’We got to pick it up.’ What’s next for Penn State wrestlers in NCAA quarterfinals

The favorite time of the year for Penn State’s wrestlers is here: The first day of the NCAA Championships got underway Thursday inside PPG Paints Arena.

The good news for PSU fans: No Nittany Lions wrestlers were eliminated during the first day. Even better news: Penn State leads the team race with 32.5 points. But the bad? Three Nittany Lions, including No. 2-seed Shakur Rasheed, fell into the consolation bracket.

“We wrestled OK. We got to pick it up and wrestle a bit better (Friday),” coach Cael Sanderson said. “There is not much we can do about the past right now. We just got to move forward and get ready for (Friday).”

Wrestling resumes at 11 a.m. Friday. Here’s a look at how each wrestler did on the first day:

133 Pounds: Roman Bravo-Young (No. 10 seed)

Tournament record: 1-1

Current round: Consolation Second Round

Recap: Bravo-Young got a rematch in the second round with Iowa’s Austin DeSanto (No. 7 seed), who beat RBY in the Big Ten quarterfinals two weeks ago. Bravo-Young kept the match closer than the last time as he was tied with the Hawkeye at 2-2 after two periods. In the third period, RBY looked to have a takedown late, before going out of bounds and crashing into a table.

No takedown was called as the Nittany Lion went into concussion protocol. A challenge was requested from Sanderson and Co., but still no takedown. DeSanto countered a Bravo-Young shot late with a merkle and two near-fall points to send the Penn State freshman to the consolations with a 7-2 loss.

“I think Roman wrestled well,” Sanderson said. “He just didn’t come out on top at the end, but he gave himself a chance to win the match. It is a big turnaround from two weeks ago. Hopefully, Roman can battle back.”

In his first match of the day, Bravo-Young gave up the first takedown against Ohio’s Mario Guillen (No. 23 seed). It was the only points of the match for Guillen. RBY hit two beautifully timed duck-unders in the first-round bout. The second duck-under had RBY take Guillen to his back for two near-fall points. In the end, the Tuscon, Ariz., native won 8-2 in his NCAA Championships debut.

141 Pounds: Nick Lee (No. 3 seed)

Tournament record: 2-0

Current round: Quarterfinals

Recap: In last year’s NCAA Championships, Lee was stuck and pinned in his first-round match. This year it was Lee doing the pinning.

He built up a 6-1 lead on Purdue’s Nate Limmex (No. 30 seed) in the first round. Lee used a reversal for that sixth point and then stuck Limmex in 3:38.

In the second round, Lee kept the pin train rolling against Old Dominion’s Sa’Derian Perry (No. 19 seed). Lee was leading 4-1 when he threw Perry to his back and finished him off in 3:42.

149 Pounds: Brady Berge (No. 12 seed)

Tournament record: 1-1

Current round: Consolation Second Round

Recap: Berge took on Princeton’s Matt Kolodzik (No. 5 seed), who finished third last season, in the second round. Kolodzik didn’t have a very good first round and seemed to take it out on Berge.

Kolodzik led 5-1 after two periods, thanks to two easy takedowns and an escape. Berge’s points came on escapes and two stall calls on Kolodzik as the Nittany Lion suffered an 8-5 defeat.

In his first-round bout, Berge looked solid. He controlled the tempo against Fresno State’s Khristian Olivas (No. 21 seed) from start to finish. He didn’t score a ton of points, but he still got the win. He earned two takedowns with ease, used an escape in the second period and amassed 1:47 in riding time for the final point in a 6-2 victory.

157 Pounds: Jason Nolf (No. 1 seed)

Tournament record: 2-0

Current round: Quarterfinals

Recap: Nolf got some revenge in his second-round match against Rutgers’ John Van Brill (No. 16 seed). Van Brill was the last person to beat Nolf, although it was on a bit of a technicality as Nolf was forced to injury default in last season’s dual.

This time around, the match didn’t go the whole way again, but it was because Nolf stopped the clock. The senior rattled off six takedowns, two set of near-fall points and an escape in a 19-4 technical fall in 6:47.

In his first-round match, Nolf looked as if he didn’t want to be out on the mat very long against Duke’s Ben Anderson (No. 33 seed). The senior showed why no one has been able to beat him. After a few back-and-forth jabs with Anderson, Nolf took Anderson to his back and pinned him in 43 seconds. The pin was Nolf’s 60th of his Nittany Lions’ career.

165 Pounds: Vincenzo Joseph (No. 2 seed)

Tournament record: 2-0

Current round: Quarterfinals

Recap: Joseph got to wrestle in his hometown for the first time since graduating high school. He seemed to be fueled by the crowd.

Joseph scored all the points in his opening match against Clarion’s Evan Delong (No. 31 seed). It was 6-0 Joseph when he looked for more near-fall points. Instead, he stacked Delong and pinned him with three seconds left in the first period.

In the second round, Joseph took on Missouri’s Connor Flynn (No. 15 seed) and didn’t come away with any bonus points. Instead, he had an 8-4 decision, but it wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Joseph led 5-0 after two periods but got a little sloppy late in trying to get bonus points for the team and gave up a reversal after a takedown in the win.

174 Pounds: Mark Hall (No. 1 seed)

Tournament record: 2-0

Current round: Quarterfinals

Recap: Hall put his offense on display against North Carolina’s Devin Kane (No. 33 seed) in the first round. Hall had four takedowns in his 10-2 major decision win. One came on a fireman’s carry, and another came with a cement mixer that he just couldn’t finish with a pin. Hall recorded those takedowns in the third period and added a riding-time point to have five total points in the period.

In the second round, Cornell’s Brandon Womack (No. 16 seed) kept Hall from going 2-for-2 on bonus point wins. Hall had a takedown in each period and added a riding-time point for an 8-3 decision.

184 Pounds: Shakur Rasheed (No. 2 seed)

Tournament record: 1-1

Current round: Consolation Second Round

Recap: The second round wasn’t kind to Rasheed, who suffered arguably the biggest upset on the day.

He was leading 5-2 against North Carolina’s Chip Ness (No. 15 seed) early in the third period. The pair got into a scramble at one point, and Ness put Rasheed in danger counts. Ness got enough to be awarded a takedown. He took control and put Rasheed on his back for four near-fall points. Ness then hung on for an 8-6 win to send Rasheed into the consolations.

“I didn’t see it. I was in the back getting Bo (Nickal) ready to go,” Sanderson said. “I came out and saw the score. It is what it is. He’s got to bounce back and get ready to roll.”

In the first round, Rasheed gave Penn State fans minor heart attacks as he nearly got himself pinned against Princeton’s Kevin Parker (No. 31 seed). But, Rasheed rebounded by hitting three reversals. Those points, along with a takedown, near-fall points and riding time, gave him an 11-2 major decision. Rasheed amassed exactly six minutes in riding time.

197 Pounds: Bo Nickal (No. 1 seed)

Tournament record: 2-0

Current round: Quarterfinals

Recap: In the second round, Nickal got to take on a two-sport athlete in Fresno State’s Josh Hokit (No. 16 seed), a backup running back for the Bulldogs.

Nickal showed Hokit a thing or two about the wrestling mat. After racing out to an 8-1 lead in just one period, Nickal took Hokit down in the second period and pinned him in 2:27.

Nickal made sure to keep the pace with Nolf in the pin category earlier in the day. In the first round, Nickal built up an 8-1 lead thanks to two takedowns and four near-fall points. Nickal then put Rider’s Ethan Laird (No. 32 seed) to his back and pinned him in 2:34.

285 Pounds: Anthony Cassar (No. 2 seed)

Tournament record: 2-0

Current round: Quarterfinals

Recap: Cassar took some time to score in his second-round match against Utah Valley’s Tate Orndorff (No. 15 seed). It wasn’t until 12 seconds remained in the first period when Cassar was able to score. He tallied another takedown in the second period and led 4-1 to start the third period.

It’s at that point when Cassar went on a scoring spree. He recorded two takedowns, had an escape and added a riding-time point for a 10-2 major decision.

Cassar made sure to put an exclamation point to end the Nittany Lions’ first round. He came out and kept the perfect pace in the first round with nine wins and no losses. Cassar was leading Franklin & Marshall’s Antonio Pelusi (No. 31 seed) 5-0 when the senior sucked Pelusi back to his back. Cassar earned the fall in 4:20 for Penn State’s seventh bonus-point victory of the first session.

NCAA Championships

Thursday at Pittsburgh

Team key: Air Force (AF), American (A), Appalachian State (AS), Arizona State (ASU), Army (AWP), Binghamton (B), Bloomsburg (BB), Brown (BW), Bucknell (BK), Buffalo (BF), Cal Poly (CP), Campbell (CB), Central Michigan (CM), Chattanooga (Chat.), Clarion (C), Columbia (CU), Cornell (Co.), Cal State Bakersfield (CSB), Drexel (DX), Duke (D), Edinboro (E), Franklin & Marshall (FM), Fresno State (FS), Gardner-Webb (GW), Illinois (Ill.), Indiana (Ind.), Iowa (I), Iowa State (ISU), Kent State (KS), Lehigh (L), Lock Haven (LH), Maryland (M), Michigan (Mich.), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (Minn.), Missouri (Miss.), Navy (N), North Carolina State (NCST), Nebraska (Neb.), North Carolina (NC), North Dakota State (NDSU), Northern Colorado (NCO), Northern Illinois (NI), Northern Iowa (UNI), Northwestern (NW), Ohio (Oh.), Ohio State (OSU), Oklahoma (O), Oklahoma State (OST), Old Dominion (OD), Oregon State (ORST), Penn State (PSU), Penn (P), Pittsburgh (Pitt.), Princeton (PT), Purdue (PD), Rider (R), Rutgers (RT), SIU Edwardsville (SIU), Stanford (S), The Citadel (TC), Utah Valley (UV), Virginia (V), Virginia Tech (VT), Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Wisconsin (W), Wyoming (WY)

Team scores: 1. Penn State 32.5, 2. Ohio State 25.5, 3. Iowa 24, T4. Minnesota 20, T4. Oklahoma State 20, 6. Missouri 18, 7. Michigan 17.5, T8. Nebraska 16, T8. Virginia Tech 16, 10. Northern Iowa 15.5

Second Round

133: Austin DeSanto, I, dec. Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, 7-2; 141: Nick Lee, PSU, pinned Sa’Derian Perry, OD, 3:42; 149: Matthew Kolodzik, PT, dec. Brady Berge, PSU, 8-5; 157: Jason Nolf, PSU, tech. fall John Van Brill, RT, 19-4 (6:47); 165: Vincenzo Joseph, PSU, dec. Connor Flynn, Miss., 8-4; 174: Mark Hall, PSU, dec. Brandon Womack, Co., 8-3; 184: Chip Ness, NC, dec. Shakur Rasheed, PSU, 8-6; 197: Bo Nickal, PSU, pinned Josh Hokit, FS, 2:27; 285: Anthony Cassar, PSU, major dec. Tate Orndorff, UV, 10-2

First Round

133: Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Mario Guillen, Oh., 8-2; 141: Lee, PSU, pinned Nate Limmex, P, 3:38; 149: Berge, PSU, dec. Khristian Olivas, FS, 6-3; 157: Nolf, PSU, pinned Ben Anderson, D, :43; 165: Joseph, PSU, pinned Evan Delong, C, 2:57; 174: Hall, PSU, major dec. Devin Kane, NC, 10-2; 184: Rasheed, PSU, major dec. Kevin Parker, PT, 11-2; 197: Nickal, PSU, pinned Ethan Laird, R, 2:34; 285: Cassar, PSU, pinned Antonio Pelusi, FM, 4:20

This story was originally published March 21, 2019 at 9:53 PM.