Penn State wrestling went 6-0 in quarterfinal bouts and held on to the lead in the team standings after session 3 of the NCAA Championships on Friday afternoon at Little Casears Arena in Detroit.
Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks, Max Dean and Greg Kerkvliet all advanced to Friday night’s semifinals and locked up All-America status.
The Nittany Lions went back and forth with Michigan in the team race but finished the afternoon atop the leader board with 73 points. Michigan is in second with 62.5, while Arizona State (53), Iowa (37.5) and N.C. State (37) round out the top five.
Penn State went 7-3 overall in the session as Drew Hildebrandt, Beau Bartlett and Brady Berge saw their tournaments end with losses in the consolation bracket.
How It Happened
Quarterfinals
No. 1-seeded 133-pounder Roman Bravo-Young took on No. 25 Brian Courtney from Virginia. Bravo-Young jumped to an early 2-1 lead, then added a reversal to open the second period and two more takedowns to carry an 8-3 lead into the third. The senior added two more takedowns in the third to claim 13-6 decision win, coming up just shy of bonus points, and he moves on to the semifinals against No. 5 Austin DeSanto from Iowa. Bravo-Young is now a four-time All-American.
Minutes after Bravo-Young’s win, No. 1 Nick Lee faced No. 8 Grant Willits from Oregon State in a 141-pound quarterfinal. Lee got a takedown and 1:18 of riding time in the first period, then escaped to open the second period to take a 3-0 lead. After another takedown the Nittany Lion turned Willits for the pin at the 3:45 mark. Lee becomes Penn State’s first five-time All-American and will face No. 4 seed Real Woods of Stanford in the semifinals.
No. 1 Carter Starocci faced No. 9 Mikey Labriola of Nebraska in a 174-pound quarterfinal. The scoring started out slow with nothing in the first, but Starocci turned that around to go up 3-0 with 1:27 of riding time in the second. Labriola had an escape, but Starocci fired back with another takedown. The sophomore became a two-time All-American and moved on to the semifinals with a 6-1 win. He will face N.C. State’s No. 4 seed Hayden Hidlay on Friday night.
No. 2 Aaron Brooks took on No. 7 Kaleb Romero of Ohio State in the 184-pound quarterfinals. Brooks opened up a 7-1 lead through two periods and continued the offensive pressure in the third for a 13-2 major decision. The Nittany Lion junior is now a three-time All-American and will battle No. 3 seed Trent Hidlay of N.C. State in the semifinals.
No. 1 Max Dean fell behind 2-1 in the first period against No. 8 Lou Deprez of Binghamton in the 197-pound quarterfinals. Dean escaped to start the second and tie the bout at 2-2 after Deprez went over a minute in riding time. In the third period, Dean appeared close to a takedown out of a scramble but none was awarded until an official review reversed the no-call on the mat to give the Nittany Lion a 4-2 lead. Dean worked the riding time advantage down below a minute and held on for the 4-3 decision after a Deprez escape. Dean became a three-time All-American and will take on No. 21 seed Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State in the semifinals.
In the final Penn State quarterfinal of the session, No. 4 heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet wrestled No. 12 Christian Lance from Nebraska. Kerkvliet got a takedown and rideout in the first period and a reversal to open the second for a 4-0 lead. Another takedown in the third and four minutes of riding time secured a 7-1 decision for Kerkvliet, who is now a two-time All-American and will meet No. 1 seed Gable Steveson of Minnesota in the semifinals.
Consulation Rounds
No. 16 125-pounder Drew Hildebrandt started off the day with his second consolation match of the tournament, meeting former Nittany Lion and No. 15 seed Brody Teske from Northern Iowa. Hildebrandt quickly went down 4-1 in the first period, before a takedown and an escape evened the score 4-4. But Teske responded with two escapes and another takedown to claim an 8-4 decision. Hildebrandt finished 1-2 in the tournament.
No. 13 149-pounder Beau Bartlett took the mat for Penn State’s next consolation bout, battling No. 19 Yahya Thomas of Northwestern. After a scoreless first period, Thomas escaped to start the second and got a takedown followed by a Bartlett escape for a 3-1 lead. Bartlett escaped again to start the third and pull within one but another takedown by Thomas secured the 5-3 win. Bartlett ended his tournament run with a 1-2 record.
No. 16 Brady Berge took the mat against No. 15 Johnny Lovett from Central Michigan in a 157-pound consolation bout. Berge came out with a strong start getting the 3-1 lead after two. A Lovett reversal to start the third knotted the score at three, but Berge escaped to walk away with the 4-3 decision.
Berge rounded out session three as he took on No. 10 Peyton Robb of Nebraska for his second match of the day. Berge started off down 2-1, and a successful challenge for a takedown from Nebraska widened the gap to 4-1. Another takedown Robb’s lead 7-3 and Berge could not climb back. The 157-pounder finished his tournament run with a 2-2 record.
What’s Next?
The NCAA Championships continue at 8 p.m. on Friday with another round of consolation matches and the semifinals. Session four will be broadcast on ESPN.
Onward State’s Mara McKeon contributed to this report.
