6 Nittany Lion Wrestlers Headed to National Semifinals, Penn State Widens Team Lead at NCAA Championships

Six Penn State wrestlers advanced to the national semifinals and four more are still competing in the consolation bracket after session three of the NCAA Championships on Friday afternoon in Kansas City.

Beau Bartlett, Levi Haines, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks and Greg Kerkvliet earned All-America status with their quarterfinal wins and will wrestle on Friday night for a spot in Saturday’s championship finals.

Braeden Davis and Bernie Truax moved to the consolation bracket after dropping their quarterfinal bouts. They will join Aaron Nagao and Tyler Kasak, who each won two wrestleback bouts on Friday afternoon in the consolation round of 12. All four remain in contention for All-America honors and can finish as high as third.

Penn State expanded its lead in the team race, with 86.5 points after the third session. Michigan is second with 50.5 points, followed by Arizona State (44.5), Iowa State (42) and Iowa (41.5) to round out the top five

Highlighting the afternoon session for Penn State were pins by Bartlett, Brooks and Kasak, as well as a valiant victory for Starocci. Wrestling with a heavily wrapped leg after sustaining an injury in late February, Starocci knocked off No. 1 seed Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech.

Action resumes at 8 p.m. EDT Friday with consolation round of 12 bouts and semifinal matchups, which will air on ESPN.

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

125 Pounds

Starting the action for Penn State in Session III was No. 1 Braeden Davis taking on No. 8 Richard Figueroa of Arizona State. A good scrambling effort from both wrestlers failed to end with either in a dominant position, and the score remained 0-0 after one period. An escape from Davis to start the second period was the only point scored, as the Nittany Lion took a 1-0 lead heading into the final period. A reversal out of bottom position from Figueroa gave the Sun Devil a 2-1 lead, and he stayed in control on top to build riding time over a minute. Davis escaped but could not run down Figueroa, whose riding time riding time point was enough to take the narrow 3-2 upset decision victory.

Davis will meet No. 5 Jore Volk of Wyoming in the consolation round of 12.

141 Pounds

No. 2 Beau Bartlett battled No. 26 Vance VomBaur of Minnesota to a scoreless tie in the first period, Bartlett earned the first point of the match with an escape midway through the second period. VomBaur tied the score early in the third period with an escape, only to be quickly taken down by Bartlett. In a similar fashion to his previous bout, a second single-leg take-down from Bartlett transformed into a cradle and a fall at 6:48. Bartlett advanced into the semifinals with All-American status.

Bartlett will face No. 6 seed Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina in the semifinals.

157 Pounds

Looking to become a two-time All-American, No. 1 Levi Haines took on No. 8 Peyton Robb of Nebraska. A takedown and three back points from Haines in the first period gave the Nittany Lion a 6-0 lead heading into the middle period. An escape from Haines was the only point scored in the second period, extending his lead to 7-0 entering the third. A complete ride out from Haines in the final period locked up the 8-0 major decision after riding time, a spot in the semifinals and All-American distinction.

Haines takes on No. 12 seed Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech in the semifinals.

165 Pounds

Hoping to earn his first All-American honors, No. 2 Mitchell Mesenbirnk took to the mat against No. 10 Cameron Amine of Michigan. Continuous pressure from Mesenbrink led to one stall point against Amine, however, no other scoring occurred in the first period. After Amine escaped from bottom position, Mesenbrink answered with the match’s first takedown to retake the lead at 4-1 heading into the third period. An escape and another stalling call against Amine gave Mesenbrink the 6-1 decision victory and a spot in the semifinals.

Mesenbrink will face No. 6 seed Mike Caliendo of Iowa in the semifinals.

174 Pounds

In one of the most anticipated bouts of the weekend, No. 9 Carter Starocci took on Virginia Tech’s No. 1 Mekhi Lewis. After a wild scramble, Starocci scored the match’s first takedown and just under 60 seconds of riding time to secure a 3-0 lead after the opening period. An escape from Starocci to start the middle period was the only point scored, extending his lead to 4-0, which held through the end of the bout, making Starocci a four-time All-American.

Starocci will wrestle No. 4 seed Shane Griffith of Michigan in the semifinals.

184 Pounds

Looking to win his first All-American honors as a Nittany Lion, No. 6 Bernie Truax took on No. 3 Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State. Truax scored a match-opening takedown and Plott responded with one of his own to take the lead. Truax appeared to injure his knee during the takedown, and after an escape from an injury reset, Plott led 5-3 heading into the second period. Another escape and takedown from Plott increased his least to 9-4 heading into the final period. Two more takedowns in the third period and riding time gave Plott the 16-6 major decision over Truax, dropping him into consolation action.

Truax will meet No. 10 seed Dylan Fishback of NC State in the consolation round of 12.

197 Pounds

No. 1 Aaron Brooks scored two quick takedowns against No. 8 Stephen Buchanan of Oklahoma, then worked the sooner to his back for a pin at 2:44, making Brooks a five-time All-American.

Brooks faces No. 12 seed Rocky Elam of Missouri in the semifinals.

Heavyweight

No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet squared off against No. 9 Nick Feldman of Ohio State. After no points were scored in the first period, Kerkvliet broke the stalemate with an escape to take a slim 1-0 lead rolling into the third period. Strong takedown defense from Kerkvliet kept the score in favor of the Nittany Lion, earning him a 1-0 decision victory and his fourth All-American distinction.

Kerkvliet will take on No. 4 seed Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State in the semifinals.

CONSOLATION BRACKET

133 Pounds

In the Nittany Lions’ first consolation match of the day, No. 10 Aaron Nagao took on No. 24 Julian Chlebove of Arizona State. The first point of the match didn’t occur until late in the second period when Chlebove eventually earned an escape out of bottom position. An escape from Nagao to start the third period leveled the score at 1-1 just before he landed the match’s first takedown late into the period to secure the 5-1 decision victory after riding time.

In the third consolation round Nagao met No. 16 seed Nick Bouzakis of Ohio State. Nagao built up over a minute in riding time in the second period and scored the bout’s first point on an escape out of an injury reset to take a 1-0 lead into the third. The Nittany Lion sophomore escaped to open the final period and added a riding time point for a 3-0 decision to keep his All-America hopes alive.

Nagao will wrestle No. 3 seed Kai Orine of NC State in the consolation round of 12.

141 Pounds

No. 7 Tyler Kasak faced No. 9 Ethan Fernandez of Cornell in the second consolation round. A lightning-fast takedown from Kasak developed into the second pin of the day for the Nittany Lions, this time at 0:36.

Kasak advanced to take on Graham Rooks of Indiana. The Nittany Lion true freshman scored the bout’s opening takedown and stayed in control for the remainder of the first to take a 3-0 lead and over two minutes in riding time into the second. Starting out of the neutral position in the second period, Kasak notched his second takedown for a 6-0 advantage. He added two more and a riding time point in the third for a 13-1 major decision.

Kasak will face No. 3 seed Jackson Arrington of NC State in the consolation round of 12.