehigh started fast and battled throughout the afternoon, but No. 1 Penn State had too much firepower in the end as the defending national champion Nittany Lions knocked off the Mountain Hawks 30-10 Sunday at Rec Hall.
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First-year Ryan Crookham picked up his second top-five win of the early season, while junior Michael Beard earned a major decision victory in his return to his former school.
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Sunday's dual was the 111th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested dual series. Lehigh is now 0-2 on the dual season, while Penn State wins in its dual opener.
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"There was great fight," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "The whole team fought. Penn State came out after the halftime and was pretty physical. The pace caught our guys off a little bit. We'll have to adjust to that, but it was good to feel at this time of year."
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Lehigh captured the first two bouts to take an early 6-0 lead. Sophomore Sheldon Seymour took on Gary Steen at 125. With the match tied 1-1 and apparently headed to overtime, Seymour ended regulation close to a takedown. After an officials review, Seymour was awarded the takedown to win 4-1 and give Lehigh the early 3-0 advantage.
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Crookham faced No. 3 Aaron Nagao in the next bout at 133. The Mountain Hawk first-year scored the only two takedowns of the bout, both of which came in the second period. Crookham's two takedowns outpaced two Nagao escapes. Nagao rode out the third period and added a stalling point, but Crookham prevailed 6-4 to give Lehigh a 6-0 lead.
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"We knew that would be a really tough match because Nagao is a really good wrestler," Santoro said. "Once we got the second takedown we thought we'd test a little bit on bottom. Ryan felt confident there but we have to do some work there. I think he'll make the adjustments."
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Penn State answered with six consecutive wins to go up 26-6 after eight bouts. At 141, Beau Bartlett picked up the first of five bonus-point wins for the Nittany Lions with a 14-6 major decision over sophomore Carter Bailey. Bartlett broke a 4-4 tie in the second period by scoring the bout's final three takedowns.
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Junior Drew Munch faced Penn State's Tyler Kasak at 149 with Kasak scoring a pair of first period takedowns off of Munch's shots. Munch battled back late but came up on the short end of a 7-5 decision.
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At 157, junior Max Brignola battled top-ranked Levi Haines and started fast, taking down the Nittany Lion early in the first period. Brignola and Haines were tied 4-4 after one period and 5-5 early in the third, before Haines scored a pair of late takedowns to win 12-6, putting Penn State up 10-6 at intermission.
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"They definitely came to fight," Santoro said. "Starting with Sheldon coming out of the gate and then right there with Ryan. Carter was really good and Drew almost pulled that out at the end. Max was in that match. I thought he had a chance to win it "
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Penn State came out of intermission with three straight bonus wins. Junior Jake Logan lost by technical fall against Mitchell Mesenbrink at 165 and then sophomore Thayne Lawrence was pinned in the first period by three-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci at 174. Sophomore Jack Wilt made his dual meet debut at 184 but dropped a 19-4 technical fall in 7:00.
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Beard stopped the Penn State run with a 20-6 major decision over Lucas Cochran at 197. He tacked up six takedowns to pick up his eighth win of the season. Cochran subbed for No. 1-ranked Aaron Brooks.
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Penn State's top-ranked Greg Kerkvliet took the final bout at 285, scoring a takedown in each period to defeat sophomore Nathan Taylor in an 11-1 major decision.
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"(Penn State) came out really hard and we needed to see this at this time of year," Santoro said. "It was good for our younger guys to feel that. We'll have to make adjustments. When you put a lot of pressure on people you score a lot of points."
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The Nittany Lions now lead the all-time series 74-34-3.
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The Mountain Hawks are back on the road Friday when they travel to No. 11 Oklahoma State. Match time is set for 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) from Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with audio coverage on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM in Easton and LVFoxSports.com.
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The 2023-24 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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No. 1 Penn State 30, No. 20 Lehigh 10
125 – Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) dec. Gary Steen (PSU) 4-1
133 – Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) dec. Aaron Nagao (PSU) 6-4
141 – Beau Bartlett (PSU) major dec. Carter Bailey (Lehigh) 14-6
149 – Tyler Kasak (PSU) dec. Drew Munch (Lehigh) 7-5
157 – Levi Haines (PSU) dec. Max Brignola (Lehigh) 12-6
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) tech fall Jake Logan (Lehigh) 17-2, 6:13
174 – Carter Starocci (PSU) Fall Thayne Lawrence (Lehigh) 2:07
184 – Bernie Truax (PSU) tech fall Jack Wilt (Lehigh) 19-4, 7:00
197 – Michael Beard (Lehigh) major dec. Lucas Cochran (PSU) 20-6
285 – Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) major dec. Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) 11-1
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Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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First-year Ryan Crookham picked up his second top-five win of the early season, while junior Michael Beard earned a major decision victory in his return to his former school.
Â
Sunday's dual was the 111th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested dual series. Lehigh is now 0-2 on the dual season, while Penn State wins in its dual opener.
Â
"There was great fight," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "The whole team fought. Penn State came out after the halftime and was pretty physical. The pace caught our guys off a little bit. We'll have to adjust to that, but it was good to feel at this time of year."
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Lehigh captured the first two bouts to take an early 6-0 lead. Sophomore Sheldon Seymour took on Gary Steen at 125. With the match tied 1-1 and apparently headed to overtime, Seymour ended regulation close to a takedown. After an officials review, Seymour was awarded the takedown to win 4-1 and give Lehigh the early 3-0 advantage.
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Crookham faced No. 3 Aaron Nagao in the next bout at 133. The Mountain Hawk first-year scored the only two takedowns of the bout, both of which came in the second period. Crookham's two takedowns outpaced two Nagao escapes. Nagao rode out the third period and added a stalling point, but Crookham prevailed 6-4 to give Lehigh a 6-0 lead.
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"We knew that would be a really tough match because Nagao is a really good wrestler," Santoro said. "Once we got the second takedown we thought we'd test a little bit on bottom. Ryan felt confident there but we have to do some work there. I think he'll make the adjustments."
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Penn State answered with six consecutive wins to go up 26-6 after eight bouts. At 141, Beau Bartlett picked up the first of five bonus-point wins for the Nittany Lions with a 14-6 major decision over sophomore Carter Bailey. Bartlett broke a 4-4 tie in the second period by scoring the bout's final three takedowns.
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Junior Drew Munch faced Penn State's Tyler Kasak at 149 with Kasak scoring a pair of first period takedowns off of Munch's shots. Munch battled back late but came up on the short end of a 7-5 decision.
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At 157, junior Max Brignola battled top-ranked Levi Haines and started fast, taking down the Nittany Lion early in the first period. Brignola and Haines were tied 4-4 after one period and 5-5 early in the third, before Haines scored a pair of late takedowns to win 12-6, putting Penn State up 10-6 at intermission.
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"They definitely came to fight," Santoro said. "Starting with Sheldon coming out of the gate and then right there with Ryan. Carter was really good and Drew almost pulled that out at the end. Max was in that match. I thought he had a chance to win it "
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Penn State came out of intermission with three straight bonus wins. Junior Jake Logan lost by technical fall against Mitchell Mesenbrink at 165 and then sophomore Thayne Lawrence was pinned in the first period by three-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci at 174. Sophomore Jack Wilt made his dual meet debut at 184 but dropped a 19-4 technical fall in 7:00.
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Beard stopped the Penn State run with a 20-6 major decision over Lucas Cochran at 197. He tacked up six takedowns to pick up his eighth win of the season. Cochran subbed for No. 1-ranked Aaron Brooks.
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Penn State's top-ranked Greg Kerkvliet took the final bout at 285, scoring a takedown in each period to defeat sophomore Nathan Taylor in an 11-1 major decision.
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"(Penn State) came out really hard and we needed to see this at this time of year," Santoro said. "It was good for our younger guys to feel that. We'll have to make adjustments. When you put a lot of pressure on people you score a lot of points."
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The Nittany Lions now lead the all-time series 74-34-3.
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The Mountain Hawks are back on the road Friday when they travel to No. 11 Oklahoma State. Match time is set for 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) from Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with audio coverage on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM in Easton and LVFoxSports.com.
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The 2023-24 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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No. 1 Penn State 30, No. 20 Lehigh 10
125 – Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) dec. Gary Steen (PSU) 4-1
133 – Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) dec. Aaron Nagao (PSU) 6-4
141 – Beau Bartlett (PSU) major dec. Carter Bailey (Lehigh) 14-6
149 – Tyler Kasak (PSU) dec. Drew Munch (Lehigh) 7-5
157 – Levi Haines (PSU) dec. Max Brignola (Lehigh) 12-6
165 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) tech fall Jake Logan (Lehigh) 17-2, 6:13
174 – Carter Starocci (PSU) Fall Thayne Lawrence (Lehigh) 2:07
184 – Bernie Truax (PSU) tech fall Jack Wilt (Lehigh) 19-4, 7:00
197 – Michael Beard (Lehigh) major dec. Lucas Cochran (PSU) 20-6
285 – Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) major dec. Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) 11-1
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Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Players Mentioned
133/141
/ Men's Wrestling
197
/ Men's Wrestling
157
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
174
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
125
/ Men's Wrestling
285
/ Men's Wrestling
184
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