Here’s how Penn State wrestling sent 5 to NCAA finals, blew open team race lead

Penn State’s second day at the NCAA Wrestling Championships started off a little rocky — but finished with flair.

The Nittany Lions sent five wrestlers to the finals in Jason Nolf (157 pounds), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark Hall (174), Bo Nickal (197) and Anthony Cassar (285). Yes, Roman Bravo-Young locked up an All-America spot at 133 pounds. However, Brady Berge (149) and Shakur Rasheed (184) were eliminated.

Even better news for Penn State fans: The Nittany Lions lead the team race with 120.5 points. The Nittany Lions are 32 points ahead of Ohio State, which means the team title could be clinched Saturday morning.

“I think, overall, the guys wrestled well,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “It’s competitive, a lot of great wrestling, a lot of great competitors and a little tight tonight, but it’s the national semifinals and you’re wrestling great competition. Big day (Saturday).”

Wrestling resumes at 11 a.m. Saturday morning with all the medal matches taking place except for the finals, which are set for the evening. Here’s a look at how each wrestler did Friday:

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

Tournament record: 4-2

Current round: 7th-place match

Recap: Bravo-Young rebounded nicely after suffering a heartbreaking 7-2 loss to Iowa’s Austin DeSanto on Thursday night in a match he seemed to have won. He wrestled his way back to lock up All-America status.

Bravo-Young looked to advance further in the consolations, but he will only finish as high as seventh. RBY was routed by Missouri’s John Erneste (No. 8 seed) 10-0 in the consolation quarterfinals.

But he worked hard to get to that point. In the consolation fourth round, RBY took on hometown favorite Micky Phillippi of Pittsburgh (No. 4 seed). Bravo-Young wrestled a smart match on his feet to earn two takedowns in the second period off of Phillippi, who was trying to work a two-on-one. In the end, Bravo-Young came away with a 4-3 win and his All-America honor secured.

Bravo-Young also recorded wins in the consolations over Cornell’s Charles Tucker (No. 9 seed), 6-3, in the second round and over Purdue’s Ben Thornton (No. 15 seed), 3-1, in the third round.

141 Pounds: Nick Lee (No. 3 seed)

Tournament record: 3-1

Current round: Consolation Semifinals

Recap: Lee took on Ohio State’s Joey McKenna (No. 2 seed) for a spot in the finals. McKenna cooled off Lee, who was having an incredible tournament to that point and looked unbeatable.

The two went through a scoreless first period. Lee scored the first point of the match with 53 seconds left in the second period on an escape. In the third period, McKenna tied it up at 1-1 nine seconds in, and 25 seconds later the Buckeye took a 3-1 lead on a takedown. Lee got an escape and a stall point from McKenna late, but McKenna had enough riding time for the decisive point and 4-3 win.

Earlier in the day, Lee took on Iowa’s Max Murin (No. 22 seed) in the quarterfinals and didn’t score the match’s first points until an escape in the second period.

The Hawkeye didn’t go away after recording an escape with 1:20 left in the match. Lee finally broke through for his offense with a takedown 51 seconds left in the match. He then rode Murin out for the rest of the period and a 4-1 win to reach the semifinals, where he fell to McKenna.

149 Pounds: Brady Berge (No. 12 seed)

Tournament record: 2-2

Current round: Eliminated

Recap: Berge was able to shake off his loss on Thursday night, but that sense of relief didn’t last long.

Berge fell in the third round of consolations Friday after a tight bout against Minnesota’s Tommy Thorn (No. 20 seed). He was tied 2-2 after two periods and chose to start the third period with the surprising choice of neutral. Neither wrestler was able to score any points in the third period. Thorn got off a shot immediately in the sudden-victory period, and the pair scrambled. Berge seemed to let go of Thorn’s leg to look for better positioning, but it backfired. Thorn was awarded a takedown, and a 4-2 win, thus eliminating Berge.

In the second round of consolations, Berge stuck to his game and didn’t force anything against George Mason’s Tejon Anthony (No. 27 seed).

Berge scored the first points of the match with a takedown in the first period. He got an escape in the second period to lead 3-0 heading to final frame. Berge added another takedown on a slick low single, and earned a riding-time point to win 6-2. Unfortunately for PSU fans, that proved to be his final victory of the tournament.

157 Pounds: Jason Nolf (No. 1 seed)

Tournament record: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: Nolf took on North Carolina State’s Hayden Hidlay (No. 5 seed), who is a Mifflin County grad, in a rematch of the last year’s NCAA finals. Nolf came within inches of not being Penn State’s second-ever four-time finalist.

The pair scored no points in the first period after an official review waived off what appeared to be a Hidlay takedown. Nolf got an escape and takedown to Hidlay’s escape for a 3-1 lead after two periods. In the third period, Hidlay picked up another escape midway through the final frame to get within one. With about 20 seconds left, Hidlay was in deep on one last shot attempt that Nolf was able to somehow fight off and win 3-2 — the closest in Nolf’s career.

“We worked on short time a lot, so I was trying to keep my hands down,” Nolf said of those last few seconds. “He must have got under them, but I know how to scramble, so I kind of just tried to keep a position moving and not stand still. Luckily, I got my foot out at the end there so he didn’t score.”

In the morning, in the quarterfinals, Nolf continued to do Nolf things against Arizona State’s Christian Pagdilao (No. 9 seed). The redshirt senior snapped off four first-period takedowns to lead 8-3 after one period. In the second period, Nolf led 10-3 before nearly pinning Pagdilao. The third period opened with Nolf leading 14-3. He continued with the constant pressure to nine more third-period points and a 23-6 technical fall at the buzzer.

165 Pounds: Vincenzo Joseph (No. 2 seed)

Tournament record: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: Joseph can’t win a conference title but he is well on his way to becoming the Nittany Lions’ first four-time champion.

In the semifinals against Arizona State’s Joshua Shields (No. 3 seed), a fellow Pittsburgher, Joseph got a takedown 25 seconds into the match for a quick two-point lead. He led 2-1 after the first period was over. Joseph added an escape in the second period to lead 3-1 after two.

Shields got an escape midway through the third period, and tried to get the winning takedown but was unable to as Joseph advanced to his third straight finals with a 3-2 win.

“I got that first quick takedown at the beginning, and I was looking for other opportunities to score throughout the match, but he just kept coming,” Joseph said of the match. “He’s really good from space, so I didn’t really want to overextend myself. I figured it would be a lot closer (than) the first time around. I kind of caught him on his back there, kind of set the tone. But he’s going to wrestle tough all seven minutes, and that’s what I’d be ready for.”

Joseph got matched up with a familiar foe in Nebraska’s Isaiah White (No. 7 seed) in the quarterfinals. White nearly kept Joseph from repeating as a champion last season, but Joseph earned a 4-2 sudden-victory win last year to reach the semis.

This time around, the pair were tied 1-1 after three periods and trading escapes. The Pittsburgh kid got a takedown with 26 seconds left in the sudden-victory period for the 3-1 advancement win.

174 Pounds: Mark Hall (No. 1 seed)

Tournament record: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: Hall squared off with Michigan’s Myles Amine (No. 4 seed) for the fifth time in their careers. For the fifth time, Hall came away with a one-point victory.

This semifinal match took longer than regulation to be completed this time. The pair traded escapes in the second and third periods. In the sudden-victory frame, both looked for an opening, but nothing came to fruition. Hall won the toss in ride-out periods and took bottom. He escaped and rode Amine out in the second ride out for a 2-1 win.

Earlier in the day, in the quarterfinals, Hall took on a familiar foe in Northern Iowa’s Taylor Lujan (No. 8 seed). The pair squared off in the quarterfinals last year with Hall coming away with a 6-2 win. This year, the result was the same a win for Hall, but Lujan closed the gap — slightly. The two were tied 2-2 after two periods thanks to a takedown for Hall and two escapes for Lujan. In the third period, Hall started down and picked up a reversal to give him some breathing room on the scoreboard. He was able to collect a riding-time point and won 5-3 to reach the semifinals.

184 Pounds: Shakur Rasheed (No. 2 seed)

Tournament record: 2-2

Current round: Eliminated

Recap: Rasheed came out looking to make sure his tournament wasn’t ended early. Although he won his first bout in in the consolation bracket Friday, a 9-1 major decision over No. 17 Andrew McNally of Kent State, he couldn’t get past the third round of consys.

Rasheed’s scrambling that almost cost him a win on Thursday afternoon, ended up costing him his season on Friday afternoon. The senior was tied with Oklahoma State’s Dakota Geer (No. 26 seed) 2-2 late in the third period. The pair were scrambling around, and Geer caught Rasheed in the danger position. Geer was awarded a takedown for the winning points, but Sanderson challenged the call. The review came back confirmed and Rasheed fell 4-2 to end his season at 20-2.

197 Pounds: Bo Nickal (No. 1 seed)

Tournament record: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: Nickal took on Princeton’s Patrick Brucki (No. 4 seed), who only topped the No. 21 seed by a score of 4-3 in the quarterfinals, in the semifinals.

It was a match that Nickal was heavily favored in. He showed why. The redshirt senior held a 4-1 lead after one period. In the second period, Brucki escaped and Nickal recorded the final points of the match. Nickal took Brucki down to the mat, locked up a cradle and pinned Brucki in 4:51. The win might have locked up the team title for Penn State again like last year and possibly the Hodge Trophy too.

“I felt like I came out a little slow, was probably riding a little too hard,” Nickal said. “I just kept wrestling, kept working through it. I think when I got the pin is when I started getting my second wind, feeling a little bit better. But he put his head close to his knees, so that’s over.”

Nickal became the third Penn State wrestler to become a four-time finalist.

Earlier in the day, in the quarters, Nickal took on Stanford’s Nathan Traxler (No. 8 seed), whom Nickal pinned in the Southern Scuffle at the beginning of the new year.

Nickal didn’t pin Traxler this time, but he did manage to win by 10 points. Nickal opened with a six-point first period thanks to two takedowns and two near-fall points. After the second period was over, the redshirt senior led 9-2. Nickal tacked on two more takedowns and a riding-time point for a 14-4 major decision.

285 Pounds: Anthony Cassar (No. 2 seed)

Tournament record: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: Cassar took on Minnesota’s Gable Steveson in a rematch of the Big Ten finals in the semifinals. The pair lived up to that match up again. Also, the result was the same, giving Penn State five finalists.

Cassar was called for stalling 14 seconds into the match, and trailed 1-0 after one period from being called for his second stall. Steveson took a 2-0 advantage into the third period with an escape.

Cassar escaped in the third period four seconds in. Steveson went for a takedown 12 seconds later and Cassar slid him by for a takedown of his own. The senior rode Steveson out for the several seconds and built up 1:01 in riding time. It was that riding-time point that propelled Cassar to a 4-3 win.

“I think Anthony Cassar is really good. He’s got a great mindset,” Sanderson said. “Obviously, he can wrestle. (He’s) confident and relaxed before his matches and I think he can keep getting better and better, so it’s exciting. He has a chance to win a national title (Saturday), that was the goal, that’s his goal and I’m happy for him.”

Earlier Friday, Cassar made sure he wasn’t going to be the Nittany Lions’ lone wrestler in the quarters to not make the semifinals. Still, his quarterfinal match was quite tight against Wisconsin’s Trent Hillger (No. 7 seed).

Yes, Hillger didn’t score any points, but Cassar wasn’t lighting the scoreboard up either. Cassar earned a late takedown in the first period on his infamous blast double. He had an escape in the second period as the pair danced around in the rest of the period. In the third period, Cassar put on a riding clinic for the entire period to win 4-0.

NCAA Championships

Friday 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), George Mason (GM), 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 120.5, 2. Ohio State 88.5, 3. Oklahoma State 73.5, 4. Iowa 68, 5. Missouri 54, 6. Cornell 52, 7. Nebraska 51, T8. Michigan 48, T8. Minnesota 48, 10. Virginia Tech 45

Semifinals

141: Joey McKenna, OSU, dec. Nick Lee, PSU, 4-3; 157: Jason Nolf, PSU, dec. Hayden Hidlay, NCST, 3-2; 165: Vincenzo Joseph, PSU, dec. Josh Shields, ASU, 3-2; 174: Mark Hall, PSU, dec. Myles Amine, Mich., 2-1 (UTB); 197: Bo Nickal, PSU, pinned Patrick Brucki, P, 4:51; 285: Anthony Cassar, PSU, dec. Gable Steveson, Minn., 4-3

Consolation Quarterfinals

133: John Erneste, Miss., major dec. Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, 10-0

Consolation Fourth Round

133: Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Micky Phillippi, Pitt., 4-3

Quarterfinals

141: Lee, PSU, dec. Max Murin, I, 4-1; 157: Nolf, PSU, tech. fall Christian Pagdilao, ASU, 23-6 (7:00); 165: Joseph, PSU, dec. Isaiah White, Neb., 3-1 (SV); 174: Hall, PSU, dec. Taylor Lujan, UNI, 5-3; 197: Nickal, PSU, major dec. Nathan Traxler, S, 14-4; 285: Cassar, PSU, dec. Trent Hillger, W, 4-0

Consolation Third Round

133: Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Ben Thornton, P, 3-1; 149: Tommy Thorn, Minn., dec. Brady Berge, PSU, 4-2 (SV); 184: Dakota Geer, OST, dec. Shakur Rasheed, PSU, 4-2

Consolation Second Round

133: Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Charles Tucker, Co., 6-3; 149: Berge, PSU, dec. Tejon Anthony, GM, 6-2; 184: Rasheed, PSU, major dec. Andrew McNally, KS, 9-1

This story was originally published March 22, 2019 at 11:47 PM.