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The Nittany Lions hit the road again, this time with a super quick turnaround due to the impending storm, as they travel to nearby Maryland to take on a struggling Terrapins squad.
After absolutely demolishing another ranked opponent in Indiana at home on Friday night, PSU looks to extend its win streak in the DMV. The dual meet was originally scheduled for Sunday, but pushed up to just 22 hours after the IU dual so that the Lions can get back in town before the storm hits.
Maryland will be the fresher of the two teams as their last match was last weekend, when they fell to the same IU team Penn State crushed, 26-12. The Terrapins are down one of their presumed starters as 2025 All American Jaxon Smith looks to be out for the year due to injury; Smith was the anchor of the MD team at 184, their first AA in six years.
The short turnaround time for PSU may help Maryland, but likely not by much. This Penn State squad is just too stacked, and simply built for March, when the turnaround times will be even tighter.
How To Watch
What: #1 Penn State vs Maryland*
Where: Schanwald Pavilion, College Park, MD
When: Saturday, January 24, 7PM EST
Audio: Free (via GoPSUSports)
Video: BTN+ ($)
Lineup
| #1 Penn State | WT | Maryland |
|---|---|---|
| #1 – Luke Lilledahl (So., St Charles, MO) | 125 | Abram Cline (So., Chula Vista, CA) |
| #4- Marcus Blaze (Fr., Perrysburg, OH) | 133 | #15 – Braxton Brown (Sr., Allen, TX) |
| #11 – Braeden Davis (Jr., Belleville, MI) | 141 | Dario Lemus (So., Clovis, CA) |
| #1 – Shayne Van Ness (Jr., Somerville, NJ) | 149 | #7 – Carter Young (Sr., Stillwater, OK) |
| #3 – PJ Duke (Fr., State Hill, NY) | 157 | Mekhi Neal (So., Calvert County, MD) |
| #1 – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Jr., Hartland, WI) | 165 | AJ Rodrigues (Jr., Mt Airy, MD) |
| #1 – Levi Haines (Sr., Arendtsville, PA) | 174 | Dominic Solis (Sr., Laurel, MD) |
| #1 – Rocco Welsh (So., Waynesburg, PA) | 184 | Sepanta Ahanj (Fr., Gaithersburg, MD) |
| #1 – Josh Barr (So., Davison, MI) | 197 | #13 – Branson John (So., Clovis, CA) |
| #12 – Cole Mirasola (Fr., Jackson, WI) | 285 | Oscar Williams (So., Lahaina, HI) |
125
Lilledahl scored his first pin of the season on Friday night, against a ranked wrestler that doesn’t give up pins. There’s somewhat of a question mark over who on the Terrapins squad will go at this weight, but Luke should dispatch whomever with relative ease.
Prediction: Lilledahl by tech fall
Score: PSU 5, UM 0
133 LBS
On paper, this looks to be a good test for the true freshman phenom, but I really struggle to see anything but bonus here. The only thing preventing me from expecting this to end early is the quick turnaround time.
Prediction: Blaze by major decision
Score: PSU 9, UM 0
141 LBS
Braeden Davis, as he is wont to do, put himself in some dangerous situations on Friday against another ranked opponent, but turned on the gas in the third to narrowly miss a tech fall. He doesn’t face that same level of competition today, so the only question will be—-will this bout last all seven minutes? I expect not.
Prediction: Davis by tech fall
Score: PSU 14, UM 0
149 LBS
Shayne faces the toughest test of the day by far, but he is the Van Ness monster, after all. This has the potential to, like all of these matches, to go bonus but I’ve got a feeling that Young turtles up to not embarrass the coaches like Alex Clemsen complained of.
Prediction: Van Ness by decision
Score: PSU 17, UM 0
157 LBS
I say it all the time, that the transitive property doesn’t work in college sports— but Duke tech falled an IU wrestler on Friday who pinned this Maryland starter last week. How can I pick anything but this?
Prediction: Duke by pin
Score: PSU 23, UM 0
165 LBS
If I hadn’t promised to pick Mitch by tech fall in every match this year, I wouldn’t pick it in this one. This should be over very quickly, with Mesenbrink needing a long workout after to burn off his residual energy.
Prediction: Mesenbrink by tech fall
Score: PSU 28, UM 0
174 LBS
Last year in this dual, Levi was one of the few PSU winners to not get bonus, wrestling the MD now-197 starter. That changes this year. This doesn’t go all seven.
Prediction: Levi by pin
Score: PSU 34, UM 0
184 LBS
Rocco came out really strong on Friday night but let Goin back in late. I expect the opposite here, where the only thing keeping Welsh from ending this bout early is the short turnaround time between the two meets (and maybe a long bus ride).
Prediction: Welsh by major decision
Score: PSU 38, UM 0
197 LBS
I don’t know if the ref knew Barr’s opponent’s family on Friday night or what, but for a ref that was otherwise fine on the night, his call against Barr for stalling and cautions were egregious. I know Josh thinks so too, and will look to prove that point today against another ranked opponent.
Prediction: Barr by major decision
Score: PSU 42, UM 0
285 LBS
This is another weight with a few questions for Maryland, now that the last Nevills brother has left college. Cole impressed on Friday with a rare first period tech, and even if this one is longer than that, I don’t see it going all 7.
Prediction: Cole by tech fall
Score: PSU 47, UM 0
Overall score prediction: Penn State 47, Maryland 0
*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; Maryland is unranked in the both rankings.
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