Penn State wrestling leads team race of NCAA Championships after first session
The first session of the NCAA Championships had several ups and downs for Penn State wrestling on Thursday afternoon.
However, when it was all settled, the Nittany Lions lead the team race going into Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Penn State has seven still in the hunt for a NCAA title as two others remain alive in the consolation bracket.
While the Nittany Lions lead the team race with 15.5 points, it’s only by one point over Iowa. They had six bonus point victories — three major decisions, two pins and a technical fall.
Michigan rounds out the top three in the team race with 12.5 points.
Former State College wrestler Cole Urbas also got to compete in his first NCAA Championships for Penn. In his rookie campaign, Urbas made the championships in 2020, but those were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Thursday, Urbas suffered a 15-6 defeat to Nebraska’s Eric Schultz. Urbas will be in a consolation preliminary match Thursday night.
Here’s a look at the Nittany Lions’ performances:
Drew Hildebrandt, 125 Pounds
Record after session: 0-1
Current round: Consolation First Round
Recap: It was not a very good start to the day for Hildebrandt.
It also didn’t help that he got Lock Haven’s Anthony Noto, who was 29-1, in the first round.
Neither wrestler scored in the first period as they tried to find the opening. In the second period, Noto felt comfortable on his feet, so he chose neutral.
The choice paid off as Noto secured a takedown on Hildebrandt with 50 seconds remaining. Hildebrandt escaped to be down 2-1 after two.
In the third period, Hildebrandt started from the bottom position and escaped early to tie the bout. Hildebrandt was in on a late shot looking for the winning points, but ran out of time, sending the bout to sudden victory.
Noto snapped off the winning score from his feet with a takedown of Hildebrandt 46 seconds into the period for the 4-2 win. Hildebrandt fell into the consolation bracket early, where he’ll take on Stanford’s Logan Ashton Thursday night.
Roman Bravo-Young, 133 Pounds
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: RBY had no problems in his opener against Cornell’s Dominic LaJoie. In fact, the result was the same when the two squared off during the Collegiate Duals at the end of December — RBY with a major decision.
In the first period, the senior had three takedowns with ease to lead 6-2. RBY had a reversal in the second period, and LaJoie gave up a stalling point, to make it 9-2 after two periods.
RBY added three more takedowns in the third period, and added riding time for the the 16-4 win.
Nick Lee, 141 Pounds
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Like RBY, Lee cruised in his first round match against Bloomsburg’s Josh Mason with bonus points.
Lee took Mason down to his back quickly to start the match to go up 6-0. The second period began with the same score, but Lee on the bottom as Mason took the top position.
Lee snapped off a reversal 21 seconds into the period, and again put Mason on his back for nearfall points. The NCAA champ opened the third period with a 12-0 lead.
Lee started on his feet in the third period, and earned a takedown for his choice. He did give up a takedown late to Mason, but ultimately won, 15-3.
Beau Bartlett, 149 Pounds
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Bartlett had quite the debut in his NCAA first round match against Northern Iowa’s Colin Realbuto.
Neither wrestler scored in the first period as they looked for an opening. In the second period, Bartlett started from the bottom, but struggled to get out from under Realbuto.
With 17 seconds left in the second period, Bartlett was finally able to escape. He led 1-0 to start the third, but Realbuto quickly escaped to keep riding time in his advantage.
Realbuto snapped off a takedown with just over one minute remaining to lead 3-1, so Bartlett had work to do. Bartlett earned a stall point from Realbuto with 45 seconds remaining. Again, struggling to escape, the Nittany Lion escaped with 23 seconds left.
Bartlett picked up a takedown with nine seconds remaining and kept Realbuto from escaping to hang on for a 5-4 win.
Brady Berge, 157 Pounds
Record after session: 0-1
Current round: Consolation First Round
Recap: Berge said after the Big Ten Championships, the reason he came back to wrestle was to compete in the Big Tens and NCAAs. He’ll have work to do if he wants his NCAA Championships to be longer.
Oregon State’s Hunter Willits used an early escape in the second period as the lone points of the bout through two periods of wrestling. In the third period, Berge struggled to get out from under Willits as the Beavers’ wrestler built up riding time.
Berge did escape with 40 seconds remaining, but needed a takedown to earn the win. Willits stayed in a strong defensive stance, and did just enough not to give up a stall call, to top Berge, 2-1, with the riding time point.
Carter Starocci, 174 Pounds
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Starocci was dominant to start his run toward defending his NCAA crown.
He took on Rutgers’ Connor O’Neill, who he ran up a 19-2 technical fall on during the teams’ dual earlier in the year. Starocci’s performance on Thursday was just as impressive.
He ran out to an 8-2 lead thanks to three takedowns and nearfall points. Starocci added a takedown and picked up a stall point from O’Neill to lead 11-4 after two periods.
In the third period, Starocci poured it on O’Neill to the tune of a reversal and three takedowns, before sticking O’Neill on his back in 6:38.
Aaron Brooks, 184 Pounds
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Brooks looked solid in his start to defending his NCAA crown.
He took on Lehigh’s AJ Burkhart, and went to work early scoring points. He tallied two first-period takedowns one minute apart to jump out to a 4-1 lead.
Brooks added two more takedowns in the second period, and an escape to hold a 9-2 lead to start the third period. The champ poured it on in the final frame with five takedowns in a span of 1.5 minutes to secure a 21-7 major decision.
Max Dean, 197 Pounds
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Dean has had to miss the last two seasons after finishing as a runner-up in 2019. He didn’t take too long to be on the mat in his opener with Clarion’s Will Feldkamp.
Dean had two takedowns about 30 seconds apart, and on the second one, he cranked Feldkamp to his back with his patented bow-and-arrow for nearfall points. Dean led 8-1 after the period closed.
In the second period, Dean had one takedown and added two sets of nearfall points to secure a 16-1 technical fall in 4:40.
Greg Kerkvliet, 285 Pounds
Record after session: 1-0
Current round: Second Round
Recap: Kerkvliet didn’t take long to score in his opening match of the NCAA Championships with North Dakota State’s Brandon Metz. It took the Nittany Lion just 19 seconds, and from there, he just rode Metz for the rest of the period.
Kerkvliet led 2-0 and had 2:41 in riding time after one period. In the second period, the sophomore took Metz to his back, and pinned the Bison’s wrestler in 4:17.
NCAA Championships
Thursday at Detroit
Team key: Air Force (AF), Appalachian State (AS), Arizona State (ASU), Army West Point (A), Binghamton (BH), Bloomsburg (BB), Bucknell (BN), Buffalo (B), Cal Poly (CP), Campbell (CB), Central Michigan (CM), Chattanooga (CT), Clarion (C), Cleveland State (CS), Columbia (CU), Cornell (CN), Cal State Bakersfield (CSB), Drexel (DX), Duke (D), Edinboro (E), Franklin & Marshall (FM), Gardner-Webb (GW), George Mason (GM), Harvard (HV), Hofstra (H), Illinois (ILL), Indiana (IND), Iowa (I), Iowa State (ISU), Kent State (K), Lehigh (L), Lock Haven (LH), Maryland (MD), Michigan (MICH), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (MINN), Missouri (M), Navy (N), Nebraska (NEB), North Carolina (NC), North Carolina State (NCSU), North Dakota State (NDSU), Northern Colorado (NCU), Northern Illinois (NI), Northern Iowa (NIU), Ohio (O), Ohio State (OSU), Oklahoma (OK), Oklahoma State (OKSU), Oregon State (OS), Penn State (PSU), Pennsylvania (PENN), Pittsburgh (PITT), Princeton (PT), Purdue (P), Rider (RD), Rutgers (R), Sacred Heart (SH), SIU Edwardsville (SIE), South Dakota State (SDSU), Stanford (S), The Citadel (TC), Utah Valley (UV), Virginia (V), Virginia Tech (VT), West Virgina (WV), Wisconsin (W), Wyoming (WY)
Team scores: 1. Penn State 15.5, 2. Iowa 14.5, 3. Michigan 12.5, 4. Arizona State 11.5, T5. North Carolina State 11, T5. Northern Iowa 11, 7. Nebraska 10, 8. Oregon State 9, T9. Oklahoma State 8, T9. Virginia Tech 8.
First Round
125: Anthony Noto, LH, dec. Drew Hildebrandt, PSU, 4-2 (SV); 133: Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, major dec. Dominic LaJoie, CN, 16-4; 141: Nick Lee, PSU, major dec. Josh Mason, BB, 15-3; 149: Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. Colin Realbuto, NIU, 5-4; 157: Hunter Willits, OS, dec. Brady Berge, PSU, 2-1; 174: Carter Starocci, PSU, pinned Connor O’Neill, R, 6:38; 184: Aaron Brooks, PSU, major dec. AJ Burkhart, L, 21-7; 197: Max Dean, PSU, tech. fall Will Feldkamp, C, 16-1 (4:40), Eric Schultz, NEB, major dec. Cole Urbas, 15-6; 285: Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, pinned Brandon Metz, NDSU, 4:17.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 4:54 PM.
