Penn State sends 6 to Big Ten wrestling finals as 9 Nittany Lions lock up NCAA berths
The postseason is finally here for Penn State wrestlers as the Big Ten championships got underway Saturday inside Williams Arena.
After the first day was completed, the Nittany Lions have nine of their 10 wrestlers still alive. All nine of those wrestlers have also secured their spots in the NCAA championships in two weeks in Pittsburgh.
Penn State was 15-6 on the day and sent six wrestlers to the finals. The Nittany Lions lead the team race with 131 points. They are 18.5 points better than Ohio State.
“I think, overall, the team wrestled fine,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “(We) lost some tough matches, won some tough matches, but the conference is loaded. Some of the matches you’re seeing in the semifinals could be matches you’re seeing in the semifinals or finals at the national championship. I think we wrestled fine, obviously; we have to finish strong tomorrow.”
Wrestling resumes at 1 p.m. Sunday. In the meantime, here’s a look at how each Penn State wrestler did:
125 Pounds: Devin Schnupp
Record after first day: 0-3
Current round: Eliminated
Recap: Schnupp came out in his preliminary match against Illinois’ Travis Piotrowski by shooting and looking for the first takedown. However, Schnupp was at the edge of the mat on that first shot. It was the final good action of the mat for the Nittany Lions wrestler.
Piotrowski snapped off multiple takedowns and collected near-fall points on the way to a 17-0 technical fall in 4:39.
The day didn’t get much better for Schnupp.
He was unable to get anything going against Rutgers’ Shane Metzler in a 6-1 loss, which put Schnupp into a six-man bracket for ninth place.
Unfortunately for Schnupp, he had to take on Metzler again in the first round of the ninth-place bracket. Metzler defeated Schnupp for a second time; however, it was only 6-4 this time.
133 Pounds: Roman Bravo-Young
Record after first day: 3-1
Current round: Consolation semifinals
Recap: Bravo-Young looked like the wrestler that began the season for Penn State and not like the wrestler coming off an injury.
He was quick and light on his feet, rattling off three first-period takedowns. The true freshman continued to push the pace and rolled to an 18-5 major decision in his Big Ten championships debut.
Bravo-Young got a rematch with Ohio State’s Luke Pletcher in the quarterfinals. Pletcher dropped the duo’s first match in the dual at the beginning of February, 2-1, in ultimate tiebreaker.
This time around, they didn’t go that far and the result was different for Bravo-Young. The Buckeye recorded the first takedown in the match as Bravo-Young trailed 6-3 after two periods. The Penn State wrestler then got an escape in the third period to get within two, but a counter takedown from Pletcher proved to be the winner in an 8-5 OSU victory.
The true freshman responded well from his loss to Pletcher. He racked up a 14-5 major decision over Wisconsin’s Jens Lantz to secure his spot in Pittsburgh.
Bravo-Young kept things rolling in the consolations, but it wasn’t easy. He sneaked by Illinois’ Dylan Duncan 3-2 to reach the semifinals, where he will take on Iowa’s Austin Desanto.
141 Pounds: Nick Lee
Record after first day: 1-1
Current round: Consolation semifinals
Recap: Lee was one of six wrestlers to only have one match during the first session for the Nittany Lions.
Lee quickly raced out to a 4-2 lead on Iowa’s Max Murin. Murin added an escape in the second period to give Lee a one-point lead to start the third.
Lee recorded four points in the third period but got some help. Murin gave up an interlock point; Lee collected an escape and takedown to win 8-3.
Lee was in a rematch with Ohio State’s Joey McKenna in the semifinals. McKenna was able to avenge his loss to Lee in the February dual with a 5-4 win.
149 Pounds: Brady Berge
Record after first day: 2-1
Current round: Consolation semifinals
Recap: Berge had one of the more exciting first sessions for the Nittany Lions in his Big Ten championships debut.
He didn’t seem to have any trouble with his preliminary opponent in Purdue’s Parker Filius. Berge earned a 12-3 major decision.
In the quarterfinals, he picked up his second win of the season over a guy ranked in the top 10 in Iowa’s Pat Lugo.
The pair went to sudden victory after trading escapes in the second and third periods. They went through a pair of ultimate tiebreaker periods tied 2-2 after each escaping in the periods.
In the second sudden victory period, Berge got off a counter takedown on Lugo with 31 seconds left for a 4-2 win. Berge ran into a buzzsaw of Ohio State’s Micah Jordan in the semifinals. Jordan cruised past Berge with a 13-4 victory.
157 Pounds: Jason Nolf
Record after first day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: It was no surprise to see Nolf in this position.
He proved why he is the No. 1 seed and No. 1 guy in the country. Nolf also began a string of five straight bouts where Penn State wrestlers secured bonus points.
The senior worked up to a 6-2 lead before cradling up Illinois’ Eric Barone in the quarterfinals. Nolf finished off his work with a pin in 2:13.
Nolf controlled the match from start to finish against Michigan’s Alec Pantaleo in the semifinals. He earned a stall point and riding-time point with a strong ride. Nolf added two takedowns and an escape for a 7-1 win. He will take on Nebraska’s Tyler Berger on Sunday in the finals.
165 Pounds: Vincenzo Joseph
Record after first day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Joseph came out in the first period against Illinois’ Joseph Gunther like a man possessed in the quarterfinals.
The redshirt junior rattled off five first-period takedowns to jump out to a 10-4 lead. In the second period, he added another five points with two more takedowns involved.
In the third period, Joseph collected four near-fall points and a bout-finishing takedown for a 21-6 technical fall in 5:59. He finished with eight takedowns.
Joseph was in a tight contest against Michigan’s Logan Massa in the semifinals. It was 3-2 Joseph with about one minute left in the match. The pair got into a scramble with Joseph ending up on top with a deep half-nelson. He made it stick for a fall in 6:41 on Massa.
“That’s a big match. Massa’s really good, he’s really good,” Sanderson said. “They’ve wrestled a lot of times, and Joseph keeps figuring things out and stays solid.”
Joseph gets Iowa’s Alex Marinelli in the finals.
174 Pounds: Mark Hall
Record after first day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Hall kept the bonus-point parade rolling for Penn State in his home state.
He was leading 6-3 on Michigan State’s Drew Hughes when he bundled up Hughes’ arms, threw him to the mat and pinned him in 2:38.
In the semifinals, after a scoreless first period, Hall scored the first points of the match against Minnesota’s Devin Skatzka in the second period. He began with an escape and added a takedown before the period ended.
Skatzka collected a reversal, but Hall was able to escape to a 4-2 win. Hall will face Michigan’s Myles Amine on Sunday.
“I feel good, it’s the best I’ve been wrestling so far this year, so just keep the momentum, having fun and relaxing,” Hall said.
184 Pounds: Shakur Rasheed
Record after first day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Rasheed followed up Hall with a fall of his own.
The senior sported the bulky knee brace still on his right leg, but it didn’t seem to faze him against Michigan State’s Cameron Caffey.
Rasheed raced out to a 9-0 first-period lead, and Caffey chose netural to start the second. Rasheed made him pay with a takedown into a cradle, and the fall in 5:17.
In the semifinals, Rasheed controlled the match from start to finish but gave up a late takedown. He held on for a 6-5 win over Nebraska’s Tyler Venz. He takes on Ohio State’s Myles Martin in the finals.
197 Pounds: Bo Nickal
Record after first day: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Nickal was the lone semifinalist to not secure a spot to the NCAA championships when the second session began Saturday night. He needed to win the semis to secure his spot.
He cruised to a 19-4 technical fall in 5:34 over Michigan State’s Brad Wilton to start the day. Nickal had six takedowns and two sets of near-fall points.
He then locked up his spot for the NCAA championships with a 10-2 major decision over Nebraska’s Eric Schultz to reach the finals. Nickal will take on Ohio State’s Kollin Moore.
285 Pounds: Anthony Cassar
Record after first day: 3-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Cassar scored a total of 20 points in the first session.
He didn’t seem caught off-guard by the big stage in his first Big Ten championships. He was dominant in a 12-4 major decision over Purdue’s Jacob Aven.
In the quarterfinals, Cassar took on Nebraska’ David Jensen, whom he beat in the dual in the middle of January, 10-4. Well, Jensen again scored four points, but Cassar came up just short of the 10 in an 8-4 win.
Cassar kept scoring points in the semifinals. He used three takedowns and a reversal to top Northwestern’s Connan Jennings 10-2. Cassar will get freshman phenom Gable Steveson in the 285-pound semifinals.
Big Ten Championships
Friday at Minneapolis
Team key: Illinois (Ill.), Indiana (Ind.), Iowa (I), Maryland (MD), Michigan (M), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (Minn.), Nebraska (Neb.), Northwestern (N), Ohio State (OSU), Penn State (PSU), Purdue (P), Wisconsin (W)
Team scores: 1. Penn State 131, 2. Ohio State 112.5, 3. Nebraska 85, 4. Iowa 83.5, 5. Minnesota 76.5, 6. Wisconsin 65.5, 7. Michigan 62.5, 8. Rutgers 50.5, 9. Northwestern 43.5, 10. Purdue 38
Semifinals
141: Joey McKenna, OSU, dec. Nick Lee, PSU, 5-4; 149: Micah Jordan, OSU, major dec. Brady Berge, PSU, 13-4; 157: Jason Nolf, PSU, dec. Alec Pantaleo, M, 7-1; 165: Vincenzo Joseph, PSU, pinned Logan Massa, M, 6:41; 174: Mark Hall, dec. Devin Skatzka, Minn., 4-2; 184: Shakur Rasheed, PSU, dec. Tyler Venz, Neb., 6-5; 197: Bo Nickal, PSU, major dec. Eric Schultz, Neb., 10-2; 285: Anthony Cassar, PSU, major dec. Connan Jennings, N, 10-2
Consolation Quarterfinals
133: Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Dylan Duncan, Ill., 3-2
Consolation Second Round
133: Bravo-Young, PSU, major dec. Jens Lantz, W, 14-5
Ninth-Place First Round
125: Shane Metzler, R, dec. Devin Schnupp, PSU, 6-4
Quarterfinals
133: Luke Pletcher, OSU, dec. Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, 8-5; 141: Lee, PSU, dec. Max Murin, I, 8-3; 149: Berge, PSU, dec. Pat Lugo, I, 4-2 (SV2); 157: Nolf, PSU, pinned Eric Barone, Ill., 2:13; 165: Joseph, PSU, tech. fall Joseph Gunther, Ill., 21-6 (5:59); 174: Hall, pinned Drew Hughes, MSU, 2:38; 184: Rasheed, PSU, pinned Cameron Caffey, MSU, 5:17; 197: Nickal, PSU, tech. fall Brad Wilton, MSU, 19-4 (5:34); 285: Cassar, PSU, dec. David Jensen, Neb., 8-4
Consolation First Round
125: Shane Metzler, R, dec. Schnupp, PSU, 6-1
Preliminaries
125: Travis Piotrowski, Ill., tech. fall Schnupp, PSU, 17-0 (4:39); 133: Bravo-Young, PSU, major dec. Jevon Parrish, Neb., 18-3; 149: Berge, PSU, major dec. Parker Filius, P, 12-3; 285: Cassar, PSU, major dec. Jacob Aven, P, 12-4
This story was originally published March 9, 2019 at 10:44 PM.