PISCATAWAY, N.J. – In front of a sellout crowd of 7,848, No. 23 Rutgers wrestling (10-6, 2-5) lost to No. 1 Penn State (14-0, 7-0), 33-8, on Friday night at Jersey Mike's Arena. It marked the second-highest attendance for a wrestling match in school history, as No. 16 Dean Peterson (125) and No. 15 Joe Heilmann (133) opened the dual with back-to-back wins to highlight action for the Scarlet Knights in their final home dual of the season.

Rutgers averaged 5,018 fans per home match at Jersey Mike's Arena this season, its second-highest final attendance average in school history (2018-19; 5,038).

"It was a great crowd tonight," said head coach Scott Goodale. "Our guys love wrestling here. It was awesome to see that. They were into it at the beginning, but we have to keep them into it and we weren't able to do that. I appreciate the support. I appreciate the administration, the marketing team — they did a lot of cool things for this match."
  
Top Wrestling Crowds at Jersey Mike's Arena
8,321 SELLOUT (Jan. 28, 2018 vs. No. 1 Penn State)
7,848 SELLOUT (Feb. 10, 2023 vs. No. 1 Penn State)
7,545 (Jan. 13, 2019 vs. No. 3 Oklahoma State)
6,754 (Dec. 8, 2017 vs. No. 7 Iowa)
6,365 (Dec. 10, 2021 vs. Army)
 
Prior to the match, RU honored five student-athletes as part of Senior Night – Devon Britton, Alex Esposito, Andrew Gapas, Joe Heilmann and Billy Janzer.
 
Peterson faced Gary Steen in one of his most impressive outings of the season, landing two takedowns in the opening period for a quick 4-1 lead. Peterson nearly stuck Steen at the end of the second period for a four-point near fall and closed the bout with a 21-6 tech fall to push RU out in front of PSU, 5-0.
 
Heilmann followed against Baylor Shunk and started fast with two takedowns in the first three minutes of action. The graduate student would add another takedown en route to a 7-2 final, giving the Scarlet Knights an 8-0 lead through two matches.
 
Penn State would go on to win the final eight matches of the night. Rutgers wrestles at No. 10 Nebraska to close its dual schedule on Sunday in Lincoln. The match is set for 1 p.m. ET on Big Ten Plus.
 
Box Score
No. 1 Penn State 33, No. 23 Rutgers 8
Attendance: 7,848
125: 16/18 Dean Peterson (RU) over Gary Steen (PSU) by TF, 21-6 (6:41); RU leads, 5-0
133: 15/14 Joe Heilmann (RU) over Baylor Shunk (PSU) by dec., 7-2; RU leads, 8-0
141: 6/3 Beau Bartlett (PSU) over 19/HM Joseph Olivieri (RU) by MD, 12-1; RU leads, 8-4
149: 13/12 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) over NR/HM Tony White (RU) by MD, 21-9; match tied, 8-8
157: 8/8 Levi Haines (PSU) over NR/HM Andrew Clark (RU) by dec., 8-2; PSU leads, 11-8
165: 9/10 Alex Facundo (PSU) over Luke Gayer (RU) by MD, 25-12; PSU leads, 15-8
174: 1/1 Carter Starocci (PSU) over Jackson Turley (RU) by MD, 16-3; PSU leads, 19-8
184: 1/1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) over 14/15 Brian Soldano (RU) by TF, 18-3 (4:05); PSU leads, 24-8
197: 3/2 Max Dean (PSU) over NR/HM Billy Janzer (RU) by MD, 11-2; PSU leads, 28-8
HWT: 2/2 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) over Kyle Epperly (RU) by TF, 16-0 (2:06); PSU wins, 33-8