Penn State wrestling secures 2 more NCAA Championship spots, sits in 3rd place of team race
When the action from the third session of the Big Ten wrestling championships was complete on Sunday afternoon, Penn State added two more to the squad heading to the NCAA Championships.
The Nittany Lions will have nine in Detroit in two weeks.
Penn State, which has five finalists in Roman Bravo-Young (133 pounds), Nick Lee (141), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184) and Max Dean (197), sits in third place of the team race before the final placement matches get underway at 4:30 p.m. All of the finals will be on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State has 121.5 points to trail leader Michigan by 10.5. Iowa sits second in the team race with 122.5 points. The top five is rounded out with Ohio State (fourth, 82.5 points) and Northwestern (fifth, 79.5).
Here’s a look at where Penn State’s consolation wrestlers finished after the session:
125 pounds: Drew Hildebrandt
Record for tournament: 1-3
Finish: 10th
Recap: Hildebrandt opened his day needing just one win to secure his spot for the NCAA Championships. However, it probably wasn’t the spot he would’ve liked to be in, wrestling for a ninth place finish instead of a title.
Hildebrandt took on Indiana’s Jacob Moran and really had no problems with the Hoosiers’ wrestler in the ninth-place bracket semifinals. He tallied a first period takedown, added an escape in the second period and had a riding time point for a 4-0 win.
In the ninth place match, Hildebrandt didn’t make the call and medically forfeited to Illinois’ Justin Cardani to finish 10th.
149 pounds: Beau Bartlett
Record for tournament: 3-2
Finish: 7th
Recap: Bartlett entered Sunday needing to win his only match of the day to secure his NCAA spot.
He took on Michigan’s Kanen Storr in a bout that played into the team race as well. Neither wrestler scored in the first period, and the first points didn’t come until Bartlett escaped with 12 seconds remaining in the second period.
In the third period, Bartlett used a strong ride to eliminate Storr’s riding time advantage. Storr did escape with just over one minute left in the match.
With 35 seconds remaining, Bartlett was able to secure a standing cradle for a takedown, but was unable to get Storr to his back for more points. Bartlett won 3-1 to secure his first NCAA Championships appearance.
157 pounds: Brady Berge
Record after session: 3-1
Current round: Consolation finals
Recap: Berge had just one match during the first session of Sunday. He didn’t take too long to finish it off either.
Berge took on Purdue’s Kendall Coleman in the consolation semifinals. The pair got into a scramble late, with Berge having the upper hand.
Coleman went to roll through to escape from being taken down, but Berge caught him, put him on his back and pinned the Boilermakers’ wrestler in 2:59.
Berge will take on Iowa’s Kaleb Young, who he beat in the quarterfinals, 5-3, for third place during the second session.
285 pounds: Greg Kerkvliet
Record after session: 3-1
Current round: Consolation finals
Recap: Kerkvliet rebounded nicely after falling to Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi in Saturday evening’s semifinals.
He took on Northwestern’s Lucas Davison in the consolation semifinals, and was down 3-0 early in the second period. Kerkvliet stayed composed to collect a reversal before the final buzzer in the second period.
In the third period, Kerkvliet snatched up another reversal to claim a 4-3 lead. From there, he rode Davison out for the rest of the period to add a riding time point in a 5-3 win.
Big Ten Championships
Sunday at Lincoln, Nebraska
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 132, 2. Iowa 122.5, 3. Penn State 121.5, 4. Ohio State 82.5, 5. Northwestern 79.5, 6. Nebraska 69.5, 7. Minesota 67.5, 8. Wisconsin 63, 9. Rutgers 41, 10. Purdue 35.5.
7th Place Match
149: Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. Kanen Storr, Mich., 3-1
9th Place Match
125: Justin Cardani, Ill., med. forfeit Drew Hildebrandt, PSU
9th Place Bracket Semifinals
125: Hildebrandt, PSU, dec. Jacob Moran, Ind., 4-0
Consolation Semifinals
157: Berge, PSU, pinned Kendall Coleman, P, 2:59; 285: Kerkvliet, PSU, dec. Lucas Davison, NW, 5-3
This story was originally published March 6, 2022 at 2:40 PM.
