UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 16 Nicolas Aguilar (125) and Michael VanBrill (157) picked up individual wins as No. 22 Rutgers wrestling (7-3, 2-2) dropped a 38-6 dual to No. 2 Penn State (6-1, 3-0) on Sunday night at historic Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions claimed eight out of 10 bouts against the Scarlet Knights to secure the Big Ten Conference matchup.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Aguilar opened the dual against Brandon Meredith. Despite letting up an early takedown, Aguilar took control of the bout with two takedowns in the first period for a 5-3 lead. Aguilar added a reversal off the restart in period two and caught Meredith in a single leg for his final takedown of the bout. Collecting more than two minutes or riding time gave the Gilroy, California, native a 10-4 decision, his fourth consecutive win in dual action.
• In his second top-10 matchups in as many outings, No. 9 Sammy Alvarez faced No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young. Though there were several scrambles throughout regulation, Alvarez and Bravo-Young traded escape points to force sudden victory. Both would register escapes in the tiebreaker portion, but Bravo-Young landed a takedown at the buzzer in the second sudden victory period for the 4-2 final.
• RU dropped its next two bouts, as JoJo Aragona (149) lost by tech fall to No. 2 Nick Lee, and Nick Santos (149) suffered a hard-fought 7-3 decision in his first dual in more than two months.
• VanBirll worked hard in his match with Bo Pipher. After Pipher rode VanBrill for the duration of the second period, Van Brill returned the favor with a two-minute ride out to force sudden victory. Pipher nearly won the match at the buzzer in SV1 but was one second too late. VanBrill followed with a ride out in tie breaker one, and then broke away in the second tie breaker for the 1-0 win.
• Brett Donner (165) and Joseph Grello (174) lost to No. 1 Vincenzo Joseph and No. 1 Mark Hall, respectively, with Grello pulling out with a lower body injury in the final period.
• The Scarlet Knights fell in their final three bouts of the night to close out the conference dual.
 
No. 2 Penn State 38, No. 22 Rutgers 6
Attendance: 6,485
Match Start: 125 Pounds

125: 16/15/14 Nicolas Aguilar (RU) over Brandon Meredith (PSU) by decision, 10-4; RU leads, 3-0
133: 3/4/4 Roman Bravo-Young (PSU) over 9/11/9 Sammy Alvarez (RU) by decision, 4-2 (SV2); Match tied, 3-3
141: 2/2/2/ Nick Lee (PSU) over JoJo Aragona (RU) by tech fall, 19-4; PSU leads, 8-3
149: Jarod Verkleeren (PSU) over Nick Santos (RU) by decision, 7-3; PSU leads, 11-3
157: Michael VanBrill (RU) over Bo Pipher (PSU) by decision (TB2), 1-0; PSU leads, 11-6
165: 1/1/1 Vincenzo Joseph (PSU) over Brett Donner (RU) by fall (6:15); PSU leads, 17-6
174: 1/1/1 Mark Hall (PSU) over NR/NR/25 Joseph Grello (RU) by injury default (6:37); PSU leads, 23-6
184: 8/9/8 Aaron Brooks (PSU) over NR/25/27 Billy Janzer (RU) by fall (4:36); PSU leads, 29-6
197: 20/23/15 Shakur Rasheed (PSU) over 18/18/21 Jordan Pagano (RU) by decision, 6-0; PSU leads, 32-6
285: NR/NR/23 Seth Nevills (PSU) over Alex Esposito (RU) by fall (2:24); PSU wins, 38-6
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers returns to the RAC for its next two matches, as it hosts Indiana on Friday (Jan. 26) and No. 14 Purdue on Sunday (Jan. 28). RU will not leave the Tri-State to compete for the next seven weeks.  

Rutgers Wrestling is presented by Eat Clean Bro, an Official Partner of Rutgers Athletics.
 
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