Penn State wrestling put on a show on Saturday night at the Bryce Jordan Center, sending four wrestlers to Sunday’s Big Ten Championship finals and qualifying nine of 10 for the NCAA Championships.
Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Carter Starocci, and Aaron Brooks will all wrestle for Big Ten titles on Sunday afternoon.
Freshmen Robert Howard, Joe Lee, Michael Beard and Greg Kerkvliet and sophomore Brady Berge, also each qualified for the NCAA Championships and will continue competing on Sunday in the consolation bracket.
The Nittany Lions went 13-2 in Saturday night’s session and narrowed the gap with first-place Iowa. Cael Sanderson’s squad sits in second place with 111.5 points. The Hawkeyes, who lead with 126.5 points, have six wrestlers in the finals and three in the consolation bracket.
How It Happened
No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young got Saturday night’s session started in his semifinal bout against No. 4 Chris Cannon of Northwestern at 133 pounds. Bravo-Young wasted no time getting to work, scoring two takedowns in the first period and over a minute of riding time. Cannon earned an escape point in the second period, and the score was 4-3 heading in favor of Bravo-Young heading into the third.
Cannon threw everything he could to try to earn a takedown in the third, but the relaxed Bravo-Young was cool under pressure and got a last-second takedown to seal the deal in an 8-3 decision. He’ll face No. 2 Austin Desanto of Iowa for the conference title on Sunday in what will be the fifth matchup between the two, each of them with two wins apiece.
On the next mat over, No. 11 Robert Howard matched up with No. 13 Dylan Shawver of Rutgers in the second round of wrestlebacks. The freshman had a big first period, getting a takedown and four near-fall points to lead 6-0 heading into the second. Howard continued to apply the pressure and scored another takedown and an escape in the second and third periods. His riding time bonus point gave him a 10-1 major decision to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships. Later on Saturday night, Howard scored a takedown Michigan’s Dylan Ragusin with five seconds left in sudden victory to advance to the consolation semifinals
One of the most highly anticipated semifinal matchups of the evening came at 141 pounds with Penn State’s No. 2 Nick Lee taking on No. 3 Sebastian Rivera of Rutgers, last year’s Big Ten champ at 133 pounds. The bout would go into overtime in what has been the match of the tournament so far.
The two brawled it out in the first period as both wrestlers scored a takedown and an escape to tie the score at 3-3. Lee quickly got an escape to start the second period, but Rivera took him back down to earn a 5-4 advantage. A locked hands violation was called against Rivera, and Lee earned another escape to take a 6-5 lead into the final period.
Rivera started the final period in the bottom position and earned the escape to tie the match at 6-6. With time running out in the period, each wrestler got an underhook and an overhook, and Lee attempted to toss Rivera, but he fought it off nicely in a scramble, and no points were awarded after video review. In overtime, Rivera looked to be in deep on a shot, but Lee countered it and pulled off the takedown from a wild scramble position with fewer than five seconds on the clock to get the 8-6 sudden victory decision.
Lee will face off with No. 1 Jaydin Eierman of Iowa in the finals.
No. 11 Beau Bartlett lost a heartbreaker to No. 4 Yahya Thomas of Northwestern in the 149 pound consolation bracket. The two wrestled evenly through the first three periods with the score tied at 5-5. In overtime, Thomas shot in on a single leg and Bartlett couldn’t manage to fend it off despite his best scrambling efforts. Bartlett’s loss ended his tournament debut as he went 1-2 overall.
Penn State freshman and No. 3 seed Carter Starocci took on No. 2 Mikey Labriola of Nebraska in the 174 pound semifinals. They spent the first period feeling each other out as neither wrestler managed to get a takedown. The two traded escape points in the second and third periods, and the match was tied late into the third period. The grapplers managed to get into a scramble position, and Starocci fended off Labriola just long enough to avoid giving up a takedown and send the match to overtime.
In overtime, Starocci got in on a very deep shot but Labriola scrambled yet again to avoid being taken down at first. In the scramble, it looked like both wrestlers had a takedown at one point but in the end, it was Starocci who came out on top, as he just kept wrestling through the positions. His 3-1 overtime victory pushed him through to the finals against No. 1 Michael Kemerer of Iowa.
Two mats down, No. 5 Brady Berge blew through No. 12 Michael Doetsch of Maryland in the consolation round. Berge used five takedowns and a riding time bonus point to earn the major decision 12-2. Berge’s win secured him a spot at nationals.
No. 1 Aaron Brooks faced No. 5 John Poznanski of Rutgers at 184 pounds as the Nittany Lions looked to go undefeated in semifinal matches. Brooks refused to be stopped on his feet as he scored four takedowns in the bout with ease. With over a minute of riding time, Brooks earned the 10-2 major decision and advanced to the finals, where he’ll face No. 6 Taylor Venz of Nebraska.
No. 6 Joe Lee extended his tournament with a quick fall in the first period against No. 6 Andrew Sparks of Minnesota in wrestlebacks at 165 pounds. The win secured Lee a spot at the national tournament as the Nittany Lions stayed hot in the second session. In the third round of wrestlebacks, Lee suffered a loss by pinfall to Purdue’s Gerrit Nijenhuis. Lee will wrestle for seventh place on Sunday
No. 7 Michael Beard and No. 7 Greg Kerkvliet also stayed alive in the consolation rounds with victories Saturday night. At 197 pounds, Beard defeated Matt Wroblewski of Illinois 6-2, and freshman heavyweight Kerkvliet majored Christian Rebottaro of Michigan State 16-5. Both followed with decision victories in the third round of wrestlebacks to advance to the consolation semifinals and punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships.
What’s Next?
The consolation semifinals will get underway at noon Sunday in the BJC. The championship finals will begin at 4 p.m. and will air live on the Big Ten Network.
