Top-ranked Nittany Lions open up with ranked win as first semester nears completion

Manheim, Pennsylvania –With a large portion of the Division I membership competing at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this past weekend, the number of ranked teams in action in duals was pretty minimal.

Penn State (1-0) opened up its dual season with a 30-10 win over No. 20 Lehigh and remained the unanimous No. 1 in the most recent NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.

Twenty four of the 25 teams remained in the Top 25 with Indiana (2-0) the lone new entry, coming in at No. 25 this week after beating Princeton 18-15 over the weekend.

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Three Jacks place at Patriot Open

FAIRFAX, Va. — Three South Dakota State wrestlers recorded top-six finishes Sunday at the A Better Way Athletics Patriot Open hosted by George Mason University.

Leading the Jackrabbit trio was Bennett Berge with a runner-up finish in the 184-pound weight class. A redshirt freshman from Mantorville, Minnesota, Berge posted a 4-1 record on the day, with two wins each by major decision and technical fall. His major decisions came against Navy’s Daniel Williams (14-3) in the opening round and versus Kevin Makosy of Maryland (11-2) in the quarterfinals, while his tech falls were recorded against Dalton Battle of Appalachian State (21-6) in the Round of 16 and Isaac Dean of Rider (17-1) in the semifinals.

In the finals, the 19th-ranked Berge was matched up against Brock Delsignore of North Carolina State and dropped an 11-3 major decision.

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Devos wins 174-pound title in Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Cade DeVos won the 174-pound title and Tanner Sloan captured third place at 197 pounds to lead the South Dakota State wrestling team Saturday on the final day of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational hosted by the Westgate Paradise Event Center.

DeVos, a senior from Altoona, Iowa, posted two victories Saturday to finish the two-day tournament with a 5-0 record. In semifinal action, the third-seeded DeVos trailed early against second-seeded Carson Kharchla of Ohio State before rallying late for an 11-8 decision.

In the finals, DeVos matched up against Oregon State’s Travis Wittlake and held the lead from start to finish. He opened the scoring with a takedown and overcame a Wittlake reversal to take a 4-2 lead into the second period. DeVos extended his lead to 7-3 with a second-period takedown and held off Wittlake down the stretch for a 9-7 victory.

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