The Big Ten Championships have arrived, and No. 1 Penn State wrestling started the postseason with high aspirations on Saturday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb..
Seven Nittany Lions advanced to Saturday night’s semifinal round, with three more still battling in consolation rounds. Penn State is second in the team scores with 67.5 points after session one, trailing Michigan’s 68.5 and ahead of Iowa’s 55.0.
Continuing their pursuit of a conference title tonight will be 133-pound No. 1 seed Roman Bravo-Young, 141-pound No. 1 Nick Lee, 157-pound No. 10 Brady Berge, 174-pound No. 1 Carter Starocci, 184-pound No. 1 Aaron Brooks, 197-pound No. 2 Max Dean and No. 3 heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet.
All seven are now also qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Creighton Edsell, No. 10 at 165 pounds, knocked off No. 7 seed Hayden Lohrey of Purdue in the opening round but dropped a decision to No. 2 seed Alex Marinelli of Iowa in the quarterfinals to move to the consolation bracket
No. 2 seed 125-pounder Drew Hildebrandt lost in a sudden victory upset by No. 7 Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern in the quarterfinals. He’ll continue in the consolation round tonight.
Beau Bartlett, the No. 7 seed at 149, dropped a major decision to Wisconsin’s No. 2-seeded Austin Gomez in the quarterfinals and moved into consolation action.
Penn State went 11-3 overall in the first session, earning 9.5 bonus points on three pins (Brooks, Starocci, Kerkvliet), one tech fall (Lee) and two major decisions (Bravo-Young, Berge).
How It Happened
First Round
First round byes for Penn State included 125-pound No. 2 Hildebrandt, 133-pound No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young, 141-pound No. 1 Nick Lee, 174-pound No. 1 Carter Starocci, 184-pound No. 1 Aaron Brooks, 197-pound No. 2 Max Dean.
The first bout for the Nittany Lions was No. 7 Beau Bartlett against No. 10 Michael Blockhus of Minnesota at 149. Early in the third, Bartlett scored an escape and then drove through on a nice single leg for a takedown, taking a 3-1 lead.
Blockhus tacked on another escape in the final minute but Bartlett emerged with a 3-2 victory. Minnesota coaches challenged a potential takedown for Blockhus after time expired, but the no-call on the mat was confirmed and Penn State was 1-0 on the day, as Bartlett secured a trip to the quarterfinals to take on No. 2 Austin Gomez of Wisconsin.
No. 10 Brady Berge took on No. 7 Garrett Model of Wisconsin next at 157 pounds. Berge got off to a quick start with a takedown. The Nittany Lion score another takedown right at the end of the first period, making it a 4-1 Berge lead into the second period.
After starting on the bottom, Model earned a point on an escape. It wasn’t long until Berge drove through for another takedown, extending his lead 6-2 with 1:55 in riding time heading into the third period. Berge started on the bottom to kick off the third period. He picked up an escape and tacked on his fourth takedown of the bout shortly after. Berge rode out Model at the end of the bout with 1:52 in total riding time and came away with a 10-2 major decision victory, giving Penn State its first bonus points of the day. Berge was headed to the quarterfinals to face No. 2 Kaleb Young from Iowa.
No. 10 Creighton Edsell took on No. 7 Hayden Lohrey of Purdue at 165 pounds, looking for another upset victory. Edsell grabbed an escape for the bout’s first points, then had a near takedown that would have given him a 3-0 lead, but it was overturned on review.
Lohrey tied it up at 1-1 in the third and time expired to send the bout into sudden victory overtime. Edsell came through on a double leg and secured a takedown to come away with a 3-1 victory. The Nittany Lions were 3-0 on the day to this point, and Edsell was headed to the quarterfinals to take on No. 2 Alex Marinelli of Iowa.
No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet took on No. 14 Zach Schrader of Maryland in a heavyweight matchup. Kerkvliet got off to a 14-0 lead just ahead of recording a pin at the 2:13 mark of the first period. Penn State went 4-0 in the first four matches it had, and Kerkvliet also earned a trip to the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals
No. 2 Hildebrandt got his first taste of Big Ten Championship action when he faced No. 7 Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern at 125 pounds. DeAugustino took a 2-0 lead on a penalty point and an escape in the second period. Hildebrandt responded with reversal to tie the bout at 2-2 to open the third and though DeAugustino came away with another escape Hildebrandt secured a riding time point to send the bout to sudden victory tied 3-3.
In the overtime period, DeAugustino drove straight through for a single leg takedown to take a 5-3 upset victory by decision and hand Penn State its first loss of the day. Hildebrandt will face No. 10 Patrick McKee of Minnesota in the consolation round on Saturday night.
No. 1 Bravo-Young took on No. 9 Matt Ramos of Purdue at 133 pounds. Bravo-Young grabbed three points to have a 3-2 lead in the first period. After that, the star kept things rolling, extending his lead 6-2. Ultimately, it wasn’t much of a test for Bravo-Young, as he came away with an 11-3 major decision victory. He locked up a trip to the semifinals to face No. 5 Dylan Ragusin from Michigan on Saturday night and qualified for the NCAA Championships.
No. 1 Lee was up next against Wisconsin’s No. 8 Joseph Zargo in a 141-pound quarterfinal bout. Lee had a 4-0 lead through the first period, including two points from near fall. In the second period, Lee went up 16-0 before recording a technical fall at the 5:06 mark. Lee will take on Minnesota’s Jake Bergeland in the semifinals and became the second Nittany Lion of the postseason to earn a trip to the NCAA Championships. Penn State was 6-1 to this point of the day.
No. 7 Bartlett had his second bout of the day in a quarterfinal matchup with No. 2 Austin Gomez of Wisconsin at 149 pounds. Gomez led 4-1 after two early takedowns. After the second period, Gomez extended his lead 9-3. The third period didn’t fare much better for Bartlett as the Nittany Lion scored only an escape point. Gomez grabbed two more points and secured riding time to make it a 12-4 major decision victory for the Badger. Bartlett headed to consolation action after the loss and will face Illinois’ Christian Kanzler tonight.
No. 10 Berge’s quarterfinal bout against No. 2 Young of Iowa was the epitome a Hawkeye-Nittany Lion bout. Berge notched a takedown and an escape for a 3-1 lead after two periods. Late in the third period, Berge tacked on another takedown and came away with a 5-3 victory by decision. He will face No. 3 seed Will Lewan of Michigan in the semifinals and became the third Penn State wrestler to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
At 165 pounds, No. 10 Edsell tried to pick up an upset over Iowa’s No. 2 Marinelli. Marinelli got in for two takedowns and took a 4-2 lead through the first period. Edsell put up a fight, but ultimately Marinelli came away with an 8-2 victory by decision. Edsell will wrestle in the consolation bracket Saturday evening, opening with Minnesota’s Cael Carlson.
No. 1 Starocci went out to make a statement when he faced No. 9 Dominic Solis of Maryland in the 174-pound quarterfinal. Starocci got out to a 4-2 lead before he pinned Solis at the 2:17 mark. Starocci will face Iowa’s Michael Kemerer, the No. 4 seed, as well as locking up a trip Detroit.
No. 1 Brooks also looked to impress against a Maryland opponent as he faced No. 8 Kyle Cochran in the 284-pound quarterfinal. It did not take long for Brooks to take care of business as he got the fall at the 1:40 mark. Brooks is now an NCAA qualifier and will wrestle in tonight’s semifinals against No. 4 seed Taylor Venz of Nebraska.
No. 2 Dean came in hot off a first-round bye facing No. 7 Greg Bulsak from Rutgers at 1897 pounds. Dean was awarded an early takedown that was ultimately overturned after an official review. Right after the call, Dean was able to get a no-doubt-about-it takedown that gave him a 2-1 lead into the second period. Three more points extended Dean’s lead 5-2 at the end of the second period. Dean secured riding time in the third period and came away with a 6-2 victory by decision. He’s an NCAA qualifier and will face Michigan State’s Cameron Caffey, the No. 3 seed, in tonight’s semifinals
No. 3 Kerkvliet had the final match of the first session for Penn State facing, No. 6 Christian Lance from Nebraska. Kerkvliet tacked on a takedown for the first period’s only points. Kerkvliet was awarded two more points in the second period and held a 4-1 lead going into the third period. Kerkvliet also secured riding time in the third period, ultimately ending with a 7-1 victory by decision. He became Penn State’s seventh NCAA qualifier and will battle No. 2 Tony Cassioppi of Iowa in tonight’s semifinal
What’s Next?
The consolation round will begin Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. EST on BTN+, and the semifinals will take place at 8:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
StateCollege.com’s Geoff Rushton contributed to this report.
