Penn State athletes dominate 87th Wilkes Open with seven individual champions
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by Pat Donghia, Penn State
Mark Hall of Penn State. Image courtesy of PSUSports,com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 22, 2019 – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (3-1, 0-0 B1G) sent 22 wrestlers, both attached and unattached, to the Wilkes Open in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 22. The Lions came away with seven titles at the open tournament. The tourney was not a team scoring event.
Penn State had 19 of its 22 competitors place in the top five at the event. The Nittany Lions had seven champs, four runners-up, one third-place, four fourth-place and three fifth-place finishes.
Redshirt freshman Brandon Meredith (Limerick, Pa.) wrestled at 125 and he met true freshman teammate Baylor Shunk (Centre Hall, Pa.), who wrestled unattached, in the finals. Meredith posted a 19-6 major in the finals to claim the 125-pound title. Meredith went 4-0 with two pins and a major. Shunk, who took second, was 3-1 with a major and also had a non-collegiate win. Junior Devin Schnupp (Lititz, Pa.) wrestled at 125. The Lion went 2-0 with a pin, added a victory over a non-collegiate that does not count towards his record and placed fourth. Schnupp took a medical forfeit in the semis (not a loss) to bow out of the tournament.
Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked No. 4 nationally, wrestled at 133. Bravo-Young went 2-0, including a 9-3 win over Lehigh’s Jaret Lane in the finals, to win the title Bravo-Young, who had a major in his other victory, also had a non-collegiate win. Sophomore Austin Clabaugh (York Springs, Pa.) grappled at 133 and went 2-2 to place fourth with a technical fall.
Sophomore Joey Blumer (Leechburg, Pa.) competed at 141. Blumer took fifth place at the event. He officially went 4-0 with two majors but dropped a bout to a non-collegiate entry, moving him into the fifth-place bout.
Sophomore Jarod Verkleeren (Greensburg, Pa.) wrestled at 149 and rolled to the title at his weight. Verkleeren went 4-0 with two majors and a tech fall. True freshman Terrell Barraclough (Kaysville, Utah) competed unattached at 149 and placed fifth. Barraclough went 4-1 with three majors.
Junior Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.) wrestled at 157 and advanced to the finals before losing his first match. Pipher went 4-1 with a pin, a tech and a major to finish as runner-up. Redshirt freshman Paul Feite (Dillsburg, Pa.) competed at 157 and rolled to a third-place finish. Feite went 3-1 overall.
True freshman Joe Lee (Evansville, Ind.) competed unattached at 165 and dominated the field. Lee went 5-0 with two pins and two techs to claim the title at 165. Redshirt freshman Konner Kraeszig (Louisville, Ky.) wrestled at 165.
Senior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No.1 in the nation, wrestled at 174 where he took on teammate redshirt freshman Creighton Edsell (Wyalusing, Pa.) in the finals at that weight. Hall pinned his younger teammate at the 1:51 mark to win the title. Hall went 4-0 with two pins and two majors, plus a non-collegiate victory, on the day while Edsell went 3-1 with a pin for his runner-up finish.
True freshman Donovon Ball (New Cumberland, Pa.) competed unattached at 184. Ball advanced to the finals before losing his first match. He went 3-1 with two majors to finish second. True freshman Joe Kurtz (Easton, Pa.) competed unattached at 184 and went 2-2 to place fourth.
True freshman Michael Beard (Pottstown, Pa.) competed unattached at 197 and rolled to the title. Beard posted a 4-0 record, all coming by technical fall. Beard outscored his four opponents by a combined score of 67-5. Sophomore Austin Hoopes (Afton, Wyo.) wrestled at 197 and placed fourth. Hoopes went 3-2 with two pins on the day.
True freshman Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) competed unattached at 285, Penn State’s only heavyweight at the event. Nevills rolled to the title with a 3-0 mark, including a major and a tech fall in the finals.
Sophomore Scott Obendorfer (Germantown, Md.) grappled at 149. Obendorfer posted a 3-2 overall record on the day, with all three wins coming by major. True freshman Ritchie Heywood (Heber, Utah) competed unattached at 184. Heywood went 32- on the day with two of his victories coming by major. True freshman Eddie Smith (Scotch Plains, N.J.) competed unattached at 197 as well.
Penn State went 71-19 overall at the tournament. The Lions collected 22 majors, ten technical falls and 11 pins. The Lions had 43 bonus wins in its 71 victories.
Nittany Lions Anthony Cassar (Rocky Hill, N.J.), Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.) and Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.) competed at USA Wrestling’s Senior Nationals, a freestyle event, in Fort Worth, Texas, this weekend. Lee placed third as the No. 11 seed at 65 kg and qualified for the Olympic Team Trials at the Bryce Jordan Center in April. Brooks took sixth at 86 kg and Cassar won his first bout before bowing out of the tournament due to injury at 125 kg, taking sixth.
Penn State is 3-1 in duals, 0-0 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions return to dual meet action on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, hosting Illinois in Rec Hall at 7 p.m. Two days later, the Lions host Northwestern in Rec Hall on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m.
Other individual champions without a Penn State connection were Daniel Moran of Lehigh (141), Jon Ross of Unattached-Lock Haven (157) and Gino Sita of Alderson Broaddus (184).
87th ANNUAL WILKES OPEN
At Wilkes, Pa., December 22, 2019
125
1st - Brandon Meredith (Penn State) MD Baylor Shunk (Unatt-Penn State), 20-6
3rd - Nico Provo (Unatt-Greens Farms Academy) M FOR Devin Schnupp (Penn State), 0-0 0:00
5th- Christian Gannone (Bloomsburg University) DEC Brandon Spellman (Unatt-NJRTC), 7-3
133
1st - Roman Bravo-young (Penn State) DEC Jaret Lane (Lehigh), 9-3
3rd - Brandon Loperfido (Unatt-Lock Haven) DEC Austin Clabaugh (Penn State), 8-4
5th - Shawn Orem (Bloomsburg University) F Anthony Wiggins (Millersville), 0:24
141
1st - Daniel Moran (Lehigh) DEC Joseph Rossetti (Unatt-Williams), 3-1
3rd - Theo Powers (Unatt-Unrostered) DEC Preston Maucere (WyoSem Prep), 12-5
5th - 141Joey Blumer (Penn State) DEC Tyler Dilley (Unatt-Lock Haven), 5-3
149
1st - Jarod Verkleeren (Penn State) M FOR Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh)
3rd - Luke Karam (Lehigh) MD Tyler Gazaway (Unatt-Roger Williams), 9-0
5th - Terrell Barraclough (Unatt-Penn State) MD Paul Watkins (Unatt-Lehigh), 13-4
157
1st - Jon Ross (Unatt-Lock Haven) DEC Bo Pipher (Penn State), 5-3
3rd - Paul Feite (Penn State) M FOR Aj Burkhart (Unatt-Lehigh), 0-0 0:00
5th - Jacob Burgette (Unatt-Pitt-Johnstown) NC Matt Lee (Unatt-NLWC)
165
1st - Joe Lee (Unatt-Penn State) DEC Brian Meyer (Lehigh), 6-3
3rd - Trey Cornish (Unatt-Lehigh) NC Luca Frinzi (Unatt-Lehigh)
5th - Konner Kraeszig (Penn State) DEC Nate Newberry (Bloomsburg University), 6-4
174
1st - Mark Hall (Penn State) F Creighton Edsell (Penn State), 1:51
3rd - Jake Logan (Unatt-Lehigh) NC Edmond Ruth (Unatt-Lehigh)
5th - Ben Root (American) F Colin Shannon (Unatt-American), 1:15
184
1st - Gino Sita (Alderson Broaddus University) DEC Donovon Ball (Unatt-Penn State), 8-3
3rd - Colin Fegley (Unatt-Lock Haven) DEC Joe Kurtz (Unatt-Penn State), 7-5
5th - Cory Day (Binghamton) DEC Eli Grape (Unatt-Lehigh), 3-2
197
1st - Michael Beard (Unatt-Penn State) TF Sam Deprez (Binghamton), 20-5 3:57
3rd - Elijah Jones (Unatt-Lehigh) F Malcolm Hunt (Ursinus), 1:09
5th - Ethan Seeley (Franklin and Marshall) DEC Austin Hoopes (Penn State), 3-1
285
1st - Seth Nevills (Unatt-Penn State) TF Keegan Connelly (Unatt-Scranton), 17-2 7:00
3rd - Josh Walls (Millersville) DEC Tim Nagosky (Unatt-Long Island University), 2-0
5th - Caleb Warner (Millersville) F Shane Noonan (Unatt-Edinboro), 5:24
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 22, 2019 – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (3-1, 0-0 B1G) sent 22 wrestlers, both attached and unattached, to the Wilkes Open in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 22. The Lions came away with seven titles at the open tournament. The tourney was not a team scoring event.
Penn State had 19 of its 22 competitors place in the top five at the event. The Nittany Lions had seven champs, four runners-up, one third-place, four fourth-place and three fifth-place finishes.
Redshirt freshman Brandon Meredith (Limerick, Pa.) wrestled at 125 and he met true freshman teammate Baylor Shunk (Centre Hall, Pa.), who wrestled unattached, in the finals. Meredith posted a 19-6 major in the finals to claim the 125-pound title. Meredith went 4-0 with two pins and a major. Shunk, who took second, was 3-1 with a major and also had a non-collegiate win. Junior Devin Schnupp (Lititz, Pa.) wrestled at 125. The Lion went 2-0 with a pin, added a victory over a non-collegiate that does not count towards his record and placed fourth. Schnupp took a medical forfeit in the semis (not a loss) to bow out of the tournament.
Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked No. 4 nationally, wrestled at 133. Bravo-Young went 2-0, including a 9-3 win over Lehigh’s Jaret Lane in the finals, to win the title Bravo-Young, who had a major in his other victory, also had a non-collegiate win. Sophomore Austin Clabaugh (York Springs, Pa.) grappled at 133 and went 2-2 to place fourth with a technical fall.
Sophomore Joey Blumer (Leechburg, Pa.) competed at 141. Blumer took fifth place at the event. He officially went 4-0 with two majors but dropped a bout to a non-collegiate entry, moving him into the fifth-place bout.
Sophomore Jarod Verkleeren (Greensburg, Pa.) wrestled at 149 and rolled to the title at his weight. Verkleeren went 4-0 with two majors and a tech fall. True freshman Terrell Barraclough (Kaysville, Utah) competed unattached at 149 and placed fifth. Barraclough went 4-1 with three majors.
Junior Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.) wrestled at 157 and advanced to the finals before losing his first match. Pipher went 4-1 with a pin, a tech and a major to finish as runner-up. Redshirt freshman Paul Feite (Dillsburg, Pa.) competed at 157 and rolled to a third-place finish. Feite went 3-1 overall.
True freshman Joe Lee (Evansville, Ind.) competed unattached at 165 and dominated the field. Lee went 5-0 with two pins and two techs to claim the title at 165. Redshirt freshman Konner Kraeszig (Louisville, Ky.) wrestled at 165.
Senior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No.1 in the nation, wrestled at 174 where he took on teammate redshirt freshman Creighton Edsell (Wyalusing, Pa.) in the finals at that weight. Hall pinned his younger teammate at the 1:51 mark to win the title. Hall went 4-0 with two pins and two majors, plus a non-collegiate victory, on the day while Edsell went 3-1 with a pin for his runner-up finish.
True freshman Donovon Ball (New Cumberland, Pa.) competed unattached at 184. Ball advanced to the finals before losing his first match. He went 3-1 with two majors to finish second. True freshman Joe Kurtz (Easton, Pa.) competed unattached at 184 and went 2-2 to place fourth.
True freshman Michael Beard (Pottstown, Pa.) competed unattached at 197 and rolled to the title. Beard posted a 4-0 record, all coming by technical fall. Beard outscored his four opponents by a combined score of 67-5. Sophomore Austin Hoopes (Afton, Wyo.) wrestled at 197 and placed fourth. Hoopes went 3-2 with two pins on the day.
True freshman Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) competed unattached at 285, Penn State’s only heavyweight at the event. Nevills rolled to the title with a 3-0 mark, including a major and a tech fall in the finals.
Sophomore Scott Obendorfer (Germantown, Md.) grappled at 149. Obendorfer posted a 3-2 overall record on the day, with all three wins coming by major. True freshman Ritchie Heywood (Heber, Utah) competed unattached at 184. Heywood went 32- on the day with two of his victories coming by major. True freshman Eddie Smith (Scotch Plains, N.J.) competed unattached at 197 as well.
Penn State went 71-19 overall at the tournament. The Lions collected 22 majors, ten technical falls and 11 pins. The Lions had 43 bonus wins in its 71 victories.
Nittany Lions Anthony Cassar (Rocky Hill, N.J.), Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.) and Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.) competed at USA Wrestling’s Senior Nationals, a freestyle event, in Fort Worth, Texas, this weekend. Lee placed third as the No. 11 seed at 65 kg and qualified for the Olympic Team Trials at the Bryce Jordan Center in April. Brooks took sixth at 86 kg and Cassar won his first bout before bowing out of the tournament due to injury at 125 kg, taking sixth.
Penn State is 3-1 in duals, 0-0 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions return to dual meet action on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, hosting Illinois in Rec Hall at 7 p.m. Two days later, the Lions host Northwestern in Rec Hall on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m.
Other individual champions without a Penn State connection were Daniel Moran of Lehigh (141), Jon Ross of Unattached-Lock Haven (157) and Gino Sita of Alderson Broaddus (184).
87th ANNUAL WILKES OPEN
At Wilkes, Pa., December 22, 2019
125
1st - Brandon Meredith (Penn State) MD Baylor Shunk (Unatt-Penn State), 20-6
3rd - Nico Provo (Unatt-Greens Farms Academy) M FOR Devin Schnupp (Penn State), 0-0 0:00
5th- Christian Gannone (Bloomsburg University) DEC Brandon Spellman (Unatt-NJRTC), 7-3
133
1st - Roman Bravo-young (Penn State) DEC Jaret Lane (Lehigh), 9-3
3rd - Brandon Loperfido (Unatt-Lock Haven) DEC Austin Clabaugh (Penn State), 8-4
5th - Shawn Orem (Bloomsburg University) F Anthony Wiggins (Millersville), 0:24
141
1st - Daniel Moran (Lehigh) DEC Joseph Rossetti (Unatt-Williams), 3-1
3rd - Theo Powers (Unatt-Unrostered) DEC Preston Maucere (WyoSem Prep), 12-5
5th - 141Joey Blumer (Penn State) DEC Tyler Dilley (Unatt-Lock Haven), 5-3
149
1st - Jarod Verkleeren (Penn State) M FOR Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh)
3rd - Luke Karam (Lehigh) MD Tyler Gazaway (Unatt-Roger Williams), 9-0
5th - Terrell Barraclough (Unatt-Penn State) MD Paul Watkins (Unatt-Lehigh), 13-4
157
1st - Jon Ross (Unatt-Lock Haven) DEC Bo Pipher (Penn State), 5-3
3rd - Paul Feite (Penn State) M FOR Aj Burkhart (Unatt-Lehigh), 0-0 0:00
5th - Jacob Burgette (Unatt-Pitt-Johnstown) NC Matt Lee (Unatt-NLWC)
165
1st - Joe Lee (Unatt-Penn State) DEC Brian Meyer (Lehigh), 6-3
3rd - Trey Cornish (Unatt-Lehigh) NC Luca Frinzi (Unatt-Lehigh)
5th - Konner Kraeszig (Penn State) DEC Nate Newberry (Bloomsburg University), 6-4
174
1st - Mark Hall (Penn State) F Creighton Edsell (Penn State), 1:51
3rd - Jake Logan (Unatt-Lehigh) NC Edmond Ruth (Unatt-Lehigh)
5th - Ben Root (American) F Colin Shannon (Unatt-American), 1:15
184
1st - Gino Sita (Alderson Broaddus University) DEC Donovon Ball (Unatt-Penn State), 8-3
3rd - Colin Fegley (Unatt-Lock Haven) DEC Joe Kurtz (Unatt-Penn State), 7-5
5th - Cory Day (Binghamton) DEC Eli Grape (Unatt-Lehigh), 3-2
197
1st - Michael Beard (Unatt-Penn State) TF Sam Deprez (Binghamton), 20-5 3:57
3rd - Elijah Jones (Unatt-Lehigh) F Malcolm Hunt (Ursinus), 1:09
5th - Ethan Seeley (Franklin and Marshall) DEC Austin Hoopes (Penn State), 3-1
285
1st - Seth Nevills (Unatt-Penn State) TF Keegan Connelly (Unatt-Scranton), 17-2 7:00
3rd - Josh Walls (Millersville) DEC Tim Nagosky (Unatt-Long Island University), 2-0
5th - Caleb Warner (Millersville) F Shane Noonan (Unatt-Edinboro), 5:24
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