Jason Bryant’s College Wrestling Wrap Sheet is a look at five topics from the world of college wrestling with highlights, things you know and things you don’t. Here’s the five for November 18, 2021.
Nittany Lions top America’s Team
Second-ranked Penn State improved to 3-0 after another home sellout win. The Nittany Lions topped Army West Point 32-7. What does America’s Team mean? It’s surely not the Dallas Cowboys, but Army West Point associate head coach Scott Green has been labeling the squad in West Point by the title, which is pretty fun when you think about it. Penn State wasn’t being unpatriotic as its dominant upper weights again swept a team with bonus victories from 174-285 as Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks, Max Dean and Greg Kerkvliet went tech-major-tech-major. Penn State 149-pounder Beau Bartlett won another tight match over a solid opponent, besting P.J. Ogunsanya 3-1 in sudden victory. Army West Point’s wins came from Corey Shie at 141 and Markus Hartman at 157.
WIAC win, b’gosh
If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, you probably remember the kids brand “Oshkosh B’Gosh” and their corduroy overalls. For some reason, I remember Jeff King in seventh grade at Gildersleeve Middle School in Newport News, Virginia wearing them. No, I’m not randomly calling out someone, I actually went to school there until March of 1992. We’re also sure that the residents of Oshkosh hear about this a lot, because the name is based on the city in which the company was founded. This history lesson brought to you by UW-Oshkosh’s 23-14 win over UW-Stevens Point on Thursday. The Pointers (you can probably guess which school is the Pointers) led 14-10 after seven bouts, but wins by Patrick Curran, Beau Yineman and Jordan Lemcke at the last three weights pushed the Titans (Oshkosh’s nickname) to the 23-14 win. The schools also wrestled eight extra countable matches, where UW-Oshkosh won five of them. Last week, we pointed out the four pins by UW-Oshkosh’s Luc Valdez and UW-Stevens Point’s Matt Berlin at the Adrian Duals. Both won on Thursday, but merely by mortal decisions. Yes, I said “mortal decision” on purpose.
296-year-old man wins Beltway match against entire nation
Yes, dad jokes will permeate the content here, primarily because I’m a 42-year-old father of two and I need to laugh to myself between episodes of Bluey and YouTube videos of my kids watching Mario Party. So George Mason beat American 20-16 on Wednesday night in a dual between schools separated by about 17 miles. It’ll take anywhere between 40 minutes and three days to get from one to the other depending on Northern Virginia traffic, which sucks. GMU won the last three bouts to rally from a 16-10 deficit. Kyle Davis’ major decision at 184 gave the Patriots their first lead of the dual before 197-pounder Austin Stith ended the dual with a 14-7 decision to give Frank Beasley’s squad the win. History lesson: George Mason was a planter, politician and delegate in pre-revolutionary Virginia. He played a prominent role in the creation of the Virginia Declaration of rights and the U.S. Constitution, despite not actually signing it. If Army West Point wants to claim the America’s Team moniker, the Patriots of GMU and the Eagles of American University may have something to say about it, given their patriotic names and mascots.
Powerful UPJ
Pat Pecora, college wrestling’s all-time winningest coach, added another W to his long list of coaching wins after Pitt-Johnstown’s 42-0 win over East Stroudsburg. UPJ is currently ranked 21st, but that’s based on tournament points, which we know all stink when it comes to looking at dual strength. With just three ranked wrestlers currently, UPJ is better than the No. 21 alleges. The Mountain Cats earned seven bonus wins on the night, including a fall by sixth-ranked Brock Biddle at 174 pounds.
NAIA Roundup
There were three NAIA men’s duals on Thursday. Third-ranked Doane tabbed York (Neb.) 42-6. Returning two-time NAIA champion Baterdene Boldmaa of Doane picked up a fall at 141 pounds. Boldmaa wasn’t the only native of Mongolia to pick up a win. Chignes Tsermaa and Odgerel Batkhishig won at 157 and 285. At 125, Doane’s Daniel Vargas, ranked third in the country, topped 15th-ranked Harley Williamson 11-6. … Just two bouts were physically contested in Central Baptist’s 22-4 win over Arkansas Baptist. Five double forfeits halved the dual. Arkansas Baptist is struggling to stay open as an institution, but it’s also in the middle of a reclassification from being a two-year school to a full four-year degree granting institution going from the NJCAA to the NAIA. … St. Mary, the one in Kansas, topped Benedictine, the one in Kansas, 33-18 in a non-conference dual. Corban’s men’s team beat Simpson, the one in California, 31-21. According to the school, it was Corban’s first home win over a conference opponent in school history.
Bonus Point: Corban women make history, too
Speaking of Corban, the women’s team picked up the first home win in school history with a 35-5 win over Simpson on the front end of the doubleheader on Thursday evening.
