Here’s where Penn State stands after the end of Session 1 of NCAA Wrestling Championships
Penn State had as good of an opening session of the NCAA Wrestling Championships as it could’ve asked for.
The Nittany Lions went a combined 8-1, and collected seven bonus-point victories along the way. Penn State is second in the team race with 17 points.
Iowa leads the Nittany Lions by two points. Missouri rounds out the top three with 14 points. Arizona State and North Carolina State are tied for fourth with 13 points.
Wrestling begins again at 6 p.m. with another split session. The lightweights from 125-157 pounds are going first, and then the upper weights will start at 9 p.m.
Here’s where each wrestler stands after the first session:
125 Pounds: Robbie Howard
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: No. 23 Howard took on a familiar foe in Ohio State’s No. 10 seed in Malik Heinselman.
Heinselman handed Howard half of his four losses this season. The first came in the dual meet, and the most recent came in the Big Ten consolation semifinals.
On Thursday, Howard got his revenge in their third matchup.
The pair were scoreless after one period of wrestling, but Howard had several scoring opportunities. Howard picked up a reversal on Heinselman midway through the second period.
Howard sunk a half nelson and arm bar on the Buckeyes’ wrestler and turned him for four near-fall points late. Heinselman secured an escape before the period was over, but Howard lead 6-1.
It was all Heinselman in the third period as he recorded and escape and a takedown. However, Howard built up a large enough lead to win 6-4, and get the upset.
Howard takes on Utah Valley’s Taylor LaMont, who had a 19-1 technical fall in his opener, Thursday evening.
133 Pounds: Roman Bravo-Young
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: No. 2 Bravo-Young looked like a man on a mission in his NCAA opener against Appalachian State’s Sean Carter.
RBY had three first-period takedowns to hold a 6-2 lead after one frame. He shut out Carter in the second period, but added to his lead with an escape, takedown and four near-fall points.
RBY added three more takedowns in the third period and amassed 3:45 in riding time to secure a 20-5 technical fall for Penn State.
The junior will take on Wisconsin’s Kyle Burwick, who is the No. 18 seed and earned a fall in his opener.
141 Pounds: Nick Lee
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Lee was just as dominant as Bravo-Young, except he never made it to another period of wrestling against Drexel’s Julian Flores.
The senior secured a takedown 21 seconds into the first period. From there, Lee showed off his turning abilities.
Lee tallied two sets of near-fall points within 28 seconds of his takedown and led 10-0. It took him just over a minute to score more near-fall points.
Lee collected his last set of near-fall points with 27 seconds remaining in the first period for an 18-0 technical fall in 2:33 to advance. He’ll take on South Dakota State’s Clay Carlson Thursday evening.
157 Pounds: Brady Berge
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Berge came out of the gates a little slow against Navy’s Andrew Cerniglia. However, he made up for it in the end.
The duo wrestled to a 0-0 tie after one period. In the second period, Berge had an escape and two takedowns to Cerniglia’s escape to lead 5-1 to start the third period.
Berge rattled off three takedowns in the third period and added a riding time point to secure a 12-4 major decision to give the Nittany Lions a perfect first half of the first session.
Berge takes on Iowa’s Kaleb Young tonight, which could play a big role in the team race.
165 Pounds: Joe Lee
Record after session: 0-1
Current round: Consolation First Round
Recap: Lee attempted to keep the winning train rolling for the Nittany Lions.
The train came to a halt thanks to former Penn State commit Travis Wittlake, who represented Oklahoma State. Wittlake earned an escape in the second period to score the bouts first points.
Lee went to throw Wittlake, but the Cowboys’ wrestler countered and put Lee to his back. Wittlake collected a takedown and four near-fall points.
Lee escaped to end the second period, but trailed 7-1. In the third period, Wittlake rode Lee out for the entire period to secure a riding time point, and the 8-1 win.
Lee must now work his way through the consolation bracket, where he’ll take on Chattanooga’s Andrew Nicholson tonight.
174 Pounds: Carter Starocci
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Starocci has been nothing but stellar in his first postseason for the Nittany Lions. The redshirt freshman made it to the Big Ten finals and continued that success in his NCAA debut.
Starocci earned the bouts’ first points by taking down Virginia’s Victor Marcelli with 50 seconds remaining in the first period. Starocci scored the only points of the second period with an escape and takedown to lead 5-0.
In the final period, the Erie native kept scoring. Starocci recorded two takedowns and added a riding time point for a 10-2 major decision.
He’ll take on Wyoming’s Hayden Hastings in the second round tonight.
184 Pounds: Aaron Brooks
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Brooks looks poised to claim his first NCAA title as the opportunity to get it last year was taken away do to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Thursday, the two-time Big Ten champ was rolling early and often against Gardner-Webb’s Jhaquan Anderson. Brooks opened with an eight-point first period thanks to two takedowns and a set of near-fall points.
The No. 1 seed got a takedown early in the second period and was awarded a penalty point for Anderson’s second stall call. Brooks collected four near-fall points before the period was over to hold a 15-1 lead.
Twenty-five seconds into the third period, Brooks secured a takedown for a 17-1 technical fall in 5:25. He’ll take on Minnesota’s Owen Webster in the second round tonight.
197 Pounds: Michael Beard
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Beard opened his first NCAA Championships by collecting bonus points for Penn State.
The redshirt freshman had no problems taking Navy’s Jacob Koser down 16 seconds in the bout. Just about two minutes later, Beard tilt Koser to his back for near-fall points and a 6-0 lead after one period.
In the second period, Beard recorded a reversal to get the scoring going. He added a takedown to lead 10-1 after two periods. The third period saw Beard open with a takedown, but Koser also took Beard down. In the end, Beard was able to secure a 14-4 major decision.
Beard will take on North Dakota State’s Owen Pentz, who is the No. 31 seed, after he pinned No. 2 seed Eric Schultz, of Nebraska, in the second round.
285 Pounds: Greg Kerkvliet
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Kerkvliet looked like a natural in his NCAA debut against Navy’s John Birchmeier.
The redshirt freshman took 52 seconds to secure a takedown. From there, Kerkvliet went on a tilting spree.
He collected four near-fall points with 1:37 remaining in the first period. Twenty-one seconds later, Kerkvliet got another four near-fall points.
In the span of 16 seconds, Kerkvliet scored eight points off of two sets of near-fall points to secure an 18-0 technical fall in 2:17. Kerkvliet has a tough second-round match with Lehigh’s Jordan Wood later tonight.
NCAA Championships
Thursday at St. Louis
Team key: Air Force (AF), American (A), Appalachian State (APP), Arizona State (ASU), Army West Point (AWP), Binghamton (B), Bloomsburg (BB), Bucknell (BK), Buffalo (BF), Cal Poly (CP), Campbell (CB), Central Michigan (CM), Chattanooga (CT), Clarion (C), Cleveland State (CS), Cal State Bakersfield (CSB), Drexel (DX), Duke (D), Edinboro (E), Fresno State (FS), Gardner-Webb (G), Hofstra (H), Illinois (Ill.), Indiana (Ind.), Iowa (I), Iowa State (ISU), Kent State (K), Lehigh (L), Little Rock (LR), Michigan (M), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (Minn.), Missouri (Miss.), Navy (N), Nebraska (Neb.), North Carolina (NC), North Carolina State (NCSU), North Dakota State (NDSU), Northern Colorado (NCO), Northern Illinois (NIU), Northern Iowa (NI), Northwestern (NW), Ohio (O), Ohio State (OSU), Oklahoma (OK), Oklahoma State (OKSU), Oregon State (OSU), Penn State (PSU), Pittsburgh (PB), Purdue (P), Rider (RD), Rutgers (R), Sacred Heart (SH), SIU Edwardsville (SIUE), South Dakota State (SDSU), Stanford (S), The Citadel (TC), Utah Valley (UV), Virginia (V), Virginia Tech (VT), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (W), Wyoming (WY)
Team scores: 1. Iowa 19, 2. Penn State 17, 3. Missouri 14, T4. Arizona State 13, T4. North Carolina State 13, 6. Oklahoma State 12.5, 7. Michigan 12, 8. Nebraska 11.5, 9. Virginia Tech 9, T10. Minnesota 8, T10. Northern Iowa 8.
First Round
125: Howard, PSU, dec. Malik Heinselman, OSU, 6-4; 133: Bravo-Young, PSU, tech. fall Sean Carter, APP, 20-5 (7:00); 141: N. Lee, PSU, tech. fall Julian Flores, DX, 18-0 (2:33); 157: Berge, PSU, major dec. Andrew Cerniglia, N, 12-4; 165: Travis Wittlake, OKSU, dec. J. Lee, PSU, 8-1; 174: Starocci, PSU, major dec. Victor Marcelli, V, 10-2; 184: Brooks, PSU, tech. fall Jhaquan Anderson, G, 17-1 (5:25); 197: Beard, PSU, major dec. Jacob Koser, N, 14-4; 285: Kerkvliet, PSU, tech. fall John Birchmeier, N, 18-0 (2:17).
