Penn State earns 7 NCAA Championship semifinalists on Day 2 of wrestling in Tulsa
Penn State could not have asked for a better start to the second day of wrestling at the NCAA Championships on Friday afternoon inside the BOK Center.
The Nittany Lions went a perfect 7-for-7 in their quarterfinals matches to put them way ahead in the team race.
They finished off the session with 78 points, and had just one bonus point victory. Penn State leads Iowa by 30 points. Cornell rounds out the top three with 45.5 points.
Nebraska and Michigan round out the top five in that order.
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 session: 3-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: Bravo-Young had a familiar opponent in his quarterfinals match on Friday afternoon. He faced Minnesota’s Aaron Nagao, who he 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.
It was RBY’s 99th career victory, and he became the second five-time All-American in Penn State’s history. Bravo-Young faces Arizona State’s Michael McGee for spot in finals. The other semifinal is Cornell’s Vito Arujau and Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix.
Beau Bartlett, 141 pounds
Record after session: 3-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: 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 one second left to win 3-1. The Panthers’ coaches challenged the call to no avail.
Bartlett now gets the No. 2 seed in Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez in Friday night’s semifinals. The other semifinal matchup is No. 1 seed in Iowa’s Real Woods against the No. 4 seed in Nebraska’s Brock Hardy.
Shayne Van Ness, 149 pounds
Record after session: 3-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: 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 six 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. Van Ness will take on the No. 1 seed in Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis, who was nearly upset by Iowa’s Max Murin in the quarterfinals.
The other semifinal matchup is Arizona State’s Kyle Parco taking on Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso.
Levi Haines, 157 pounds
Record after session: 3-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: 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.
Haines faces Nebraska’s Peyton Robb, who he beat in the Big Ten finals, in the semifinals. The opposite side of the bracket has North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor facing Lehigh’s Josh Humphreys.
Carter Starocci, 174 pounds
Record after session: 3-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: 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. Starocci now faces Cornell’s Chris Foca, who had a pin to make the semifinals.
The other semifinal match has Virginia Tech’s Mehki Lewis facing Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola.
Aaron Brooks, 184 pounds
Record after session: 3-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: 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.
He’ll face North Carolina State’s Trent Hidlay, who has given Brooks tough matches in the past. The other semifinal matchup is Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen against Oregon State’s Trey Munoz.
Max Dean, 197 pounds
Record after session: 3-1
Current round: Consolation Fourth Round
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. Dean faces Maryland’s Jaxon Smith Friday night for a spot on the podium.
Greg Kerkvliet, 285 pounds
Record after session: 3-0
Current round: Semifinals
Recap: 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 78, 2. Iowa 48, 3. Cornell 45.5, 4. Nebraska 44, 5. Michigan 39, 6. Missouri 34, 7. Ohio State 30.5, 8. North Carolina State 29, 9. Iowa State 28, 10. Arizona State 27
Quarterfinals
133: Roman Bravo-Young, PSU, dec. Aaron Nagao, Minn., 4-1; 141: Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. Cole Matthews, Pitt., 3-1 (UTB2); 149: Shayne Van Ness, PSU, dec. Graham Rooks, Ind., 10-7; 157: Levi Haines, PSU, pinned Bryce Andonian, VT, 6:11; 174: Carter Starocci, PSU, dec. Bailee O’Reilly, Minn., 5-2; 184: Aaron Brooks, PSU, dec. Kaleb Romero, OSU, 4-1; 285: Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, dec. Trent Hillger, W, 4-0
Consolation Third Round
197: Max Dean, PSU, dec. Tannery Harvey, ORSU, 10-5
Consolation Second Round
197: Dean, PSU, dec. Gavin Hoffman, OSU, 6-0
