Penn State has 9 wrestlers in the NCAA Championships. Here are our predictions for each

Penn State’s wrestling season will come to a close this weekend as the Nittany Lions reach the final event of their year: the NCAA Championships.

It’s a point in the year that they’ve dominated by winning 9 of the last 11 championships. All nine Penn State wrestlers seem loose and ready to go.

During media day on Monday, coach Cael Sanderson, Aaron Brooks and Carter Starocci all had one thing in common — grinning from ear to ear and cracking jokes while still focused on the main goal.

Here’s a look at how things could pan out and the Nittany Lions coming away with their 10th NCAA title under Sanderson:

133 pounds

Outlook: The bracket got redrawn earlier this week as Lehigh’s Connor McGonagle was unable to make the call due to an injury. He was the No. 11 seed, so it didn’t change much of how Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young would make his way through his final NCAA bracket. There doesn’t appear to be anyone that could get into RBY’s way en route to having an opportunity to win his third straight NCAA crown. He may get Minnesota’s Aaron Nagao, who he beat in the Big Ten finals two weeks, but Nagao has a tough second round match with Pitt’s Micky Phillippi.

Bravo-Young’s predicted finish: 1st

Champion: Bravo-Young

141 pounds

Outlook: Beau Bartlett received the No. 6 seed, and should cruise to the quarterfinals. Once there, that’s when things could interesting. The No. 3 seed is Pitt’s Cole Matthews, who is no stranger to fans of PIAA wrestling. Matthews is a two-time PIAA champ, three-time finalist and never finished lower than third in his four PIAA appearances at Reynolds High School. He’s continued that into the collegiate level to the tune of four-time NCAA qualifier and placed fifth last year. At the beginning of the year, Matthews was the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country. The Panthers’ wrestler faces Bald Eagle Area grad and Clarion wrestler Seth Koleno in the first round. Matthews tops Bartlett and sends the Nittany Lion to the consolation bracket. Bartlett gets his revenge though in the consolation finals.

Bartlett’s predicted finish: 3rd

Champion: Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez

149 pounds

Outlook: This bracket was redrawn as well as the No. 9 seed — Appalachian State’s Jon Jon Milner — had to withdraw from an injury. That gave Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness the No. 12 seed as opposed to his No. 13 initial draw. The redraw hurts Van Ness’ opportunity to become an All-American in his first NCAA Championships. Both draws saw Van Ness making the blood round — the round where winners in the consolation bracket secured their podium spots. However, the first draw had him reaching the quarterfinals with an upset over the No. 4 seed, Virginia Tech’s Caleb Henson. He then dropped down to the consolation bracket needing just one win in a better matchup to try and secure his podium spot. Now, Van Ness will get the No. 5 seed in Iowa State’s Paniro Johnson, who already beat Van Ness this season, in the second round. He wins a pair to make the blood round, but ultimately comes up short as he loses to Northwestern’s Yahya Thomas.

Van Ness’ predicted finish: Does not place

Champion: Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis, who joins an elite company with his fourth NCAA title

157 pounds

Outlook: Levi Haines’ performance at the Big Ten Championships enabled him to secure the No. 2 seed in his first NCAA Championships. The true freshman should have no problems making the quarterfinals, where he’ll get probably his next toughest of the season behind Nebraska’s Peyton Robb, who is the No. 3 seed, in Virginia Tech’s Bryce Andonian, who is the No. 7 seed. Look for Haines to use the experience gained in wrestling Robb to reach the semifinals, where he’ll get Robb again. Haines is a special talent and there is something about him that seems like nothing is going to stop him from claiming a title as a true freshman. If this comes to fruition, Haines will be just the 17th true freshman to collect a crown.

Haines’ predicted finish: 1st

Champion: Haines

165 pounds

Outlook: The Big 12 reigns supreme of this weight class as the top two seeds are Iowa State’s David Carr, who won a title at 157 pounds two years, and Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole, who is the defending champion of the weight class. O’Toole became the 16th true freshman to earn a NCAA title. The Nittany Lions’ Alex Facundo sneaked onto the podium at the Big Ten Championships with a seventh place finish. Look for him to do the same this weekend. The redshirt freshman has a second round tilt with Cornell’s Julian Ramirez, which he can pull the upset off. Facundo should get Princeton’s Quincy Monday, who was a finalist at 157 pounds last season, in the quarterfinals before falling into the consolation bracket. He wins one more and secures his podium finish.

Facundo’s finish: 8th

Champion: Carr

174 pounds

Outlook: There really isn’t a ton to talk about in this bracket. It’s pretty cut and dry. Penn State’s Carter Starocci is the No. 1 seed, and should cruise to the finals. He’ll get a rematch with Indiana’s DJ Washington in the second round, and then possibly matchup with Illinois’ Edmond Ruth, the younger brother of Nittany Lions great Ed Ruth. Look for Virginia Tech’s Mehki Lewis to make his way through the bracket as the No. 3 seed. He’ll top a pair of Big Ten opponents in Ohio State’s Ethan Smith and the No. 2 seed in Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola. It’ll be Starocci-Lewis III for the title. Look for former Buckeyes wrestler Rocky Jordan to make a run as the No. 10 seed for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and make the quarterfinals before losing to Labriola. St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy graduate Tyler Stoltzfus is competing here for Lock Haven.

Starocci’s finish: 1st

Champion: Starocci

184 pounds

Outlook: Penn State fans were up in arms when Aaron Brooks’ name popped up as the No. 3 seed. However, the seeding doesn’t faze the two-time defending 184 pound champion. Look for Brooks to breeze his way to the semifinals taking out fellow Big Ten wrestler in Ohio State’s Kaleb Romero, who is the No. 6 seed. Brooks should match up with North Carolina State’s Trent Hidlay, who is the No. 2, in the semifinals. Brooks gets by him and faces the No. 1 seed in Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen, who Brooks dominated in the NWCA All-Star Classic back in November.

Brooks’ finish: 1st

Champion: Brooks

197 pounds

Outlook: Nittany Lions fans aren’t going to like how this one finishes out for two reasons. First, Max Dean will not repeat as the 197 pound champion. Second, former Penn State wrestler Michael Beard will earn the crown, beating Dean for a second time this season. The defending champ is the No. 9 seed will get a rematch with Nebraska’s Silas Allred in the second round and gets some revenge. Look for Dean to feed off that win and take out the No. 1 seed in Pitt’s Nino Bonaccorsi in the quarterfinals before losing to Beard. Dean is unable to recover from the Beard loss and drops to Allred again to fall into the fifth-place match, where he tops Bonaccorsi again. State College graduate Cole Urbas is in the bracket for Penn.

Dean’s finish: 5th

Champion: Beard

285 pounds

Outlook: As much of a disappointment 197 pounds will be for Penn State fans, things get rebounded here. Greg Kerkvliet is the No. 3 seed and doesn’t have to worry about many of the heavy hitters on his side of the bracket. Michigan’s Mason Parris, who is the No. 1 seed, has Northwestern’s Lucas Davison (No. 9 seed), Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz (No. 5, NCAA finalist last year) and Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi (No. 4) are all in the top part of the bracket. Kerkvliet cruises to the finals by topping Seth and Nick Nevills’ little brother, AJ, in the second round. He gets a little help from Missouri’s Zach Elam, who is the No. 10 seed. Elam makes a run to the semifinals and takes out the No. 2 seed in Air Force’s Wyatt Hendrickson in the quarterfinals. Parris comes out of his portion of the bracket to set up a rematch of the Big Ten finals.

Kerkvliet’s finish: 2nd

Champion: Parris

Overall finish

Outlook: Penn State has eight of their nine wrestlers collect All-American honors. The Nittany Lions send five to the finals again, but come up short of having a perfect night like they’ve had in the past. However, having all of those finalists and multiple wrestlers working their way back through the consolations sends Penn State to its 10th title under Sanderson. It becomes the 11th overall title for the Nittany Lions, who win 10 of the last 12 NCAA Championships. If it wasn’t for the COVID-19 pandemic, the narrative could have been Penn State winning seven of the last eight team titles.

Penn State’s finish: 1st

Champion: Penn State