Penn State wrestling notebook: Big Ten Championships a ‘stepping stone’ to national tournament
Penn State wrestling is diving headfirst into the Big Ten championships this weekend in Lincoln, Nebraska, while setting its sights on what comes next — the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
The five likely No. 1 seeds in the Big Ten tournament will bring five byes. The top-seeded wrestlers will be fresher and potentially more prepared to face off against a tired lower-seeded insurgent. This added wrinkle can make it tougher to advance than even the national tournament, Penn State wrestling head coach Cael Sanderson said.
“We’ve won more national titles than we have Big Ten titles. I think it’s just the makeup of the team and your program and how you organize things,” he told reporters on Monday. “It’s a little different this year too because you don’t necessarily dream about being a Big Ten champion when you’re a kid, you dream about being an NCAA champion. Our focus is on the NCAA tournament — you’re not going to win the NCAA tournament if you’re not wrestling well at the Big Ten to qualify and get there.”
Roman Bravo-Young agrees. His ultimate goal is to win the national championship in the 133-pound class. Penn State’s conference championship is just a means to get there.
“In my eyes, the Big Ten is just a tournament that’s hard for no reason,” Bravo-Young said. “Yeah, it’s cool to win, but it really doesn’t mean too much. My eyes are focused on nationals and Big Tens are just a stepping stone to go through. Other than that, it’s just not any excitement or anything.”
Bravo-Young has been the model of consistency through the season, having gone 28-0 over the past two seasons. He credits much of his success to staying focused, calm and not letting things get to him. This is where his philosophy on looking at the bigger picture of national championships comes to mind.
“It’s definitely not easy, but you have to take it one match at a time,” Bravo-Young said. “I just step out there and believe in my training pretty much. (It’s) just being at peace with whatever happens, just leave it in God’s hands and that’s pretty much it. You can’t really control too much out there. I know that I’m doing everything I can.”
For Sanderson, the weekend will also mark a return to Nebraska. The last time he was there, he was the head coach of Iowa State during the 2009 conference championship, where the Cyclones and Cornhuskers tied for first place.
“I remember it well,” Sanderson said. “We didn’t wrestle well as a team, but we tied with Nebraska for the Big 12 championship. It was a great atmosphere, the fans at Nebraska are passionate, they show up and they’re really supportive. Nebraska is always a great place to be. Not only do they have a great team and great staff across the board, but they do have some very passionate fans and that makes for a very great environment.”
Adding Max Dean and Drew Hildebrandt
Max Dean (197) and Drew Hildebrandt (125) are in their first years at Penn State. Dean has compiled a 15-1 record this year with the Nittany Lions since transferring from Cornell and Hildebrandt owns an 8-1 record with Penn State, following his transfer from Central Michigan.
Sanderson sees them as not only valuable assets on the mat, but important pieces to building the team environment. With the return of Brady Berge (157) for his fifth year, Sanderson expects the trio’s leadership to permeate through the program.
“They’re both just very consistent,” Sanderson said. “(They’re) obviously great kids, they do everything right, they’re early to practice every day, they’re coachable, they’re smiling, they’re very grateful to be on the team and competing. From that standpoint, it’s a big deal and they’ve done a great job. Brady Berge came back this season too, so we have a really solid thing right now.”
Measuring up to the competition
Aaron Brooks holds a 14-0 record on the year and has had to grind through some of the toughest of competition in the Big Ten and the country. As the second-ranked 184-pound wrestler in the country, he took down the first-ranked Myles Amine (Michigan) in a 3-1 decision on Jan. 21 and ninth-ranked Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) two days later.
“It’s great competition in the Big Ten conference,” Brooks said. “Just going in and continuing to wrestle how I’ve been wrestling and putting faith in my coaches. Whenever it’s time to compete, we’ll be ready. So, it’s just continuing to wrestle and have fun. It’s definitely a good measuring stick — the Big Ten conference is.”
