In the 133-pound match, Ohio State’s No. 24 Brendan McCrone took down Michigan’s No. 14 by a 16-1 tech fall in the two’s dual on Jan. 26 at the Covelli Center. The Buckeyes won 20-19. Credit: Aiden Ridgway | Lantern Photographer
Taking down the top-ranked team is often a challenge, and it proved to be too much as the Buckeyes could not come back from an adversarial score Friday night in State College, Pennsylvania.
No. 6 Ohio State (12-2, 4-1) fell by a score of 28-9 in its visit to No. 1 Penn State (8-0, 5-0) as the Nittany Lions dominated the night by claiming eight of 10 matches.
The first four contests of the night resulted in regular decisions.
To kick off the dual, No. 3 Braeden Davis took over unranked Vinny Kilkeary of Ohio State in the 125-pound match to earn the first 3 points by regular decision for Penn State. A controversial call by the officials at the end of the match annulled Kilkeary’s takedown to bring it 4-3 for Penn State.
At weight 133, unranked Nic Bouzakis’ win by regular decision gave Ohio State its first 3 points of the night. Bouzakis started strong with three takedowns over No. 5 Aaron Nagao to finish the match 12-10 Buckeyes.
In the 141-pound contest, No. 3 sophomore Jesse Mendez went against No. 2 senior Beau Bartlett, which came down to a sudden victory period. A controversial takedown call after revision gave Penn State its second victory to put the dual total score at 6-3.
Nittany Lion No. 12 freshman Tyler Kasak’s 7-2 win over No. 9 redshirt senior Dylan D’Emilio at 149 pounds put the dual at 9-3 in Penn State’s favor.
In the first of two major decisions for the Nittany Lions, No. 1 Levi Haines at weight 157 was enough to overtake Ohio State’s No. 29 Isaac Wilcox by a match score of 11-3. Wilcox was topped by three takedowns to put the dual total score 13-3.
The 165- and 174-pound matchups were regular-decision wins for Penn State.
At 165 pounds, No. 7 Mitchell Mesenbrink’s 10-4 win over No. 20 sophomore Bryce Hepner of the Buckeyes brought the team score to 16-3 for the home team.
The 174-pound contest was a close 4-2 matchup for the No. 1 undefeated Nittany Lion senior Carter Starocci, who’s won 61 consecutive matches, over No. 13 freshman Rocco Welsh to push the overall score to 19-3.
At weight 184, unranked freshman Ryder Rogotzke pinned No. 5 Bernie Truax to give Ohio State a huge fall win to put the dual at 19-9. Rogotzke’s pin upset Truax’s three takedowns over the course of the match.
The 197-pound, technical-fall win by No. 1 undefeated graduate Aaron Brooks over Ohio State’s No. 22 sophomore Luke Geog by 22-6 was topped by seven takedowns to bring it to 24-9 for Penn State.
In the heavyweight matchup, No. 1 senior Greg Kerkvliet dominated No. 12 freshman Nick Feldman by a 12-0 result with three takedowns for the second major decision win on the night, giving Penn State 4 more points to close the night at 28-9.
The Buckeyes’ road trip continued Sunday at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey.
