By Geoff Rushton and Mara McKeon
Five Penn State wrestlers are headed to national title bouts and the Nittany Lions widened their team lead after session four of the NCAA Championships on Friday night in Detroit.
Penn State went 5-1 in semifinal matches, with Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks and Max Dean advancing to Saturday night’s championship finals. Heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet moves to the consolation bracket where he will make a run for third place.
Heading into the final day of the championships, Penn State sits in first with 108 points. Michigan is second with 84.5 points, followed by Arizona State (63.5), Iowa (62) and Nebraska (54) to round out the top five.
How It Happened
First up in the semifinal session for the Nittany Lions was No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young against No. 5 Austin DeSanto of Iowa in a rematch of the Big Ten 133-pound title bout won by the Nittany Lion. DeSanto kept Bravo-Young at bay through the first two periods, using an escape to carry 1-0 lead into the third. Bravo-Young took down and escaped to start the third. With less than 10 seconds remaining, the Penn State senior used a low single for a takedown near the edge of the mat. DeSanto got a late escape, but Bravo Young claimed the 3-2 victory.
He will be seeking his second straight national title on Saturday night when he faces No. 2 seed Daton Fix of Oklahoma State in a rematch of last year’s 133-pound final won by Bravo-Young in sudden victory.
At 141 pounds, No. 1 Nick Lee was next to the mat against No. 4 Real Woods from Stanford. Lee secured the takedown on a low shot in the first to start off with a 2-1 lead. An escape for the Lion and one for Woods in the third would be the only other scoring and Lee held on for the 3-2 win.
Lee also will be seeking his second straight national title and will take on No. 15 seed Kizhan Clarke in the final.
No. 1 Carter Starocci met No. 4 seed and Mifflin County grad Hayden Hidlay of N.C. State in the 174-pound semifinals. The Penn State sophomore used a pair of takedowns to go up 4-1 after one. An escape and a takedown on a low double expanded his lead to 7-2 in the second. An escape to start the third would be all the scoring Hidlay would get the rest of the way as Starocci added another late takedown and a riding time point for the 10-3 decision.
Starocci will wrestle for his second consecutive national title when he faces No. 2 seed Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech in the championship bout.
No. 2 Aaron Brooks took on N.C. State’s other Hidlay brother, No. 3 seed Trent Hidlay, in the 184-pound semifinals. Brooks used a low double for a takedown and a 2-1 first-period lead. The Nittany Lion added an escape to start the third and seemed to dictate the pace but couldn’t convert on another takedown. Hidlay escaped to start the third then countered a Brooks shot for a takedown of his own. Brooks escaped with 1:16 remaining and the bout headed into sudden victory tied 4-4. In the overtime period, Brooks countered a Hidlay shot and quickly secured the takedown for a 6-4 win.
Brooks will look for his second consecutive national title when he battles No. 1 seed Myles Amine of Michigan, who defeated Brooks in sudden victory in the Big Ten championship bout.
No. 1 Max Dean came out aggressive in his 197-pound semifinal against No. 21 Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State. A pair of takedowns and an escape gave Dean a 5-0 lead through two periods as he built up nearly three minutes of riding time. Hoffman countered a Dean shot for a takedown in the third, but Dean escaped, added another late takedown and with 3:25 in riding time secured a 9-3 win.
Dean will be in search of his first national title when he takes on No. 6 seed Jacob Warner of Iowa in the final. Their only previous meeting was in the January dual meet, when Dean won 8-3.
To finish off the night, No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet took on Olympic gold medalist and No. 1 Gable Steveson of Minnesota in a heavyweight semifinal. Kerkvliet put on a strong showing, managing a pair of escapes and held Steveson to one takedown to keep the bout tied 2-2 through the second. Steveson pulled away in the third, however, scoring an escape, two takedowns and a riding time point to earn the 8-3 win.
Kerkvliet drops to the consolation bracket and will face No. 7 Mason Parris of Michigan on Saturday morning, with the winner heading to the third-place match and the loser moving to the fifth-place bout. Kerkvliet won their previous two meetings this season, the last a 5-3 decision in the consolation bracket of the Big Ten tournament
What’s Next?
The NCAA Championships resume at 11 a.m. on Saturday with the medal round, including Kerkvliet’s bout, airing on ESPNU. The championship finals will get started at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
