Penn State wrestling crowns 5 champs at Black Knight Invite as 8 make finals
Penn State took part in its first in-season tournament since the 2019-2020 Black Knight Invitational on Sunday.
The Nittany Lions had 13 wrestlers compete with eight reaching the finals of their respective weight classes. In fact, they had teammates square off in the 141-, 157- and 165-pound finals. They were missing Roman Bravo-Young (133 pounds), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184) and Greg Kerkvliet (285).
Beau Barlett (141), Shayne Van Ness (149), Levi Haines (157), Alex Facundo (165) and Max Dean (197) all were champions for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions had five others place in the top three as they claimed the team title with 110.5 points. Army and Indiana finished tied for second with 95 points as Campbell (79.5 points) and Buffalo (72.5) rounded out the top five.
Here’s a look at how each weight finished out for Penn State:
125 pounds
The Nittany Lions had a pair of wrestlers compete at this weight in starter Gary Steen and Karl Shindledecker.
Steen showed why he is the starter by going 3-1 and finishing third. He had a scary start to his tournament as he managed just a 5-4 win over Columbia’s Yanni Vines.
Steen reached the semifinals with a 10-3 beating of Buffalo’s Patrick Adams. He was kicked into the consolation bracket by suffering a 4-2 defeat to the eventual champion in Army’s Ethan Berginc.
Steen received a forfeit into the consolation finals, where he used a takedown with 19 seconds remaining to edge Campbell’s Zander Phaturos, 3-2.
Shindledecker went 0-2 on the day and was outscored 18-11 in his losses.
141 pounds
This was the first of three weights that had both finalists be from Penn State.
Bartlett and David Evans worked their way through their respective part of the bracket to match up in the finals. The pair traded escapes in the second and third periods to force a sudden-victory period.
They scrambled with one another throughout the entire match, and that’s what occurred in the overtime. Bartlett came out on top of this scramble with 30 seconds remaining in the sudden-victory period, to pick up the 3-1 win.
Bartlett bonused his way to the semifinals with a 18-3 technical fall in the first round, and then earned a 20-7 major decision in the quarterfinals. He made the finals with a 7-2 win over Campbell’s Shannon Hanna.
Evans had an easy 11-6 win in his opener, and breezed into the semifinals with a fall in 36 seconds. He made the finals by picking up a resume-boosting 3-2 win over Indiana’s Cayden Rooks, who is ranked No. 32 in the country.
149 pounds
Much like Evans, Van Ness had a nice resume-boosting win on Sunday.
He took on Central Michigan’s Johnny Lovett, who is ranked No. 14 in the country, in the finals. Lovett scored the first points with a takedown with 1:22 left in the first period.
Van Ness trailed 3-1 after two periods. However, Lovett had to take injury time before the start of the third period, giving Van Ness a point with no time running.
The Nittany Lion escaped to tie it up with 1:48 left in the bout. Van Ness was able to secure a takedown with 36 seconds remaining to earn a 5-3 win and the title.
Van Ness had no real problems making the finals by outscoring his first two opponents 23-9. He opened with a 15-7 major decision.
157 pounds
In the second all-Penn State final of the day, Barraclough and Haines squared off.
Neither was able to get a scoring opportunity in the first period. In the second period, Barraclough’s escape was the lone point of the period.
In the third period, Haines struggled to get out from under Barraclough’s grip. With 28 seconds remaining, Haines got his opening for a reversal. He rode out Barraclough the rest of the period to eliminate the riding time Barraclough had built up for a 2-1 win.
Haines had no problems reaching the semifinals as he outscored his opponents 25-5. He used a 17-3 major decision to make the semifinals.
Haines topped Army’s Nate Lukez 7-4 to make the finals.
Barraclough opened with bonus points by collecting an 18-3 technical fall over Hofstra’s Michael Leandrou in 6:58. He used back-to-back decisions, outscoring his foes 9-1 to make the finals.
165 pounds
In the final all-Nittany Lions final, Facundo showed why he is the starter and it isn’t even close, when he took on Matt Lee.
Facundo tallied takedowns with ease against Lee. He led 7-1 after two periods of wrestling, thanks to three takedowns.
In the final period, Facundo hit a double leg on Lee and added a riding time point for a 10-2 major decision.
The bonus points in the finals were all Facundo could get as he had just decision victories to make the finals. Being the No. 1 seed, he had a bye to the quarterfinals, where he earned a 10-4 win. He made the finals with a 7-3 defeat of Central Michigan’s Tracy Hubbard.
Lee needed three wins to make the finals. He opened with back-to-back bonus point victories — a pair of major decisions. He snuck by Army’s Dalton Harkins, 4-3, in the semifinals with an escape with only 39 seconds remaining in the bout.
174 pounds
Jack Kelly competed here in Starocci’s absence.
Kelly went 1-2 and did not place.
He suffered a 6-4 loss to Campbell’s Cole Rees in his opener. Kelly responded with a 10-5 over Bloomsburg’s Anthony DeRosa. However, Kelly was then eliminated when Columbia’s Jack McGill pinned him in 2:02.
184 pounds
Donovon Ball got the nod with Brooks missing, and filled in well to the tune of a third-place finish.
He received a bye into the quarterfinals, where he earned a 7-3 win over Central Michigan’s Ben Cushman. In the semifinals, Ball got kicked into the consolation bracket after suffering a 3-2 loss to Hofstra’s Jacob Ferreira.
Ball received a forfeit to the consolation finals, where he escaped with a 4-3 win over Army’s Sahm Abdulrazzaq.
197 pounds
Dean cruised to his title on Sunday. He earned bonus points the whole way through with two pins, a technical fall and a default, and was named the Outstanding Wrestler.
The defending NCAA champion opened by pinning Campbell’s Brandon Hoselton in 1:55. He finished by pinning Hofstra’s Trey Rogers in 1:15.
Dean made the semifinals with a 15-0 technical fall in 4:15 of Brown’s Aaron Wolk. In the semifinals, Dean got an injury default from Indiana’s Nick Willham, who had his left knee tweaked when Dean got a takedown.
Lucas Cochran also competed at this weight, and finished fifth. A week ago, he finished third in the Binghamton Bearcat Open.
On Sunday, Cochran opened with a 13-1 major decision, but was dropped into the consolation bracket after suffering a 5-2 loss in the quarterfinals. He opened the consolation bracket with another major decision, and reached the semifinals, but was kicked into the fifth-place match after forfeiting.
Rothrock competes for Brown
St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy graduate Keegan Rothrock took part in the Black Knight Invite for Brown University.
The 157-pound wrestler finished 2-2, and came up a round shy of placing.
Rothrock opened with a 9-4 defeat to Buffalo’s Nick Stampoulos. He responded by pinning Bloomsburg’s Josh Bonomo in 1:58.
Rothrock made the consolation quartefinals with a 7-4 win over Central Michigan’s Trenton Wachter, but was pinned by Wachter’s teammate Troy Nation in 2:23 to be eliminated.
Black Knight Invite
Sunday at West Point, N.Y.
Team key: Army (A), Bloomsburg (BB), Brown (B), Buffalo (BF), Campbell (CB), Central Michigan (CM), Columbia (C), Hofstra (H), Indiana (I), Penn State (PSU)
Team scores: 1. Penn State 110.5, T2. Army 95, T2. Indiana 95, 4. Campbell 79.5, 5. Buffalo 72.5
Finals
125: Ethan Berginc, A, dec. Jacob Moran, I, 3-1; 133: Gabriel Hixenbaugh, CB, dec. Cole Rhone, BB, 4-2; 141: Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. David Evans, PSU, 3-1 (SV); 149: Shayne Van Ness, PSU, dec. Johnny Lovett, CM, 5-3; 157: Levi Haines, PSU, dec. Terrell Barraclough, PSU, 2-1; 165: Alex Facundo, PSU, major dec. Matt Lee, PSU, 10-2; 174: DJ Washington, I, dec. Benjamin Pasiuk, A, 16-9; 184: Giuseppe Hoose, BF, dec. Jacob Ferreira, H, 8-4; 197: Max Dean, PSU, pinned Trey Rogers, H, 1:15; 285: Taye Ghadiali, CB, dec. Zach Knighton-Ward, H, 9-4
Consolation Finals
125: Gary Steen, PSU, dec. Zander Phaturos, CB, 3-2; 184: Donovon Ball, PSU, dec. Sahm Abdulrazzaq, A, 4-3
5th Place Match
197: Lucas Cochran, PSU, dec. Eli Sheeren, BF, 9-4
Semifinals
125: Berginc, A, dec. Steen, PSU, 4-2; 141: Bartlett, PSU, dec. Shannon Hanna, CB, 7-2; Evans, PSU, dec. Cayden Rooks, I, 3-2; 149: Van Ness, PSU, dec. Graham Rooks, I, 8-2; 157: Barraclough, PSU, dec. Corbyn Munson, CM, 3-1; Haines, dec. Nate Lukez, A, 7-4; 165: Facundo, PSU, dec. Tracy Hubbard, CM, 7-3; Lee, PSU, dec. Dalton Harkins, A, 4-3; 184: Ferreira, H, dec. Ball, PSU, 3-2; 197: Dean, PSU, injury def. Nick Willham, I, 3:00
Consolation Semifinals
125: Steen, PSU, forfeit, Charlie Farmer, A; 184: Ball, PSU, forfeit, Cole Karpinski, A; 197: Willham, I, forfeit, Cochran, PSU
Consolation Quarterfinals
197: Cochran, PSU, dec. Levi Hopkins, CB, 10-5
Consolation Second Round
125: Patrick Adams, BF, dec. Karl Shindledecker, PSU, 9-5; 174: Jack McGill, C, pinned Jack Kelly, PSU, 2:02; 197: Cochran, PSU, major dec. Cade Dallwitz, CM, 16-2
Quarterfinals
125: Steen, PSU, dec. Adams, BF, 10-3; 141: Bartlett, PSU, major dec. Tyler Morris, A, 20-7; Evans, PSU, pinned Justin Bierdumpfel, B, :36; 149: Van Ness, PSU, major dec. Kaleb Burgess, BF, 15-7; 157: Barraclough, PSU, dec. Derek Gilcher, I, 6-0; Haines, PSU, major dec. Troy Nation, CB, 17-3; 165: Facundo, PSU, dec. Tyler Lillard, I, 10-4; Lee, PSU, major dec. Mason Spears, B, 11-2; 184: Ball, PSU, dec. Ben Cushman, CM, 7-3; 197: Dean, PSU, tech. fall Aaron Wolk, B, 15-0 (4:15); Sam Mitchell, BF, dec. Cochran, PSU, 5-2
Consolation First Round
174: Kelly, PSU, dec. Anthony DeRosa, BB, 10-5
First Round
125: Steen, PSU, dec. Yanni Vines, C, 5-4; Farmer, A, dec. Shindledecker, PSU, 9-6; 141: Bartlett, PSU, tech. fall Cole Rhemrev, I, 18-3 (4:30), Evans, PSU, dec. Jack Marlow (BF), 11-6; 157: Barraclough, PSU, tech. fall Michael Leandrou, H, 18-3 (6:58); Haines, PSU, dec. Trae McDaniel, A, 8-2; 165: Lee, PSU, major dec. Chandler Amaker, CM, 10-2; 174: Cole Rees, CB, dec. Kelly, PSU, 6-4; 197: Dean, PSU, pinned Brandon Hoselton, CB, 1:55; Cochran, PSU, major dec. Danny Lawrence, A, 13-1
This story was originally published November 20, 2022 at 6:12 PM.
