Penn State sends 5 wrestlers into Big Ten Championship finals, 1 still fighting for NCAA bid
Penn State couldn’t have asked for a better start to the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Saturday as freshman Brandon Meredith upset the No. 3 seed at 125 pounds.
From there the Nittany Lions had mixed results, but secured five finalists and have seven of 10 wrestlers still alive in the tournament. There were six semifinalists total, which assured themselves a trip to the NCAA Championships in two weeks in Minneapolis.
“I think our guys that wrestle well and consistently did well,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “We had four guys at four weights, that I think we scored one point, that makes it hard to compete as a team. We got some individuals doing well. We just need to finish strong tomorrow and set ourselves up for the national tournament.”
As far as the team race goes, the Nittany Lions sit in fourth place with 93.5 points. However, they have the most finalists.
Penn State trails team leader Iowa by 28 points. Nebraska is second with 102. 5 points and Ohio State rounds out the top three with 94 points. Purdue rounds out the top five as No. 5.
Here’s a look at how each wrestler stands after the first day is over:
125 Pounds: Brandon Meredith
Record after session: 1-3
Current round: Eliminated
Recap: Meredith started his first Big Ten Championships with a memorable match.
He is the No. 14 seed, which is last in the weight class. He took on Minnesota’s Patrick McKee, who was the No. 3 seed.
Meredith scored the first points of the match 14 seconds in with a takedown. McKee escaped rather quickly to trail 2-1 to enter the second period.
McKee added another escape in the second to tie the bout up going to the final frame. Meredith had choice and went neutral as he had riding time advantage.
Meredith neutralized McKee’s numerous attacks. He finished with 1:07 in riding time and picked up the 3-2 win to stun McKee.
Meredith was then kicked into the consolation bracket after losing to Northwestern’s Michael DeAugustino 8-2 in the quarterfinals. He needed one more win to qualify for NCAAs.
In the evening session, Meredith dropped a 5-1 decision to Michigan State’s Logan Griffin. It sent him to a ninth-place bracket, as the top eight automatically advance. Meredith dropped his first round match of the ninth-place bracket 4-3 to end his season.
133 Pounds: Roman Bravo-Young
Record after session: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Bravo-Young had a stellar performance in the semifinals against Iowa’s Austin DeSanto. He went with the same game plan he had in the dual at the end of January — wrestle DeSanto with an arm behind his back.
He worked it to perfection, scoring the first and only takedown 10 seconds into the match. DeSanto added two takedowns, one in the first and another in the second, to tie the bout at 2-2 after two periods.
RBY picked up a quick escape to start the third and held off DeSanto for a 3-2 win. He’s into the Big Ten finals for the first time in his career. He’ll take on Northwestern’s Sebastian Rivera, who upset the No. 1 seed in Wisconsin’s Seth Gross.
“It should be a fun match. Rivera is obviously really quick, tough and a great wrestler with a lot of experience,” Sanderson said. “It will be our first opportunity to wrestle him. We’ll just see how it goes.”
Bravo-Young took on Rutgers’ Sammy Alvarez in the quarterfinals, and it was certainly an entertaining match.
The pair scrambled through several portions of the match, much like their dual meet bout back in the middle of January.
RBY came out on top of two of those scrambles for takedowns. He nearly gave up a takedown late to Alvarez, but there wasn’t enough time for the Scarlet Knights’ wrestler.
Bravo-Young won 5-2 and a shower of boos came from the pro-Rutgers crowd.
141 Pounds: Nick Lee
Record after session: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Lee got a familiar foe in the semifinals, in Nebraska’s Chad Red. They pair go the whole back to high school wrestling in Indiana.
Lee has just seemed to have gotten a little better since they’ve got to college. It showed again on Saturday night.
Lee had a 5-0 lead midway through the second period. Red picked up a reversal late to be within 5-2 after two periods of wrestling.
In the third period, Red picked a solid takedown and an escape on Lee to tie it at 5-5 with 16 seconds remaining. Lee had riding time in his favor but still got an escape before the match expired.
Anyone who blinked watching Lee’s quarterfinals match with Purdue Parker Filius may have missed it.
Lee secured a takedown of Filius 10 seconds into the match. Lee then locked up a bar and half nelson on Filius to pin him in 37 seconds.
149 Pounds: Jarod Verkeleeren
Record after session: 0-2
Current round: 9th-Place bracket semifinals
Recap: As much of a stunner it was to see Meredith win his opening match, the same could be said of Verkleeren dropping his.
Northwestern’s Yahya Thomas tallied two takedowns of Verkleeren in 30 seconds. Verkleeren was able to get within 4-3 after two periods, but Thomas controlled the third period.
Thomas escaped to get a 5-3 lead. He then held off Verkleeren from scoring and added a riding time point for a 6-3 win, sending Verkleeren to the consolation bracket.
Verkleeren then dropped his first consolation match to Nebraska’s Collin Purinton, 5-2. He’ll wrestle again Sunday morning to attempt to lock up his NCAA spot. All he has to do is beat Thomas this time, and he’ll make the NCAA Championships.
157 Pounds: Bo Pipher
Record after session: 0-2
Current round: Eliminated
Recap: Pipher didn’t have quite the success as his other teammates. He suffered losses in each of his two matches to be eliminated.
His first match came against Michigan’s Will Lewan. It was a match that Pipher could have had, but a takedown from Lewan in sudden victory handed Pipher a 5-3 loss.
In the first round of consolations, Pipher took on Garrett Model of Wisconsin. Model, who handed Pipher his lone bonus-point loss of the regular season, racked up an 18-1 technical fall in 6:10 to end Pipher’s season.
165 Pounds: Vincenzo Joseph
Record after session: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Joseph like Lee had a familiar foe in Nebraska’s Isaiah White, who has pushed Joseph to the brink every time they’ve wrestled.
The Nittany Lions senior used a solid body lock to pick White up and put him down for the takedown. White managed to score just three escapes.
However, it was Joseph scoring three points in the third period on a takedown and escape. He tacked on a riding time point for a 6-3 win.
Joseph now gets Iowa’s Alex Marinelli, which topped Joseph in last season’s Big Ten finals. Should Joseph get by Marinelli again here, he’ll collect his first Big Ten title.
“(He’s) Got to score more points than him. However, he can do that, will take it,” said Sanderson on the key to Joseph winning. “Both are competitors. Cenzo just has to be himself. Obviously, the tie ups and the positioning are key because Marinelli is really good in those positions. If you lay your hand in the wrong place for a second, he’s on your leg and he finishes strong.”
Joseph had no problems in opening his final Big Ten tournament. Should he keep up the pace he had in his quarterfinals match with Michigan State’s Drew Hughes, he’ll be well on his way to winning his first Big Ten title.
Joseph tallied seven takedowns of Hughes in two periods. He even secured a stalling point from Hughes in the first period.
Joseph racked up five of those takedowns in the second period. He added a riding time point at the end of the match for a 16-5 major decision.
174 Pounds: Mark Hall
Record after session: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: In the semifinals, Hall took on Purdue’s Dylan Lydy. It was Lydy that recorded the first takedown in the match on a countered shot from Hall.
Hall was able to secure a stalling point in the first period and escaped for a 2-2 after one period. Hall’s three second-period points on a takedown and escape handed him a 5-3 lead after two periods of wrestling.
Lydy scored the final points of the match on an escape for the eventual final score in Hall’s favor 5-4.
Hall gets to take on Iowa’s Michael Kemerer in the final. Kemerer handed Hall his lone loss of the season back at the end of January.
“Let’s do what we do, and see where we land, but I like Mark, he’s my guy,” Sanderson said of the rematch. “I think he is ready to go. Kemerer is a stud also, so should be a great match.”
Hall came out like he’s on a mission to win his third consecutive Big Ten championship in the quarterfinals.
He took on Illinois’ Joey Gunther, who he stalled out of a match earlier this year in the dual. The end result — a Hall victory in less than seven minutes — was the same.
The Nittany Lions’ senior rattled off 16 unanswered points to collect a technical fall in 4:12. Hall led 14-0 after one period, thanks to three sets of near-fall points.
184 Pounds: Aaron Brooks
Record after session: 2-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Brooks stole the show for the Nittany Lions in the semifinal round.
He took on Nebraska’s Taylor Venz, who handed him his lone loss in his freshman campaign. The duo traded takedowns and escapes in the first period, with Brooks recording the first points with a takedown.
It was 4-3 Venz 10 seconds into the second period when he escaped, that’s when things changed for Brooks. Thirty seconds later, Brooks hit a standing cradle on Venz and took him to his back. Brooks’ pinning combination was a half nelson in 4:00. The crowd erupted, and it even impressed Sanderson.
“I thought Brooks looked really great today. Everything is on fire for him,” Sanderson said. “His shots and mat wrestling looks great.”
Brooks arrived to his mat late, which isn’t necessarily the ideal situation, but it didn’t deter the freshman.
Brooks was dominant in his first Big Ten tournament match. He held just a 2-0 lead after two periods, but he went on a scoring spree in the third period.
Brooks snapped of five takedowns en route to scoring 13 points in the final period. He added a riding time point for a 15-4 major decision in his Big Ten tournament debut.
197 Pounds: Shakur Rasheed
Record after session: 2-1
Current round: Consolation semifinals
Recap: Of the six semifinalists, Rasheed was the only one not to pick up a victory, but it wasn’t for his effort.
He scored a takedown 17 seconds into the match with Nebraska’s Eric Schultz, but Schultz ended with the lead thanks to an escape and takedown.
It didn’t deter Rasheed from continuing to press on with his offense. He just was unable to get that winning takedown in a 4-3 loss.
“I like to see Shakur attacking. He’s wrestling better than he has all year as you can tell,” Sanderson said. “He needs to just continue on in that direction, I think he will.”
Rasheed didn’t take long to end his first match of the day in the first round.
He took Illinois’ Matt Wroblewski down twice in a span of 25 seconds. On the second takedown, Rasheed locked up his crossface cradle and pinned Wroblewski in 53 seconds.
Rasheed made the semifinals with a counter-takedown of Iowa’s Jacob Warner with 27 seconds remaining in the final period for a 3-1 win.
285 Pounds: Seth Nevills
Record after session: 0-2
Current round: Eliminated
Recap: Nevills first Big Ten tournament ended early in heartbreaking fashion.
When taking on Rutgers’ Alex Esposito in the first round, the pair were in a scramble. The match got stopped for injury time for Nevills. During the scramble, his left knee looked to get twisted and he grabbed it immediately.
Nevills attempted to finish out the match. However, Esposito got another takedown with ease and the match got stopped with 48 seconds remaining in the second period.
Nevills injury defaulted and as he walked off the stage of mats seemed barely able to put pressure on the knee while walking down some steps.
Nevills was unable to make the call on Saturday night and medically forfeited out of the tournament. His only chance of making the NCAA Championships is by getting an at-large bid.
Big Ten Championships
Saturday at Piscataway, NJ
Team key: Illinois (Ill.), Indiana (Ind.), Iowa (I), Maryland (M), Michigan (Mich.), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (Minn.), Nebraska (Neb.), Northwestern (N), Ohio State (OSU), Penn State (PSU), Purdue (P), Rutgers (R), Wisconsin (W)
Team scores: 1. Iowa 121.5, 2. Nebraska 102.5, 3. Ohio State 94, 4. Penn State 93.5, 5. Purdue 77.5, 6. Michigan 64.5, 7. Northwestern 63, 8. Minnesota 56, 9. Michigan State 52, 10. Wisconsin 48
Semifinals
133: Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Austin DeSanto, I, 3-2; 141: Nick Lee, PSU, dec. Chad Red, Neb., 7-5; 165: Vincenzo Joseph, PSU, dec. Isaiah White, Neb., 6-3; 174: Mark Hall, PSU, dec. Dylan Lydy, P, 5-4; 184: Aaron Brooks, PSU, pinned Taylor Venz, Neb., 4:00; 197: Eric Schultz, Neb., dec. Shakur Rasheed, PSU, 4-3
Ninth-Place Bracket First Round
125: Nick Aguilar, R, dec. Brandon Meredith, PSU, 4-3
Consolation Second Round
125: Logan Griffin, MSU, dec. Meredith, PSU, 5-1; 149: Collin Purinton, Neb., dec. Verkleeren, PSU, 3-2; 285: Luke Luffman, Ill., def. Seth Nevills, PSU, med. forfeit
Quarterfinals
125: Michael DeAugustino, N, dec. Meredith, PSU, 8-2; 133: Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Sammy Alvarez, R, 5-2; 141: Lee, PSU, pinned Parker Filius, P, :37; 165: Joseph, PSU, major dec. Drew Hughes, MSU, 16-5; 174: Hall, PSU, tech. fall Joey Gunther, Ill., 16-0 (4:12); 184: Brooks, PSU, major dec. Owen Webster, Minn., 15-4; 197: Rasheed, PSU, dec. Jacob Warner, I, 3-1
Consolation First Round
157: Garrett Model, W, tech. fall Bo Pipher, PSU, 18-1 (6:10)
First Round
125: Meredith, PSU, dec. Patrick McKee, Minn., 3-2; 149: Yahya Thomas, N, dec. Verkleeren, PSU, 6-3; 157: Will Lewan, Mich., Pipher, PSU, 5-3 (SV); 197: Rasheed, PSU, pinned Matt Wroblewski, Ill., :53; 285: Alex Esposito, R, def. Nevills, PSU, inj. def. (4:19)
This story was originally published March 8, 2020 at 12:22 AM.
