Penn State (1-0), winners of eight of the last nine NCAA Wrestling Championships, looks poised to win a ninth as the No. 1-ranked Nittany Lions dealt Navy (2-2) a 45-0 loss Sunday afternoon at a sold-out Rec Hall in State College, Pa. Six of the 10 wrestlers Penn State put on the mat were ranked among the nation's top six, including three wrestlers who appeared in the championship bout of their respective weight class at the 2019 NCAA Championship (Vincenzo Joseph, Mark Hall, Anthony Cassar - defending National Champion).

"Today's match was a critical part of helping our team maximize the learning opportunities we have ahead of us this season," said sixth-year Navy head coach Joel Sharratt. "Kicking off the season with such a strong schedule (faced No. 6 Wisconsin last week) allows every guy to see where they are at and the workload they have in front of them to reach their goals and maximize their potential. While times can seem dark right now, it's what we do from this point forward that is most critical.

"I saw a lot of really good things in today's matches from the skills we executed to the way the team stayed glued together in support of the next man up.  These guys had their character and grit tested today and now we will check on their resiliency in binding together and learning everything they can to propel us forward towards our goals."

The Highlights
• Despite giving up 15 bonus points on the afternoon, four of Navy's losses were by decision, including three by one point each.
• 157-pound Scout Skidgel (Jr / Tulsa, Okla.) earned the match-tying takedown against Bo Pipher with just over 10 seconds remaining in the bout, but Pipher would wiggle free with just two seconds left to snatch the victory, 7-6.
• 197-pound Jacob Koser (Fr / Dillsburg, Pa.) nearly upset the nation's third-ranked wrestler in Kyle Conel, however, the All-American grad transfer used a third-period reversal to claim a 4-3 victory over the Navy rookie who was wrestling just the fourth match of his career.
• Penn State freshman Brody Teske gained the match-winning point on a stall called on 125-pound Logan Treaster (Jr / Newton, Kan.) in the third period to post a 2-1 victory.

More from Coach Sharratt
• Logan Treaster had a really strong match, however, he allowed a controversial call at the edge of the mat to change the outcome. It was 100 percent in his control and this is a lesson that's best learned early so it doesn't come into play late in the season and prevent him from achieving his goals.

• I saw a lot of growth in Scout Skidgel today from where he was at last week. He has more inside, but today he got a lot more out of himself then he did previously.

• Jake Koser continues to make noise and had every opportunity to win today's match. He is aggressive and exciting to watch due to his ability to turn and pin people. He got beat in the same position two times. When you wrestle guys who are winning big matches at the NCAA Championship, you can't give those points away twice.

• As a team we did not make it hard enough on our opponents in all 10 bouts today.  People will score points on us because we are aggressive and attacking, but we have to contest every point scored against us in a knockdown, drag out fight sort of way. In the matches where we do this. we are experiencing great success.

#1 Penn State 45, Navy 0 // 6,490 attendance
141 | #3 Nick Lee pinned Cody Trybus (NAVY), 6:16  //  Penn State 6-0
149 | Luke Gardner pinned Val Park (NAVY), 1:46  //  Penn State 12-0
157 | Bo Pipher dec Scout Skidgel (NAVY), 7-6 //  Penn State 15-0
165 | #1 Vincenzo Joseph tech fall #11 Tanner Skidgel (NAVY), 20-5 (6:02)  //  Penn State 20-0
174 | #1 Mark Hall pinned #17 Spencer Carey (NAVY), 0:58  //  Penn State 26-0
184 | Creighton Edsell dec Andrew Buckley (NAVY), 5-2  //  Penn State 29-0
197 | #3 Kyle Conel dec Jacob Koser (NAVY), 4-3 //  Penn State 32-0
285 | #1 Anthony Cassar pinned John Birchmeier (NAVY), 4:41  //  Penn State 38-0
125 | Brody Teske dec Logan Treaster (NAVY), 2-1  //  Penn State 41-0
133 | #3 Roman Bravo-Young major dec Casey Cobb (NAVY), 17-6  //  Penn State 45-0

East Stroudsburg Open Highlights
• Five of the nine wrestlers Navy sent to compete at the East Stroudsburg Open place, including 133-pound Jacob Allen (So / Poway, Calif.), 141-pound Wyatt Long (Jr / Mechanicsburg, Pa.) and 197-pound Alex Benoit (Sr / Chicago, Ill.) who each won titles at their respective weight classes. 125-pound Aslan Kilic (Jr / Marietta, Ga.) placed second and 165-pound Dillon Taylor (Jr / Elmer, N.J.) took sixth.
 

What's Ahead
• Next on the docket for the Midshipmen is the 42nd annual Navy Classic slated for Nov. 23 at Wesley Brown Field House in Annapolis. Action is due to begin at 10:00 am.
• Navy has won the team title in 20 of the 41 years the tournament has been held.
• This year's field includes - Air Force, American, Brown, Bucknell, Campbell, The Citadel, Cleveland State, Edinboro, George Mason, Kent State, Lock Haven, Michigan State (2018 Navy Classic winner), Navy, Ohio, Old Dominion, Oregon State, Rutgers, Virginia Tech

### Go Navy ###