Penn State wrestling closes in on title as 5 head to NCAA Championships finals

Penn State had a strong start to the second day of wrestling at the NCAA Championships.

The Nittany Lions went a perfect 7 for 7 in the quarterfinals. Five of those wrestlers made their way into the finals of their weight class.

They finished off the second day with 116.5 points, and are very close to locking up the program’s 11th overall title. Penn State leads Iowa by 39.5 points, and will more than likely lock up the title Saturday morning, just as the Nittany Lions did last year. Cornell rounds out the top three with 64 points.

Ohio State and Missouri round out the top five in that order.

“That’s the reason I came back, to get that team title. I’m glad my decision paid off,” Roman Bravo-Young said. “(It) Looks like we’re going to take home the team trophy if everybody does their job.”

Here’s a look at how the Nittany Lions’ wrestlers fared after the third session of the NCAA Championships:

Roman Bravo-Young, 133 pounds

Record after day: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: The two-time champion had his hands full with Arizona State’s Michael McGee in the semifinals on Friday night.

The pair had a scoreless first period, but RBY found himself behind early in the second period as McGee collected a reversal 16 seconds in. The Nittany Lion never escaped until there was 38 seconds remaining.

In the third period, Bravo-Young got an escape, but McGee had enough time built up for a riding time point. RBY got a takedown with 40 seconds remaining, but couldn’t eliminate the riding time, so the pair went to sudden victory, 4-4.

The pair looked for an opening and it came when RBY took a fake, McGee went to counter and RBY spun around for the winning score 21 seconds into sudden victory. The victory was Bravo-Young’s 100th career win.

“I’m grateful to be able to do what I’ve done, and this is just another opportunity to be great,” RBY said. “There have been ups and downs, just a challenge. You have to keep pushing. It’s hard when people expect you to win all the time, but I think it’s not done yet. I think it’s been a good career so far.”

He’ll get a new opponent in the finals as Cornell’s Vito Arujau dispatched Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix, 11-3.

Bravo-Young had a familiar opponent in his quarterfinals match on Friday afternoon. He faced Minnesota’s Aaron Nagao, whom Bravo-Young beat in the Big Ten finals two weeks ago.

RBY and Nagao had a scoreless first period, but Nagao came out and attempted a takedown right off the whistle. In the second period, the Big Ten champion had a full period ride out to keep it scoreless after two periods.

RBY collected a reversal about 45 seconds into the period. He started that tough ride again, but Nagao escaped with 53 seconds remaining in the match.

The Golden Gophers wrestler ended up with a third caution called on a restart that handed RBY a penalty point. The two-time NCAA champion added a riding time point for a 4-1 win.

He became the second five-time All-American in Penn State’s history.

Beau Bartlett, 141 pounds

Record after day: 3-1

Current round: Consolation Semifinals

Recap: Bartlett saw his chances to claim a NCAA title come to a close against Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez in the semifinals.

Alirez collected a takedown midway through the first period that Bartlett escaped from 30 seconds later. Alirez extended his lead in the second period with an escape and a takedown to make it 5-1 after two periods.

In the third period, Bartlett was only able to secure an escape, and fell 6-2. He’ll face South Dakota State’s Clay Carlson for spot in consolation finals.

Bartlett gave Penn State fans a near heart attack in his quarterfinals match with Pittsburgh’s Cole Matthews.

The pair danced around in the first period, unable to score a point. They traded escapes in the second and third periods to head to sudden victory.

Near the end of the third period, Bartlett nearly secured a takedown, but ran out of time.

Just like the first period, the duo couldn’t find a scoring opportunity in the sudden victory period. In the first tiebreaker period, Matthews rode Bartlett for the full period to hold the important riding time advantage.

Matthews holding that riding advantage started on his feet for the second tiebreaker. The pair again looked for an opening, that Bartlett found and secured a takedown with 1 second left to win 3-1. The Panthers’ coaches challenged the call to no avail.

Shayne Van Ness, 149 pounds

Record after day: 3-1

Current round: Consolation Semifinals

Recap: Van Ness saw his spectacular run in the championship bracket come to an end on Friday night at the hands of Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis.

The redshirt freshman held his own in the first period, and nearly had a couple of takedowns on the veteran. In the second period, Van Ness’ escaped was the lone point, so he led 1-0 to start the third.

Diakomihalis opened with a quick escape. Van Ness countered with a takedown to hold a 3-1 lead, but the three-time NCAA champ escaped quickly.

With 55 seconds remaining, Van Ness had the one mistake he couldn’t have and Diakomihalis made him pay by throwing him to his back for a six-point move, and an 8-3 win. The Nittany Lion will face Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson.

“I almost blew that one. Shayne is a very tough kid. He pushed me, and gotta be ready for that,” Diakomihalis said. “I think I kinda had a way I thought the match could have played out in my head, and he came out there and wrestled tight and tough to get to.”

Van Ness started his second day of the NCAA Championships like he did his first day — trailing early.

He took on Indiana’s Graham Rooks, who upset the No. 4 seed to get there in Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson. Rooks came out and snapped off two takedowns, two minutes apart to hold a 4-2 lead on Van Ness.

In the second period, Rooks extended his lead thanks to an escape and takedown. Van Ness escaped before the final buzzer, to trail 7-3.

The third period seemed like Rooks ran out of gas as Van Ness poured it on. He opened with an escape 6 seconds in. Then, he picked up a stall point from Rooks.

With just over 30 seconds into the final period, Van Ness took Rooks down and to his back on the edge of the mat for four points. The Hoosiers’ coaches challenged, but the call stood.

The redshirt freshman came away with a 10-7 come-from-behind win and moved into the semifinals.

Levi Haines, 157 pounds

Record after day: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: Haines has had quite the season as a true freshman, and it continued to be special on Friday night.

He took on Nebraska’s Peyton Robb for a spot in the finals. The pair squared off in the Big Ten finals two weeks ago, it was a Haines’ 3-1 win in sudden victory.

This time, the Nittany Lion didn’t need extra time to dispatch his foe.

“I was more calm out there being myself. Sometimes it just depends on who is on and who’s not,” Haines said comparing the two matches. “At Big Tens, we went into sudden victory, just part of the sport. Not every match is going to be picture perfect, so just finding a way.”

Robb got the lead first with an escape 8 seconds into the second period. Haines collected a takedown with just under 40 seconds remaining, but the bout was tied 2-2 with an escape from Robb before the period ended.

The third period was all Haines. He recorded an escape 21 seconds into the frame. One minute later, the freshman earned another takedown, and came away with a 5-3 win. He’s now a win over North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor in Saturday night’s finals from a title.

“A step closer to my goal. My goal has always been to be a national champ,” Haines said. “You only get four chances to do that. I came out and that’s what we’re trying to do this weekend.”

Haines had one of the toughest quarterfinals matches of all the Nittany Lions in Virginia Tech’s Bryce Andonian. Andonian is a household name for all of his throws, and his dangerous abilities.

The Hokies’ wrestler showed that right away as Haines was in deep on a takedown attempt. Andonian countered and put the Nittany Lion to his back for a six-point move.

Haines didn’t succumb to Andonian, unlike previous opponents. Instead, the true freshman kept his composure and went to work.

It was 6-1 to start the second period, and Haines needed just 25 seconds to escape. He pushed the pace on Andonian, and collected two takedowns to trail 7-6 after two periods.

In the third period, Andonian started with an escape as Haines felt comfortable on his feet, and it paid off. The Big Ten champion took Andonian down for a third time, and stuck him in 6:11. It sent the surrounding Penn State fans into a frenzy.

Carter Starocci, 174 pounds

Record after day: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: Starocci took on a somewhat familar opponent in Cornell’s Chris Foca in the semifinals. The pair had squared off two other times before Friday night, with Starocci winning both.

The result didn’t change in the third matchup.

Starocci controlled from start to finish, and tallied the first points midway through the first period. In the second period, his escape was the lone point.

The third period saw Starocci record another takedown with 50 seconds left. He rode Foca out the remainder of the period to earn a 6-0 shutout win.

He’ll face Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola in the finals. Labriola topped Virginia Tech’s Mehki Lewis, 3-1, in ultimate tiebreakers. Starocci beat Labriola in the Big Ten finals two weeks ago.

“He likes to come forward and wrestle, which I appreciate, but I believe the more guys want to wrestle me,” Starocci explained of the finals matchup, “it makes it worse for them, but he’s a tough kid, strong, hard nosed. He’s going to come at me like a bull for 7 straight minutes. I’m looking forward to that and looking forward to getting my third Natty Daddy.”

Starocci had no troubles making the semifinals as he took on Minnesota’s Bailee O’Reilly.

The two-time NCAA champion snapped off two takedowns in the first period with ease to lead 4-1. Starocci’s escape in the second period was the lone point scored.

In the third period, O’Reilly’s escape was the only point scored in a 5-2 win for the Big Ten champion.

Aaron Brooks, 184 pounds

Record after session: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: Brooks faced North Carolina State’s Trent Hidlay in the semifinals and the pair have a history. Brooks beat Hidlay in the 2021 184-pound finals.

Friday night saw Brooks snap off two takedowns to race out to a 4-1 lead. He added an escape in the second period to extend his lead to 5-1.

The third period saw Brooks stay controlled, and secure the 6-3 victory. He’ll get Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen in the finals Saturday night.

“It’s all God’s will, not mine. (I) Just wanted to go out there and wrestle hard to glorify him. When I go out there, I’m defending the gospel,” Brooks said. “If he gives me a chance to talk and preach in front of people, I’m going to talk about him. This is all him, he gave me the strength to glorify him.”

Brooks had a familiar opponent in Ohio State’s Kaleb Romero in the quarterfinals. Two weeks ago, Brooks dominated Romero, 12-2, in the Big Ten finals. He nearly stalled Romero out in that match.

On Friday afternoon, it was a little closer, but still a dominant and controlling win for Brooks.

The Nittany Lion put up an escape and a takedown in the second period as the first points of the match. His pace forced Romero for two stalls, which gave him a point in the third period. In the end, Brooks came away with a 4-1 win.

Max Dean, 197 pounds

Record after session: 4-2

Current round: 7th Place Match

Recap: Dean rebounded from his loss on Thursday evening in a match with Ohio State’s Gavin Hoffman on Friday afternoon. The defending NCAA champion had an escape and a takedown in the second period for the match’s first points.

In the third period, Hoffman started on his feet, which Dean collected another takedown from. He then rode Hoffman out for the remainder of the period to shut out Hoffman, 6-0.

Dean remained alive with an 10-5 win over Oregon State’s Tanner Harvey in the fourth round of consolations. He kept things rolling and secured a spot on the podium by topping Maryland’s Jaxon Smith, 3-2.

Dean then suffered an 8-6 loss to Cal Poly’s Bernie Truax in sudden victory to fall into the seventh place match.

Greg Kerkvliet, 285 pounds

Record after session: 4-0

Current round: Finals

Recap: A season ago, Kerkvliet finished fourth. This year, he’s one win away from claiming his first NCAA title.

“I’m not taking any opportunity for granted. I mean, I can’t do anything I’m doing now without God and my faith,” Kerkvliet said. “Each step of the way, I’m just grateful, grateful that I get to make it one step further.”

He had some work to do in the semifinals as he took on Air Force’s Wyatt Hendrickson. Hendrickson had Penn State fans on the edge of their seats as he took Kerkvliet down a little over 1 minute into the first period.

The Nittany Lion stayed poised, and escaped. Kerkvliet collected a reversal just under one minute into the second period to lead 3-2.

The third period saw Kerkvliet ride Hendrickson out for the entire period, which erased Hendrickson’s riding time he built up, and turned into a point for the junior in a 4-2 win.

He’ll get Michigan’s Mason Parris, who racked up a 16-1 technical fall on Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi in 5:12, in the finals.

“I’m excited. We went back to the drawing board, made a couple of tweaks that I can bring to this meeting tomorrow,” Kerkvliet said of the rematch. “I think it will be good. It’s fun to try to figure out these sort of games because it’s just a game at the end of the day.”

Kerkvliet, just like his other upperweight teammates in Starocci and Brooks, seemed like he was on cruise control in his quarterfinals match.

Kerkvliet and Wisconsin’s Trent Hillger had a scoreless first period. The second period saw all of Kerkvliet’s scoring as he had an escape and a late takedown to lead 3-0 after two periods.

In the third period, Kerkvliet just rode Hillger out for the period to collect a riding time point in a 4-0 shutout victory. The Nittany Lion will face Air Force’s Wyatt Hendrickson Friday night. The other semifinal has Michigan’s Mason Parris facing Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi.

NCAA Championships

Friday at Tulsa, Okla.

Team key: Air Force (AF), American (A), Appalachian State (AS), Arizona State (ASU), Army West Point (AWP), Binghamton (BT), Bloomsburg (BB), Bucknell (B), Buffalo (BF), Cal Poly (CP), Campbell (C), Central Michigan (CM), Chattanooga (CT), Clarion (CL), Cleveland State (CS), Columbia (CB), Cornell (CN), CSU Bakersfield (CSB), Drexel (DX), Duke (D), Edinboro (E), Gardner-Webb (GW), George Mason (GM), Harvard (HV), Hofstra (H), Illinois (Ill.), Indiana (Ind.), Iowa (I), Iowa State (ISU), Kent State (K), Lehigh (L), Lock Haven (LH), Maryland (M), Michigan (Mich.), Michigan State (MSU), Minnesota (Minn.), Missouri (Miss.), Navy (N), NC State (NCSU), Nebraska (Neb.), North Carolina (UNC), North Dakota State (NDSU), Northern Colorado (NC), Northern Illinois (NIU), Northern Iowa (NI), Northwestern (NW), Ohio (O), Ohio State (OSU), Oklahoma (OU), Oklahoma State (OKSU), Oregon State (ORSU), Penn State (PSU), Pennsylvania (Penn.), Pittsburgh (Pitt.), Princeton (PT), Purdue (P), Rider (R), Rutgers (RU), SIU Edwardsville (SIUE), South Dakota State (SDSU), Stanford (S), Utah Valley (U), Virginia (V), Virginia Tech (VT), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (W), Wyoming (WY)

Team scores: 1. Penn State 116.5, 2. Iowa 77, 3. Cornell 64, 4. Ohio State 62, 5. Missouri 55, T6. Michigan 51, T6. Nebraska 51, 8. Iowa State 44, 9. North Carolina State 41.5, 10. Virginia Tech 40.5

Semifinals

133: Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Michael McGee, ASU, 6-4 (SV); 141: Andrew Alirez, NC, dec. Beau Bartlett, PSU, 6-2; 149: Yianni Diakomihalis, CN, dec. Shayne Van Ness, PSU, 8-3; 157: Levi Haines, PSU, dec. Peyton Robb, Neb., 5-2; 174: Carter Starocci, PSU, dec. Chris Foca, CN, 6-0; 184: Aaron Brooks, PSU, dec. Trent Hidlay, NCSU, 6-3; 285: Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, dec. Wyatt Hendrickson, AF, 4-2

Consolation Quarterfinals

197: Bernie Truax, CP, dec. Max Dean, PSU 8-6 (SV)

Consolation Fourth Round

197: Dean, PSU, dec. Jaxon Smith, M, 3-2

Quarterfinals

133: Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Aaron Nagao, Minn., 4-1; 141: Bartlett, PSU, dec. Cole Matthews, Pitt., 3-1 (UTB2); 149: Van Ness, PSU, dec. Graham Rooks, Ind., 10-7; 157: Haines, PSU, pinned Bryce Andonian, VT, 6:11; 174: Starocci, PSU, dec. Bailee O’Reilly, Minn., 5-2; 184: Brooks, PSU, dec. Kaleb Romero, OSU, 4-1; 285: Kerkvliet, PSU, dec. Trent Hillger, W, 4-0

Consolation Third Round

197: Dean, PSU, dec. Tannery Harvey, ORSU, 10-5

Consolation Second Round

197: Dean, PSU, dec. Gavin Hoffman, OSU, 6-0