Penn State won its first team title since 2019 during the March 4-5 Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Read all of our coverage below.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich.
Penn State entered Sunday’s wrestling action of the Big Ten Championships with an 11.5 point lead in the team race over Iowa as the Hawkeyes’ Abe Assad was awarded his placement points for finishing seventh as he received a medical forfeit.
The Nittany Lions managed to push two into the consolation finals. Beau Bartlett (141 pounds) and Shayne Van Ness (149) will join Penn State’s six finalists in Roman Bravo-Young (133), Levi Haines (157), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184), Max Dean (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (285), when wrestling resumes at 4:30 this afternoon.
RBY will face Minnesota’s Aaron Nagao, who made the finals as the No. 6 seed. Haines takes on Nebraska’s Peyton Robb, who is the No. 1 wrestler in the country at the weight class.
Starocci gets another Cornhusker in Mikey Labriola, who is a Pennsylvania native. Brooks takes on Ohio State’s Kaleb Romero.
Dean will be part of another Penn State-Nebraska matchup when he takes on the No. 2 seed in Silas Allred. Kerkvliet gets to end the night by taking on the hometown kid in Michigan’s Mason Parris.
The Nittany Lions lead dropped slightly to 9.5 points after wrestling was over for the session.
Here’s a recap of the first action on Sunday.
Penn State’s Gary Steen wrestles Michigan State’s Tristan Lujan in a 125 lb bout at the Crisler Center on Sunday, March 5, 2023. The match did not count towards team points and was for placings. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
125 pounds: Gary Steen
Final record: 0-3
Finish: Did not place
Recap: Steen’s day started off with him potentially scoring his first win as he took on Michigan State’s Tristan Lujan.
Steen beat Lujan in the dual earlier this season. Lujan got his revenge on Sunday afternoon.
The Spartan wrestler recorded the first points with a takedown, but Steen did escape to be down 2-1 after one. In the second period, Steen opened with an escape, but Lujan recorded a takedown.
Steen escaped again with 45 seconds left, and had a takedown attempt late, but couldn’t finish. Lujan was going to start from bottom in the third, but Steen felt comfortable on his feet to give him the escape to start the period.
Steen snapped off a single leg takedown and tied the bout, 5-5. He again let Lujan up, but couldn’t get that other takedown for the winning score. Steen fell 6-5, thus ending his Big Ten Championships.
Penn State’s Beau Bartlett controls Purdue’s Parker Fillius in a 141 lb bout at the Crisler Center on Sunday, March 5, 2023. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
141 pounds: Beau Bartlett
Record after session: 2-1
Current round: Consolation Finals
Recap: Bartlett took on Purdue’s Parker Filius to start the day. Filius recorded the first points of the match with an escape to start the second period.
Barlett earned a takedown late to hold a 2-1 lead. He extended his lead by one with an escape 20 seconds in. Filius got a takedown late, but Bartlett was given an escape and had riding time to earn a 5-3 win.
He’ll take on Ohio State’s Dylan D’Emilio for third later this afternoon.
Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness controls Indiana’s Graham Rooks in a 149 lb bout at the Crisler Center on Sunday, March 5, 2023. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness
Record after session: 4-1
Current round: Consolation Finals
Recap: Van Ness has done nothing but record bonus points in his first Big Ten Tournament.
He continued that Sunday afternoon against Indiana’s Graham Rooks. Van Ness tallied five takedowns — two back to back late in the third period to secure a 12-4 major decision.
He had 1:54 in riding time to get that 12th point.
Van Ness gets a rematch with Iowa’s Max Murin, who sent Van Ness to the consolation bracket with a 4-2 defeat in the quarterfinals.
Penn State’s Alex Facundo wrestles Illinois’ Dan Braunagel in the165 lb bout for seventh place at the Big Ten wrestling championships at the Crisler Center on Sunday, March 5, 2023. Abby Drey adrey@centredaily.com
165 pounds: Alex Facundo
Final record: 3-2
Finish: 7th
Recap: Facundo like he did on Saturday looked to rebound from a loss that ended his day.
He took on Illinois’ Dan Braunagel for seventh place.
Neither wrestler got anything offensively in the first period, but Facundo tallied all of his points in the next frame. He opened with an escape. With two seconds remaining, the redshirt freshman took Braunagel down.
Braunagel collected an escape in the third period, and put on a flurry late that Facundo battled off. The Nittany Lion ended his first Big Ten Tournament with a 3-1 win and the seventh-place finish.
Big Ten Championships
Sunday at Ann Arbor, Mich.
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. Penn State 129, 2. Iowa 119.5, 3. Nebraska 97.5, 4. Ohio State 91, 5. Minnesota 79, 6. Michigan 75.5, 7. Northwestern 74.5, 8. Wisconsin 50.5, 9. Illinois 45.5, 10. Purdue 43
7th Place Match
165: Alex Facundo, PSU, dec. Dan Braunagel, Ill., 3-1
9th Place Bracket Semifinals
125: Tristan Lujan, MSU, dec. Gary Steen, PSU, 6-5
Consolation Semifinals
141: Bartlett, PSU, dec. Parker Filius, P, 5-3; 149: Van Ness, PSU, major dec. Graham Rooks, Ind., 12-4
This story was originally published March 5, 2023 at 3:48 PM.
Nate Cobler is a part-time reporter covering all things wrestling, either Penn State or Centre County’s high schools, for the Centre Daily Times. He’ll also cover other sports too. When he isn’t writing about sports, he is working for a local mortgage broker, Providence Mortgage Group.
