‘A really special team.’ How Penn State claimed its 1st Big Ten wrestling title since 2019
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Big Ten Wrestling Championships
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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Penn State did something they haven’t done in four years.
It won the Big Ten wrestling title for the first time since 2019 on Sunday afternoon inside the Crisler Arena.
The Nittany Lions crowned 4 conference champions to finish with 147 points. They outpaced Iowa by 12.5 points. Nebraska rounded out the top three with 104.5 points.
Penn State clinched the title before their four finalists from 174 pounds to 285 pounds even hit the mat.
“We locked it up?” said an unknowing Carter Starocci after he won his title. “It feels good. It’s always win or die, so it’s always good for the team title. It is special getting this team title because I believe this is a really special team with a lot of killers on it. I’d hop in a foxhole with every single one of these guys.”
Here’s a recap of the final day:
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.
133 pounds: Roman Bravo-Young
Final record: 3-0
Finish: 1st
Recap: RBY took on Minnesota’s Aaron Nagao for a shot at his third straight Big Ten crown. It was his fourth straight time in the finals.
Nagao made the finals in his first conference tournament as the No. 6 seed, but his luck ran out against the defending champ.
RBY had a takedown in the first and second period to open up a 4-0 lead. He did give up an uncharacteristic interlocking point to lead 4-1 after two periods.
Nagao chose the top to start the third and had a solid ride. RBY was unable to escape but he did collect a stall point for a 5-1 win.
RBY closed out his Big Ten finale as a three-time champion and five-time All-Conference. He had a fifth and second place finish to go with his titles.
“It’s just another win and move on. It’s just another match,” Bravo-Young said. “I’m just grateful and blessed. I’m just doing what I love.”
141 pounds: Beau Bartlett
Final record: 3-1
Finish: 3rd
Recap: Bartlett took on Ohio State’s Dylan D’Emilio for third place. He trailed 1-0 entering the third period.
Bartlett did all of his damage in the third period. He opened with an escape and opened up his offense.
The junior snapped off two takedowns before the end of the period and secured a 5-2 win over the Buckeye.
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.
149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness
Final record: 4-2
Finish: 4th
Recap: Van Ness looked for some revenge in his consolation finals match as he took on Iowa’s Max Murin.
Murin kicked Van Ness into the consolation bracket with a 4-2 loss in the quarterfinals. The Hawkeyes wrestler scored the first points with a takedown midway through the first period.
Van Ness escaped to trail 2-1 after one period. He added another escape in the second period to be tied heading to the finale.
Murin needed just eight seconds to escape, and held off the Nittany Lion for a 3-2 win.
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.
157 pounds: Levi Haines
Final record: 3-0
Finish: 1st
Recap: The true freshman made quite the impression on the first day of his first Big Ten Tournament. He continued that trend on Sunday afternoon.
Haines took on Nebraska’s Peyton Robb, who is the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the weight class. He nearly recorded the first points of the match with a takedown in the first period with a nice single leg shot, but Robb’s defense was too much.
Robb’s escape nine seconds into the second period were the lone points, but Haines wasn’t deterred. He needed a little more time to escape from Robb, but it came through with 1:38 remaining in the match.
The pair looked for an opening the rest of the way but nothing came available, so they headed to sudden victory. Midway through the sudden victory period, Haines’ opening came.
He shot in on a high crotch that Robb fended off, but Haines was able to keep a single leg. Robb went for a body lock, which Haines, who was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, picked him straight up and converted to a double leg finish and the winning score in a 3-1 victory.
“I was being persistent and was pulling on his head. I felt it was open and I let it rip,” Haines said of the winning score and winning the title. “It’s pretty cool. I knew going into it, it was going to be a dog fight. I looked forward to it.”
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.
174 pounds: Carter Starocci
Final record: 3-0
Finish: 1st
Recap: Starocci came out and seemed rather excited to be wrestling in his third consecutive Big Ten finals.
He received a caution before the first whistle even blew in his match with Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola. It got countered as Labriola received a stall call. However, neither wrestler scored in the first period.
Labriola scored first as he had an escape just under a minute remaining in the second period. Starocci was able to catch both of Labriola’s legs on a reshot late for a takedown to hold a 2-1 lead heading to the third period.
In the third period, Starocci opened with an escape, picked up his second takedown with six seconds remaining and added a riding time point for a 6-1 victory.
“It feels good, but in 10 days or whatever it is, that’s what we really care about,” the champ said. “It’s always good to get out there and win it as every match is do or die. It’s always business, but at nationals is where it matters, so that’s where my head is at.”
184 pounds: Aaron Brooks
Final record: 3-0
Finish: 1st
Recap: Brooks faced off with Ohio State’s Kaleb Romero, who he beat 3-2 in the teams’ dual at the beginning of February. The Nittany Lion showed he put some distance between himself and Romero.
He tallied a takedown midway through the first period, but Romero quickly escaped. In the second period, Brooks had an escape and another takedown 30 seconds apart to hold a 5-1 lead after two periods.
The third period saw Brooks nearly stalled Romero out, which would’ve been a disqualification. However, Romero only got four of the maximum six — three alone in the third period — which resulted in four points for Brooks.
The two-time NCAA champion added one more takedown and had a riding time point to wrap up a 12-2 major decision.
“I was just keeping my faith in God. I remember wrestling in the Ohio State arena that God was testing me,” said Brooks of the larger win this time around. “A lot of the calls were really awkward. He was testing my patience and giving me the peace to endure.”
197 pounds: Max Dean
Final record: 2-1
Finish: 2nd
Recap: Dean took on an unfamiliar opponent in Nebraska’s Silas Allred in the finals.
Allred was 25-5 entering the Big Ten Championships and was the No. 2 seed. It’s safe to say now that Dean and maybe the rest of the country knows who Allred is.
The junior looked stellar by recording three takedowns on Dean. He had one in each period of wrestling, and really had no problems earning the scores.
Dean had three escapes, two alone in the second period, to make it 4-3 after two periods of wrestling. In the third period, Allred had choice and felt so comfortable on his feet, plus didn’t want to be under Dean that he chose neutral.
It paid off with one of those takedowns and a 6-3 win over the defending NCAA champion.
285 pounds: Greg Kerkvliet
Final record: 2-1
Finish: 2nd
Recap: Kerkvliet seems like he has a new challenge to evolve from in Michigan’s Mason Parris.
The Nittany Lion always had some problems with Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi, but looked to have solved those by beating him several times this year.
Parris looks to be a different story.
The Wolverine snapped off a takedown in the first period that brought the pro-Michigan crowd to their feet with a roar. Kerkvliet escaped and it was 2-1 after one period.
Kerkvliet picked up another escape 17 seconds into the second period, which tied the bout up. In the third period, Parris got an escape of his own eight seconds in to give him a 3-2 lead.
With 18 seconds remaining in the match, the official called Parris for his second stall call that gave Kerkvliet a tying point. The pair went to sudden victory, 3-3.
Parris countered a Kerkvliet shot with just over one minute remaining in the period for a score and a 5-3 win.
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 147, 2. Iowa 134.5, 3. Nebraska 104.5, 4. Ohio State 99, 5. Michigan 84.5, 6. Minnesota 79, 7. Northwestern 78.5, 8. Wisconsin 55.5, 9. Purdue 47, 10. Illinois 46.5
Finals
125: Spencer Lee, I, dec. Liam Cronin, Neb., 8-2; 133: Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Aaron Nagao, Minn., 5-1; 141: Real Woods, I, dec. Brock Hardy, Neb., 2-1; 149: Sammy Sasso, OSU, dec. Michael Blockhus, Minn., 7-5 (SV); 157: Levi Haines, PSU, dec. Peyton Robb, Neb., 3-1 (SV); 165: Dean Hamiti, W, dec. Patrick Kennedy, I, 9-6; 174: Carter Starocci, PSU, dec. Mikey Labriola, Neb., 6-1; 184: Aaron Brooks, PSU, major dec. Kaleb Romero, OSU, 12-2; 197: Silas Allred, Neb., dec. Max Dean, PSU, 6-3; 285: Mason Parris, Mich., dec. Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, 5-3
Consolation Finals
141: Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. Dylan D’Emilio, OSU, 5-2; 149: Max Murin, I, dec. Shayne Van Ness, PSU, 3-2
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 9:26 PM.
