Wrestling Preview: #1 Penn State vs #28 Wyoming

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For the second year in a row, the Nittany Lions wrestling team will take on the Cowboys in a ranked dual meet; this year, the matchup will be a marquee one in Laramie, the first time Wyoming has hosted a #1 team in over 30 years.

While the Penn State lineup remains largely unchanged from last year’s title-winning season, UW has a whole slew of fresh faces after a strong incoming recruiting class and a number of touted wrestlers transferring. Last year’s matchup featured few true tests for the PSU team, as most of the best Cowboy wrestlers didn’t travel to Happy Valley or didn’t wrestle in the dual meet. This year looks to be a different story, and Wyoming will look to have a vastly different outcome than last year’s 54-0 drubbing.

The Wyoming starting lineup boasts six ranked wrestlers, including two in the top ten; undoubtedly the best matches of the evening will be the ones featuring PSU twins; because of that, it’s likely that the Cowboys will try to start off at an atypical weight in order to gain some semblance of momentum. And while Penn State’s lead in the postseason tournament projections has lessened recently, the Nittany Lions are still number one, and this should be another pretty good win under their belts – even with returning all Americans Aaron Nago and Josh Barr still recovering.

How To Watch​

What: #1 Penn State vs #28 Wyoming*

Where: Arena-Auditorium, Laramie, WY

When: Saturday, December 13, 8 PM EST

Audio: Free (via GoPSUSports)

Video: Flo ($$)

Lineup​

#1 Penn State	WT	#28 Wyoming
#2 – Luke Lilledahl (So., St Charles, MO)	125	Sefton Douglass (Jr., Lyman, WY)
#10 – Marcus Blaze (Fr., Perrysburg, OH)	133	#22 – Luke Willochell (Fr., Greensburg, PA)
#7 – Aaron Nagao (Jr., La Habra, CA) OR Cael Nasdeo (Fr., Williamsport, PA)	141	John Aldean (Fr., O’Neil, NE)
#1 – Shayne Van Ness (Jr., Somerville, NJ)	149	#30 – Gabe Willochell (Sr., Greensburg, PA)
#8 – PJ Duke (Fr., State Hill, NY) OR Joe Sealey (Fr., Bear Creek Twp, PA)	157	#23 – Jared Hill (Sr., Broken Arrow, OK)
#1 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Jr., Hartland, WI)	165	Sloan Swan (So., Clovis CA)
#1 – Levi Haines (Sr., Arendtsville, PA)	174	#28 – Riley Davis (So., Amarillo, TX)
#4 – Rocco Welsh (So., Waynesburg, PA)	184	#12 – Eddie Neitenbach (So., Valley City, OH)
Josh Barr (So., Davison, MI) OR #8 – Connor Mirasola (Fr., Jackson, WI)	197	#4 – Joey Novak (Jr., New Prague, MN)
#11 – Cole Mirasola (Fr., Jackson, WI) OR Lucas Cochran (Sr., Perry, UT)	285	#10 – Christian Carroll (Fr., Elkhart, IN)

125​

Lilledahl didn’t get the workout we’d all hoped in the Lehigh dual last weekend, so we’ll still be waiting for that marquee win. But the world champ will still be getting better on the mat and flexing his crazy speed.

Prediction: Lilledahl by tech fall

Score: PSU 5, Wyoming 0​

133 LBS​

The younger Willochell brother (from the Latrobe area!) is looking to finally hit the lineup for the Cowboys, and he’s already ranked. This will be a super tough outing, though, as the Nittany Lions have Marcus Blaze – one of the quickest we’ve seen at this weight in a few years. I expect this to go all 7 minutes, but for the PSUer to dominate from the first whistle.

Prediction: Blaze by major decision

Score: PSU 9, Wyoming 0​

141 LBS​

It sounds like Nagao is closer to being back, but may not quite be there yet. In his stead, Cael Nasdeo made a pair of starts last weekend against tough competition and looks likely to go this week as well; he’s a bit undersized at this weight, which gives me pause and makes me feel like this is one of two true toss-ups in the dual this week. Since I’ve never picked him to win before, I’ll throw a Gulibon on this one and hope that the PSU freshman proves me wrong.

Prediction: Alden by decision

Score: PSU 9, Wyoming 3​

149 LBS​

On paper, this should be a close one – or at least, not decided very quickly (in a vacuum, I’d have picked SVN to get a last minute takedown for bonus). But last year, Shayne pinned the then-22nd ranked Gabe Willochell in the second period both in the dual and in the NCAA tournament, so who am I to predict anything different this year?

Prediction: Van Ness by pin

Score: PSU 15, Wyoming 3​

157 LBS​

It’s possible that the Nittany Lions have the two best wrestlers at this weight in the nation; one who majored Wyoming’s ranked starter in this dual last year, and the other coming in as the #1 P4P recruit in the nation. PJ continues to climb up the rankings, and he’ll do more of that after this week.

Prediction: Duke by major decision

Score: PSU 19, Wyoming 3​

165 LBS​

I was shocked last week when Mitchell only won by major (and even got taken down), but his opponent was ranked. Swan is not. This will not last seven minutes.

Prediction: Mesenbrink by tech fall

Score: PSU 24, Wyoming 3​

174 LBS​

Similar to Shayne, Levi got a pin against Davis last year. The Cowboy is ranked this year, so he’s definitely better – but so is Levi. Why would I predict anything but what happened last time these two met?

Prediction: Levi by pin

Score: PSU 30, Wyoming 3​

184 LBS​

Last weekend, I predicted Welsh to struggle a bit on Friday before pulling it together on Sunday; instead, he got bonus on Friday and needed a last-second takedown to avoid overtime on Sunday. He’s facing a talented Ohio high school champ who qualified for the NCAAs last year, and this should be one of the best bouts of the night.

Prediction: Welsh by decision

Score: PSU 33, Wyoming 3​

197 LBS – Match of the Meet​

Joey Novak wasn’t able to wrestle in this dual last year, so instead of a strong early test, eventual finalist Josh Barr ended up with a first period pin. Barr likely won’t be back on the mat for PSU until January, and intermat finally ranked Connor Mirasola in his stead (so Iowa State’s Rocky Elam is now number one). I waffled back and forth on whether I thought Novak or Connor would win this one, but ultimately I decided to go with the Cowboy because the PSU twin did well when I predicted against him in the first dual of the season.

Prediction: Novak by decision

Score: PSU 33, Wyoming 6​

285 LBS ​

Cole had a rough outing last week against a more traditional heavyweight who took few shots, but countered really well – and rode well. This week he’s taking on a transfer from the other Cowboy program (and Iowa State), who while still bigger than the heavyweight twin, is still smaller than Lehigh’s Taylor. I think Cole learned from the outing as well, and puts that learning to the test.

Prediction: Cole by decision

Score: PSU 36, Wyoming 6​

Overall score prediction: Penn State 36, Wyoming 6​

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*The Penn State athletic department, in its official capacity, uses Intermat’s Tournament Power Index in all its match literature; I’m using Intermat’s Dual Meet Rankings because this happens to be a dual. Penn State is #1 in both rankings; Wyoming is #28 in the Dual rankings, and #14 in the Tournament rankings.

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