Penn State sends five wrestlers to the NCAA finals, closing in on 10th national title
Penn State started with nine wrestlers on the second day of the NCAA Championships.
When the day ended, the Nittany Lions had six left, but five of those guys are in the finals of their weight classes.
“They were tough matches. Every one of those are great matches. They felt like NCAA Final matches,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “The guys did a great job, kept their composure, were the aggressors, went out there and got the takedowns. They were themselves. These big moments, obviously, when in the team race is on the line, that’s a lot, and that’s something our guys deal with.”
With so many finalists, the Nittany Lions have a strangle hold on the team race with their 108 points. Mathematically, it is down to Penn State and Michigan for the team title. The Wolverines sit 23.5 points behind Penn State.
Arizona State sits in third place with 63.5 points as Iowa (62 points) and Nebraska (54) round out the top five.
Here’s a look at the Nittany Lions’ performances from Friday:
Roman Bravo-Young, 133 Pounds
Record after day: 4-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: RBY took on a familiar foe in Iowa’s Austin DeSanto for a spot in the finals. Friday night’s matchup was the eighth time in their collegiate careers.
DeSanto won the first two meetings, but the last six have been RBY’s.
“It gets harder every time. Like I said, when I got off the mat, I have to thank him,” Bravo-Young said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. He pushes me in different kinds of ways. I’m doing extra workouts and stuff. I knew how to get one takedown, and I just found a way to get that at the end.”
DeSanto took the lead first in the match with an escape eight seconds into the second period. In the third period, RBY didn’t get out from under DeSanto until just over one minute remained.
The pair got into a scramble situation with about 20 seconds remaining, that was started by RBY’s snatch single leg. With nine seconds remaining, RBY came through with that takedown previously mentioned. The two went to the center, and DeSanto put his face in his hands in disbelief.
DeSanto escaped just before the final buzzer, but it wasn’t enough as RBY won 3-2. The senior will take on Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix for a second straight year in the finals.
“It’s obviously going to be a tough match. We wrestled before,” Bravo-Young said. “I just have to do what I do. I’m going to go out there, move my feet and have a good time. You don’t get to wrestle in the NCAA finals too often. I’m excited. It’s going to be a fun night.”
RBY took on the No. 25 seed in Virginia’s Brian Courtney, who made a magical run to the quarterfinals. PA wrestling fans may remember the run Courtney made several years ago when he took out three defending state champions on his way to a PIAA title.
In the NCAA Championships, he beat the eighth and ninth seeds to setup the match with RBY on Friday morning. The Nittany Lion ended the Cinderella run for Courtney.
RBY led 2-1 after one period, but poured the offense on in the second period. He opened with a reversal, and tacked on two takedowns to lead 8-3.
In the third period, RBY added two more takedowns and nearly had one at the buzzer, but came up just short of a major decision with a 13-6 victory.
Nick Lee, 141 Pounds
Record after day: 4-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: There were a lot of upsets that occurred in Lee’s bracket from Iowa’s Jaydin Eierman losing to Rutgers’ Sebastian Rivera. Lee navigated his way to the semifinals against Stanford’s Real Woods, who sat out last season.
Lee grabbed the lead with a takedown with just over one minute remaining in the first period. He secured the leg of Woods, and transitioned into a double leg takedown for the score.
Woods escaped before the final buzzer to make it 2-1 after one period. Lee had an early escape in the second period as the lone points in the frame. Woods escaped 45 seconds into the third period, but Lee’s defense kept the Cardinal’s wrestler at bay in the 3-2 victory.
Lee will take on North Carolina’s Kizhan Clarke in the finals. Clarke, who is the No. 15 seed, pulled off the upset on Eierman in the second round.
“It’s really awesome. I feel like I’m just trying to be my best self,” Lee said of making the finals and Clarke. “He is in the finals of the national tournament, so he is an incredible wrestler, so I’m excited. It should be a fun match.”
Lee set some history in his quarterfinals match with Oregon State’s Grant Willits.
At beginning of the year, Lee and Willits squared off at the Journeyman Duals in Manheim with Lee topping Willits 11-4. On Friday afternoon, it wasn’t even close.
Lee tallied a takedown midway through the first period and rode Willits out for the remainder of the period. In the second period, Lee escaped eight seconds into the period.
The senior got a takedown with just over one minute left and caught Willits in a weird scramble position. Lee’s left leg was trapped by Willits, but Lee sunk a half nelson and just rolled Willits back for a fall in 3:45.
Lee became Penn State’s first five-time All-American by making the semifinals.
Carter Starocci, 174 Pounds
Record after day: 4-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Starocci looked unstoppable in his semifinals match with North Carolina State’s Hayden Hidlay.
The freshman recorded two first-period takedowns. The first came with just over one minute remaining in the first period. Starocci grabbed a leg of Hidlay’s and just circled behind with ease.
Hidlay escaped, and went for a takedown of his own late. However, Starocci came out on top for the score and a 4-1 lead after one period.
Starocci opened the second period with a quick escape. One minute later, Starocci earned another takedown. Hidlay escaped before the period ended, but it was 7-2 in Starocci’s favor.
The defending champ tacked on one more takedown in the third period, and added riding time for a 10-3 win.
Starocci will face Virginia Tech’s Mekhi Lewis, who was a NCAA champion in 2019 at 165 pounds. Lewis beat former Nittany Lion great Vincenzo Joseph in those finals.
“A lot of confidence comes from God. I put God first in everything,” Starocci said. “With him in my life, I know that I’m just a blip of existence. I’m not going to care what no one thinks about me. I’m going to go out there and do what I want. I don’t get up in the morning to say another guy can beat me. I’m coming to take everyone out.”
Starocci faced a Big Ten foe in Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola for a spot in the semifinals.
Starocci tallied the first point of the bout with an escape 11 seconds into the second period. He tacked on a takedown 12 seconds later to hold a 3-0 lead after two periods.
Labriola earned an escape 29 seconds into the final period, but Starocci added a takedown with just under 20 seconds left in the bout. He added riding time point for a 6-1 win.
Aaron Brooks, 184 Pounds
Record after day: 4-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Brooks took on a familiar foe in the semifinals in North Carolina State’s Trent Hidlay.
The pair squared off in last season’s NCAA finals, where Brooks edged Hidlay, 3-2. On Friday night, it was another close one coming down to the end.
The champ got on the board first with a takedown just over midway through the first period. Hidlay escaped about 20 seconds later, and it was 2-1 after one period of wrestling.
Brooks’ escape in the second period was the lone point of the period. Hidlay opened the third period with an escape, and he tallied a takedown on Brooks with 1:27 remaining in the bout.
Brooks escaped 10 seconds later and neither wrestler was able to get a winning score, sending the bout to sudden victory. Brooks took just 10 seconds into the final frame to earn a 6-4 win and make the finals for a second straight year.
He’ll take on Michigan’s Myles Amine in a rematch of the Big Ten finals from two weeks ago.
“It’s funny, I had a dream a week ago, it was me and him wrestling in the semis,” Brooks said of his semifinals match. “I scored a takedown, but it was a weird call. In my dream I was like, ‘stay calm.’ I’m out there and that happened. I knew this would happen, kind of, so this is God. He prepares me for these things ahead of time, and when it happened I knew it was a time to keep my faith and keep going.”
Brooks continued to pile up bonus points for Penn State in his quarterfinals match.
It was Ohio State’s Kaleb Romero that got run over by the bonus point train. Brooks had two takedowns in the first period to race out to a 4-1 lead.
It took him only seven seconds to escape in the second period, and about 50 seconds later came another takedown. Brooks led 7-1 to start the third period.
Romero started on his feet to begin the third period, but Brooks came away with his fourth takedown. A stalling point and a fifth takedown gave Brooks a 13-2 major decision.
Max Dean, 197 Pounds
Record after day: 4-0
Current round: Finals
Recap: Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said he hoped Dean wouldn’t have too many more nail biters in the NCAA Championships.
Well, Sanderson got his wish in Dean’s semifinals match with Ohio State’s Gavin Hoffman.
Dean scored a takedown with ease 53 seconds into the bout, and those were the lone points of the opening period. In the second period, Dean escaped quickly, and picked up another takedown to go up 5-0.
The third period saw the duo start on their feet per Hoffman’s choice, and it paid off for the Buckeye with a takedown of Dean. The Nittany Lion escaped, and tacked on another takedown late. He even tried to get a major decision, but wasn’t able to finish it off in a 9-3 win.
Dean gets a Big Ten foe in Iowa’s Jacob Warner in the finals.
“I’m going to go out and wrestle hard for 7 minutes, that’s what I always do and let the chips fall. It’s a little different every time,” Dean said when asked about facing Warner. “If there is anything I need to know, my coaches will let me know, usually that’s about 30 minutes before the match, outside of that, I try to keep my mind empty.”
Sanderson didn’t get what he hoped for when Dean took on Binghamton’s Lou DePrez earlier Friday in the quarterfinals.
DePrez tallied a takedown early in the first period to grab the lead. Dean didn’t stay down for long though as he escaped in two seconds.
Dean’s escape in the second period tied up the bout to start the third period. Dean appeared to get a takedown with just over one minute left in the match during a scramble situation that wasn’t called. Instead, a stalemate was called.
Penn State assistant coach Casey Cunningham threw a challenge brick. The call was reversed and Dean was awarded the takedown.
DePrez escaped with just under 30 seconds remaining, but Dean had a solid defense to advance, 4-3, to a rain of boos from the crowd.
Greg Kerkvliet, 285 Pounds
Record after day: 3-1
Current round: Consolation semifinals
Recap: Kerkvliet had his hands full in the semifinals, just like everyone else that faced Minnesota’s Gable Steveson this weekend.
However, Kerkvliet nearly came out and recorded the first points of the match with a takedown, but the Olympic champ countered for the score. Kerkvliet did escape, and trailed 2-1 to start the second period.
The sophomore had an escape in the second period, to tie the bout at 2-2 after two periods. In the third period, the defending champ tallied two takedowns, an escape and added riding time to dispatch Kerkvliet, 8-3.
Kerkvliet in a similar fashion as his second-round match, dispatched Nebraska’s Christian Lance in the quarterfinals earlier Friday.
Kerkvliet opened with a takedown with just 40 seconds remaining in the first period, and rode Lance out for the remainder. In the second period, Kerkvliet picked up a reversal 11 seconds in, and again rode Lance out for the remainder of the period.
Lance started on the bottom to start the third period, and did escape, but it was with 27 seconds remaining in the bout. Kerkvliet tacked on a takedown before the final buzzer and added a riding time point with 4:09 in riding time for the 7-1 win.
Drew Hildebrandt, 125 Pounds
Record for tournament: 1-2
Current round: Eliminated Friday afternoon
Recap: It’s unknown if something was wrong with Hildebrandt, but he didn’t look great in the Big Ten Championships. Two weeks later, he still didn’t seem like himself in the NCAA Championships.
The Nittany Lions wrestler took on former PSU athlete Brody Teske, who is competing for Northern Iowa now, to stay alive in the consolation bracket. Teske came out on fire, scoring two takedowns in the first period for a 4-1 lead at the end.
Hildebrandt opened the second period with an escape, and tied the bout up, 4-4, with a nice double leg takedown. Teske escaped before the period ended to regain the lead.
Teske opened with an escape in the third period. Teske was keeping Hildebrandt away from scoring and was called for a stall with 18 seconds remaining. Hildebrandt came in for one last attempt, but Teske caught for a late takedown to seal the win, 8-4, and end Hildebrandt’s season.
Beau Bartlett, 149 Pounds
Record for tournament: 1-2
Current round: Eliminated Friday afternoon
Recap: Bartlett had to feel great coming into Friday’s bout with Northwestern’s Yahya Thomas after just coming up short against Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso the night before. However, Thomas had other plans for Bartlett.
After neither wrestler scored in the first period, Thomas got his offense going in the second period. An escape opened the period, and a minute letter Thomas used a solid single leg takedown on Bartlett to lead 3-1 to start the third.
Bartlett opened the third period with an escape, but Thomas tacked on one more takedown to seal up a 5-3 win.
Brady Berge, 157 Pounds
Record for tournament: 2-2
Current round: Eliminated Friday afternoon
Recap: Berge got plenty of action in the session on Friday.
He opened against Central Michigan’s Johnny Lovett. Berge scored the bout’s first point with a takedown with only 45 seconds remaining in the opening period.
Lovett escaped before the period ended to make it 2-1. Berge’s early escape amounted to lone points of the second period.
Lovett opened the third period with a reversal, which tied the bout at 3-3 with 1:33 remaining. Berge escaped 20 seconds later and hung on to stay alive with a 4-3 win.
Berge took on Nebraska’s Peyton Robb in the third round of consolations, and looked to be out of fuel. Robb controlled from start to finish in an 8-3 win over Berge, which ended the Nittany Lions wrestler’s season.
NCAA Championships
Friday 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 108, 2. Michigan 84.5, 3. Arizona State 63.5, 4. Iowa 62, 5. Nebraska 54, 6. Northwestern 49, 7. Virginia Tech 48, 8. Cornell 45, T9. Missouri 42, T9. Ohio State 42.
Semifinals
133: Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Austin DeSanto, I, 3-2; 141: Nick Lee, PSU, dec. Real Woods, S, 3-2; 174: Carter Starocci, PSU, dec. Hayden Hidlay, NCSU, dec. 10-3; 184: Aaron Brooks, PSU, dec. Trent Hidlay, NSCU, 6-4 (SV); 197: Max Dean, PSU, dec. Gavin Hoffman, OSU, 9-3; 285: Gable Steveson, MINN, dec. Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, 8-3
Quarterfinals
133: Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Brian Courtney, V, 13-6; 141: Lee, PSU, pinned Grant Willits, OS, 3:45; 174: Starocci, PSU, dec. Mikey Labriola, NEB, 6-1; 184: Brooks, PSU, major dec. Kaleb Romero, OSU, 13-2; 197: Dean, PSU, dec. Lou DePrez, BH, 4-3; 285: Kerkvliet, PSU, dec. Christian Lance, NEB, 7-1
Consolation Third Round
157: Peyton Robb, NEB, dec. Brady Berge, PSU, 8-3
Consolation Second Round
125: Brody Teske, NIU, dec. Drew Hildebrandt, PSU, 8-4; 149: Yahya Thomas, NW, dec. Beau Bartlett, PSU, 5-4; 157: Berge, PSU, dec. Johnny Lovett, CM, 4-3
This story was originally published March 19, 2022 at 12:14 AM.
