EVANSTON, Ill. — The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (9-0, 3-0 Big Ten) shut out Northwestern (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) in Big Ten road action Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill. Penn State won all ten bouts and picked up bonus points in each as it rolled to the 51-0 win.

Penn State, with today’s shutout victory, completed a weekend Big Ten road sweep having won 19 of 20 bouts. The Nittany Lions grabbed their second Big Ten dual shutout of the season with the lopsided victory over the homestanding Wildcats.

The dual began at 174. Senior Levi Haines, ranked No. 1 at 174, opened up the dual with a 19-4 tech fall over No. 32 Eddie Enright. Haines used six takedowns to secure the early tech. Sophomore Rocco Welsh, ranked No. 4 at 184, also picked up six takedowns in his bout. Welsh rolled J.D. Perez, grabbing a 22-7 tech fall at 5:27 to put Penn State up 10-0. Sophomore Josh Barr, ranked No. 1 at 197, notched his second pin of the weekend. Barr took Wildcat Alex Smith down early in the first period and quickly turned him to his back for a first period fall at 1:50.

Redshirt freshman Cole Mirasola, ranked No. 13 at 285, tallied five takedowns in the first period to roll to a 19-4 tech fall over Gabe Christenson at the 2:47 mark. Sophomore Luke Lilledahl, ranked No. 2 at 125, posted Penn State’s fourth technical fall in the first half. Lilledahl used six takedowns and 2:30 in riding time to pick up a 20-5 win over No. 26 Dedrick Navarro at 7:00. Penn State led 26-0 at halftime.

True freshman Marcus Blaze, ranked No. 4 at 133, opened up the second half with four takedowns in a strong 15-4 major decision over No. 24 Sean Spidle. Junior Braeden Davis, ranked No. 7 at 141, made it two majors in a row for Penn State in the next bout. Davis used a takedown and four back points to spur him on to a 9-0 major over No. 32 Billy Dekraker to give the Lions a 34-0 lead. Junior Shayne Van Ness, ranked No. 1 at 149, notched another tech fall for Penn State. Van Ness used four takedowns, a four-point turn and 4:25 in riding time to grab the 18-3 tech at 7:00.

True freshman PJ Duke, ranked No. 3 at 157, secured Penn State’s second first period fall in the dual. Duke picked up five takedowns before pinning Gunnar Myers at the 2:42 mark. Junior Mitchell Mesenbrink, ranked No. 1 at 165, received a victory by forfeit in the dual’s final schedule bout as the Wildcats did not weigh in anyone at this weight. The win by forfeit for Mesenbrink secured the team dual shutout and Penn State left Evanston with a 51-0 win.

Penn State amazed a 38-1 takedown advantage. Penn State won each of the ten bouts, all for bonus points. The Nittany Lions worked up 21 bonus points off a forfeit (Mesenbrink), two pins (Barr, Duke), five tech falls (Haines, Welsh, Mirasola, Lilledahl, Van Ness) and two majors (Blaze, Davis). Penn State added up some impressive numbers in its road dual weekend, including Friday night’s 32-3 victory at Iowa. Penn State had a 53-3 takedown margin (15-2 vs. Iowa, 38-1 vs. Northwestern), won 19 of 20 bouts, had had three pins, five tech falls, and four majors. Penn State grabbed its second Big Ten shutout of the year as well.

Penn State is now 9-0 on the year, 3-0 in the Big Ten. Northwestern falls to 3-3, 1-2 B1G. The Nittany Lions have two Big Ten duals once again next weekend. Penn State hosts Indiana on Friday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall and then visit Maryland on Sunday, Jan. 25, at 12 p.m.