No. 3 Penn State wrestling (3-0) concluded its road trip against No. 24 Wisconsin (1-4) Tuesday night in Madison with a 34-6 victory.

After giving up six points to start the night for the third match in a row at 125 lbs., Penn State went on to win every match in the dual meet, pummeling Wisconsin 34-6. The dominant performance was led by veterans Nick Lee, Aaron Brooks, and redshirt freshman Michael Beard.

How It Happened

The dual started off at 133 lbs. as Penn State forfeited at 125 yet again after no wrestlers in the weight class were cleared to compete.

At 133 lbs., No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young squared off with Kyle Burwick of Wisconsin. Bravo-Young started off strong in the first period with three takedowns on a variety of quick leg attacks. The takedowns continued to come in periods two and three as Bravo-Young wasn’t very interested in wrestling the match on the mat. The junior picked up an 11-6 decision to make the score 6-3 after Penn State gave up an early six points from the forfeit.

No. 2 Nick Lee wasted no time in his match against Wisconsin’s Trey Escobar. Lee earned a tech fall victory in just the first period, scoring a quick take down and using a strong tilt game on top to get near fall points. The quick tech fall gave the Nittany Lions an 8-6 lead.

Luke Gardner took the mat for Penn State at 149 lbs. against Drew Scharenbrock. The two traded a takedown and escape in the the first two periods to tie the score at 3-3 with a little over a minute left in the second period. Gardner then scored a takedown off a bad shot from Scharenbrook and took a 5-4 lead going into the last period.

In the final period, Scharenbrook quickly got an escape to tie the match but neither wrestler could get the match-ending takedown as the two were in a tight scramble when time ran out. In overtime, Gardner shot right off the whistle to get the takedown and a 7-5 decision. The win pushed Penn State’s lead to 11-6.

At the 157-pound weight class, No. 9 Brady Berge wrestled against Garrett Model. Neither wrestler scored a takedown in the first period as Berge fought off a couple of deep shots from Model. In the second period, Berge opened up a little more, getting an escape point and two takedowns to give himself a 5-1 lead heading into the third. Model threw his best at Berge in the final period but couldn’t get past Berge’s strong defense. Berge’s riding time point gave him a 12-4 major decision, making Penn State’s lead 15-6.

Redhsirt freshman No. 6 Joe Lee poured it on early against Wisconsin’s Patrick Spray at 165 lbs. Lee got out to a quick 12-2 lead in the first period thanks to a bad scramble decision from Spray, which Lee took advantage of with a takedown and quick tilt. The next two periods saw no scoring from either wrestler. Lee’s 12-2 decision increased Penn State’s lead to 19-6.

After dropping his dual meet debut last Saturday against Indiana, No. 8 Carter Starocci picked up a tough win over the Badger’s Jared Krattiger. The two wrestled pretty evenly through the first two periods with Starocci leading 4-3. In the third period, Starocci nearly got back points on the edge of the mat but was called out of bounds before the two-second count was completed.

Starocci ended up riding out Krattiger for the remainder of the period to gain over a minute of riding time and an extra point. The 5-3 decision extended the Nittany Lion’s lead to 22-6.

In what was expected to be the match of the night, No. 3 Aaron Brooks dominated Wisconsin’s No. 10 Chris Weiler. Brooks got things started quick, getting a takedown within the first seven seconds of the match. Brooks then added three more takedowns and led 8-3 heading into the second period. The sophomore Brooks kept the pressure on, scoring three more points in the match to give himself an 11-3 decision over Weiler. The win added three more points to give Penn State a a 26-6 lead.

Redshirt freshman Michael Beard made his dual meet debut for the Nittany Lions at 197 lbs. after missing out on last weekend’s action. Beard looked good in his first match against the Badger’s Andrew Salemme, getting a few nice takedowns and a couple of turns on top to give him a 12-2 lead in the first period. Beard kept up the scoring in the third to win by technical fall 18-2. Penn State’s lead extended to 31-6 with the win.

At heavyweight, No. 8 Seth Nevills got the start again for Penn State facing off against Peter Christensen of Wisconsin. Nevills fended off a shot by Christensen and got the takedown to get an early 2-0 lead. Nevills rode out Christensen for the remaining two minutes of the period to give himself over two minutes of riding time.

Christensen then rode out Nevills for the entirety of the second period to keep the score at 2-0. The big guys started on their feet to begin the third period. The agile Nevills capitalized on a low single leg to increase his lead to 4-0. Christensen did get an escape and a takedown in the last 30 seconds of the match but could not overcome Nevill’s four-point lead. The decision gave Penn State a 34-6 victory.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will host No. 1 Iowa on Friday, February 12 at Rec Hall in a match that’s sure to bring a lot of fireworks. The match will start at 9 p.m. and be broadcast on BTN.