Penn State sends 7 wrestlers into the Big Ten semifinals. Here’s what’s happened so far
When the first session of the Big Ten wrestling championships came to a close Saturday afternoon, Penn State found itself in prime position for a team title.
The Nittany Lions sent seven wrestlers to the conference semifinals as three others remain alive in the consolation brackets.
When it comes to the team race, Penn State is second with 67.5 points. It trails Michigan, who has eight semifinalists — the most of any team. The Wolverines have 68.5 points. The teams only have two matchups of their semifinalists against one another.
Iowa is third in the team race with 55 points and six semifinalists. Nebraska is fourth with 47.5 points, as Wisconsin rounds out the top five with 35 points.
Here’s a look at which Nittany Lions wrestler is in the semifinals:
125 pounds: Drew Hildebrandt
Record after session: 0-1
Current round: Consolation Second Round
Recap: It remained a question of what would Hildebrandt look like in the Big Ten Championships after competing in the Mid American Champions for Central Michigan. Well, Hildebrandt’s Big Ten debut was one he’d probably like to forget.
Hildebrandt took on Northwestern’s Michael DeAugustino with neither wrestler scoring in the first period. DeAugustino started from the bottom position in the second, and Hildebrandt went to work with his strong top game. Late in the second period, Hildebrandt was called for a penalty point and DeAugustino escaped to hold a 2-0 lead.
Hildebrandt opened the third period down, and tallied a reversal 15 seconds in. DeAugustino escaped, but Hildebrandt had enough riding time built to force sudden victory at 3-3.
DeAugustino then recorded the winning takedown 18 seconds into sudden victory. Hildebrandt is now in must win mode, and has a tough one to start off with in Minnesota’s Patrick McKee later tonight.
133 pounds: Roman Bravo-Young
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: Bravo-Young started his quarterfinals match with Purdue’s Matt Ramos in an uncharacteristic position. Ramos secured only the second takedown ever on RBY this year, and it seemed to wake up the senior.
RBY quickly escaped and tallied a takedown late to hold a 3-2 lead after one period. In the second period, Bravo-Young recorded another escape and a takedown for a 6-2 lead.
RBY tacked on two takedowns and added a riding time to secure an 11-3 major decision. He’ll take on Michigan’s Dylan Ragusin in the semifinals.
141 pounds: Nick Lee
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: Lee looked like a man on a mission to work his way toward claiming his first Big Ten title. He had no problems with Wisconsin’s Joseph Zargo.
Lee recorded a takedown 42 seconds into the first period. He then worked on tilting Zargo for two sets of nearfall points, to claim an 8-0 first period lead.
In the second period, Lee took Zargo down and recorded four more nearfall points to have 14-0 lead to start the third period. Lee started from the bottom position recorded a reversal for the 16-0 technical fall in 5:06.
149 pounds: Beau Bartlett
Record after session: 1-1
Current round: Consolation Second Round
Recap: Bartlett got his second Big Ten Championships off in a great, but scary way. He took on the No. 10 seed in Minnesota’s Michael Blockhus.
Neither wrestler scored in the first period, and Blockhus’ escape in the second period were the lone points heading to the third. Bartlett quickly escaped, and took Blockhus down.
Blockhus escaped with just under 1:30 left in the bout. Late in the period, Blockhus looked to have secured a winning takedown, but it was reviewed and confirmed, no takedown. Bartlett won 3-2.
In the quarterfinals, Bartlett ran into Wisconsin’s Austin Gomez, who was the No. 2 seed. Gomez controlled the match from start to finish in a 12-4 major decision win.
Bartlett takes on Illinois’ Christian Kanzler in the second round of consolations tonight.
157 pounds: Brady Berge
Record after session: 2-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: When the Big Ten looks back at the seedings here, they may want to reconsider. Berge was the No. 10 seed, and it’s probably because he didn’t wrestle any matches in the weight during the conference slate of the season.
However, Berge went to work and showed he wasn’t seeded properly.
He opened with a 10-2 major decision over the No. 7 seed in Wisconsin’s Garrett Model. In the quarterfinals, Berge took on the No. 2 seed in Iowa’s Kaleb Young.
Neither wrestler scored any point in the first period, but Berge had an escape and a takedown to hold a 3-1 lead to start the third period. Young quickly escaped to get within 3-2, but with 42 seconds remaining Berge tallied a takedown.
Young escaped, but was unable to get the tying score, as Berge hung on for a 5-3 upset win. Berge takes on the No. 3 seed in Michigan’s Will Lewan for a spot in the finals.
165 pounds: Creighton Edsell
Record after session: 1-1
Current round: Consolation Second Round
Recap: Edsell was getting a taste of his first postseason action for the Nittany Lions. He opened up a win, but his reward was the No. 2 seed.
Edsell took on Purdue’s Hayden Lohrey and led 1-0 after two periods of wrestling. Lohrey was awarded a penalty point in the third period, which forced sudden victory. Edsell took just 19 seconds to secure a takedown for the 3-1 win to advance.
In the quarterfinals, Edsell took on Iowa’s Alex Marinelli. Marinelli had two first period takedowns to have a 4-2 lead at the period’s end.
Edsell started from the bottom position in the second period, but was unable to get out from under Marinelli. In the third period, Marinelli added an escape, another takedown and added riding time for an 8-2 win. Edsell will face Minnesota’s Cael Carlson in the consolation second round tonight.
174 pounds: Carter Starocci
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: Starocci had no problems in his Big Ten opener against Maryland’s Dominic Solis. The pair squared off in the quarterfinals with Starocci collecting three takedowns.
On the third takedown, the regining NCAA champ took Solis to his back and pinned the Terrapins wrestler in 2:17.
Starocci gets a rematch of last season’s Big Ten and NCAA finals with Iowa’s Michael Kemerer in the semifinals.
184 pounds: Aaron Brooks
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: Remember what Starocci did at 174 pounds? Well, Brooks followed suit, but quicker.
Brooks took down Maryland’s Kyle Cochran just over midway through the first period. He cranked Cochran to his back for a fall in 1:41.
Brooks will now take on Nebraska’s Taylor Venz, who last handed Brooks a collegiate loss, in the semifinals.
197 pounds: Max Dean
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: Dean was making his first appearance in the Big Ten Championships, and seemed like he was right at home.
He took on Rutgers’ Greg Bulsak, who nearly gave Dean his first loss as a Nittany Lion earlier this year. This time around, Dean made sure it wasn’t going to come into question.
Dean had a takedown in the first and second periods, and added an escape to hold a 5-2 lead after two periods. He rode Bulsak out for the entire third period to secure a 6-2 win.
Dean will take on Michigan State’s Cam Caffey, who is the only wrestler to beat Dean this season.
285 pounds: Greg Kerkvliet
Record after session: 2-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: Kerkvliet didn’t waste time in his Big Ten opener. He built up a 14-0 lead on Maryland’s Zach Schrader before pinning him in 1:13.
In the quarterfinals, Kerkvliet had a takedown in the first and second period. He picked up a stalling point, added an escape and riding time for a 7-1 win.
Now, Kerkvliet gets Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi in the semifinals tonight.
Big Ten Championships
Saturday at Lincoln, Neb.
Team key: Illinois (Ill.), Indiana (Ind.), Iowa (I), Maryland (M), Michigan (Mich.), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (Minn.), Nebraska (N), Northwestern (NW), Ohio State (OSU), Penn State (PSU), Purdue (P), Rutgers (R), Wisconsin (W)
Team scores: 1. Michigan 68.5, 2. Penn State 67.5, 3. Iowa 55, 4. Nebraska 47.5, 5. Wisconsin 35, 6. Ohio State 33, 7. Northwestern 27.5, 8. Minnesota 21, 9. Michigan State 15.5, 10. Rutgers 15.
Quarterfinals
125: Michael DeAugustino, NW, dec. Drew Hildebrandt, PSU, 5-3 (SV); 133: Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, major dec Matt Ramos, P, 11-3; 141: Nick Lee, PSU, tech. fall Joseph Zargo, W, 16-0 (5:06); 149: Austin Gomez, W, dec. Beau Bartlett, PSU, 11-4; 157: Brady Berge, PSU, dec. Kaleb Young, I, 5-3; 165: Alex Marinelli, I, dec. Creighton Edsell, PSU, 8-2; 174: Carter Starocci, PSU, pinned Dominic Solis, M, 2:17; 184: Aaron Brooks, PSU, pinned Kyle Cochran, M, 1:41; 197: Max Dean, PSU, dec. Greg Bulsak, R, 6-2; 285: Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, dec. Christian Lance, N, 7-1
First Round
149: Bartlett, PSU, dec. Michael Blockhus, Minn., 3-2; 157: Berge, PSU, major dec. Garrett Model, W, 10-2; 165: Edsell, PSU, dec. Hayden Lohrey, P, 3-1 (SV); 285: Kerkvliet, PSU, pinned Zach Schrader, M, 2:13
This story was originally published March 5, 2022 at 4:23 PM.
