Penn State @ Maryland

Penn State men’s wrestling rolled into Maryland on Jan. 28, 2024 and left with a 42-6 victory over the Terrapins in College Park. The Nittany Lions didn’t pad a close score; they amassed bonus points across multiple weights and turned the meet into a rout.

Braeden Davis set the tone with a dominant 15-0 technical fall at 125 pounds, netting five team points and putting Penn State comfortably ahead. Levi Haines added another decisive bonus with a 16-0 technical fall at 157 pounds, extending the margin and forcing Maryland to play catch-up against a stream of bonus results.

The dual’s clearest turning point came when Penn State piled up falls that made a comeback unrealistic. Mitchell Mesenbrink’s pin at 165 and Carter Starocci’s pin at 174 each delivered six points and helped close out the team scoring. Greg Kerkvliet capped the night with a fall at heavyweight, sealing the definitive 36-point victory.

Beyond those pins and tech falls, Penn State collected additional bonus in the form of major decisions, most notably Beau Bartlett’s 11-1 major at 141 and Aaron Brooks’ 13-4 major at 197, which kept Maryland from staying competitive on the scoreboard. In the end, it was the Nittany Lions’ depth and an abundance of bonus-point finishes that decided this dual in Maryland.