NCAA Wrestling: Penn State has 8-1 first round; trails Iowa by 2

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Penn State Nittany Lions rolled up bonus points in the first session of the 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Penn State went 8-1 overall in the opening round, with seven of the wins garnering bonus points. The Nittany Lions qualified nine for this year’s tournament and the three-day event is being held in the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo. At the end of the first session, pre-tourney favorite Iowa led with 19 points, Penn State second with 17.

True freshman Robert Howard (Cranford, N.J.) is the No. 23 seed at 125. Howard took on No. 10 Malik Heinselman of Ohio State in his first NCAA tournament bout. The duo battled through a scoreless opening period and the bout moved to the second period tied 0-0. Howard chose down to start the second period and after a minute’s work, reversed the Buckeye to take a 2-0 lead. He then turned Heinselman for four back points, nearly pinning him, and leg 6-1 after two. Heinselman escaped to start the third and added a late takedown, but Howard’s strong second period gave the Nittany Lion a 6-4 victory in his first NCAA tournament bout.

Junior Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.) is the No. 2 seed at 133. Bravo-Young met No. 31 Sean Carter of Appalachian State in the opening round. Bravo-Young took an early 2-0 lead with a quick takedown and tacked on two more to lead 6-2 with over 2:00 in time after one period. The second-seeded Lion added an early escape and a takedown and finished off the period with a four-point turn to lead 13-2 after two (with a clinched riding time point). Bravo-Young finished off the technical fall with a flurry of takedowns in the third, posting the 20-5 technical fall with 3:45 in riding time.

Senior Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.) is the No. 2 seed at 141. Lee battled No. 31 Julian Flores of Drexel in the opening round. Lee came out fast, taking Flores down and quickly turning him to his back for four nearfall points and a 6-0 lead. He added a second four-point turn, then a third, and led 14-0 with 1:00 still on the clock. Lee finished off the tech fall with a final turn to roll to an 18-0 win at the 2:33 mark in the opening period.

Junior Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn.) is the No. 12 seed at 157. Berge met No. 21 Andrew Cerniglia of Navy in the opening round. Berge fought off a fast shot from Cerniglia and had two solid opportunities of his own defended by Cerniglia and the first period was scoreless. Berge escaped to a 1-0 lead to start the second period and then took a 3-0 lead with the bout’s first takedown at the :45 mark. The Nittany Lion added a second takedown late to lead 5-1 after two periods. Berge tacked on three more takedowns and 1:45 in riding time to roll to a 12-4 major decision.

Freshman Joe Lee (Evansville, Ind.) is the No. 23 seed at 165. Lee faced No. 10 Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State in his first NCAA tournament match-up. Lee battled Wittlake through a scoreless first period but have a up a stall warning in the process and the first period ended tied 0-0. Wittlake escaped to a 1-0 lead to start the second stanza. Lee tried to throw Wittlake on the edge of the mat but the Cowboy countered the effort and turned Lee to his back for a 7-0 lead off the takedown and near fall points. Lee picked up a late escape in the second period but dropped an 8-1 decision to fall into the consolation bracket.

Freshman Carter Starocci (Erie, Pa.) is the No. 3 seed at 174. Starocci took on No. 30 Victor Marcelli of Virginia in his first NCAA bout. Starocci took a 2-0 lead with :51 left in the opening period, turning a high single into a takedown to lead by two after the first period after finishing the period on top. He quickly escaped to start the second stanza and added a takedown in the final seconds to carry a 5-0 lead into the third period. The Lion built his riding time point up over 1:00, then tallied two more takedowns to roll to a 10-2 major decision in his first NCAA tournament bout.

Sophomore Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.) is the No. 1 seed at 184. Brooks battled No. 32 Jhaquan Anderson of Gardner-Webb in the first round. Brooks scored just seconds into the bout, quickly added a second and then turned Anderson to his back to open up an 8-1 lead after the opening stanza. Brooks picked up another takedown and a stall point in the second to lead 11-1 with nearly 4:00 in riding time after two. His domination continued into the third period and the top-seeded Lion sophomore posted a lopsided 17-1 technical fall at the 5:25 mark, advancing to the second round.

Freshman Michael Beard (Pottstown, Pa.) is the No. 15 seed at 197. He met No. 18 Jacob Koser of Navy in the opening round in this, his first NCAA tourney. Beard turned a quick high single into a takedown and an early lead right out of the gates. The Lion controlled Koser for the period, turning him for four back points and finishing on top to lead 6-0 after one. He reversed Koser in the second and added a late takedown to lead 10-1 after two periods. The Lion freshman iced his first NCAA tournament win another takedown and 3:17 in riding time, rolling into the second round with a 14-4 major decision.

Freshman Greg Kerkvliet (Grove Heights, Minn.) is the No. 9 seed at 285. He faced No. 24 Jonathan Birchmeier of Navy his first NCAA tournament match-up. Kerkvliet dominated the bout from the opening whistle. The Lion freshman took Birchmeier down and then went to work on offense. He turned the Navy wrestler for four back points and reset himself three more times in less than three minutes. With a takedown and four four-point nearfalls, Kerkvliet rolled to an 18-0 technical fall at the 2:17 mark, picking up a win in his NCAA debut and rolling on to the second round.

The Nittany Lions went 8-1 in the first round with seven of those victories bringing bonus points. Penn State had four technical falls and three majors to tally nine bonus points in the opening round. The Nittany Lions sit in second place in the team race with 17.0 points, just behind first place Iowa’s 19.0

The 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships continue Thursday night with session two at 6 and 9 p.m. Penn State finished its dual meet schedule with a perfect 6-0 mark, 6-0 in the Big Ten, and earned a share of its seventh Big Ten Regular Season Championship with 5-0 Iowa. The Nittany Lions finished as Big Ten tournament runners-up two weekends ago.

Penn State at 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships – Session 1
March 18, 2021 – Enterprise Center – St. Louis, Mo.

TEAM STANDINGS (top three as of 3:45 p.m.)
1: Iowa – 19.0
2: PENN STATE – 17.0
3: Arizona State – 13.0
Weight-by-weight agate (RANKINGS LISTED ARE OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT SEED):
125: #23 Robert Howard, Fr., Cranford, N.J.
Rd. 1: #10 Malik Heinselman, Ohio State – W, 6-4 dec.
Rd. 2: #7 Taylor LaMont, Utah Valley

133: #2 Roman Bravo-Young, Jr., Tucson, Ariz.
Rd. 1: #31 Sean Carter, Appalachian State – W, 20-5 (TF; 7:00)
Rd. 2: #18 Kyle Burwick, Wisconsin

141: #2 Nick Lee, Sr., Evansville, Ind.
Rd. 1: #31 Julian Flores, Drexel – W, 18-0 (TF; 2:33)
Rd. 2: #15 Clay Carlson, South Dakota State
157: #12 Brady Berge, Jr., Mantorville, Minn.
Rd. 1: #21 Andrew Cerniglia, Navy – W, 12-4 maj. dec.
Rd. 2: #5 Kaleb Young, Iowa

165: #23 Joe Lee, Fr., Evansville, Ind.
Rd. 1: #10 Travis Wittlake, Oklahoma State – L, 1-8 dec.
Cn. 1: #26 Andrew Nicholson, Chattanooga .

174: #3 Carter Starocci, Fr., Erie, Pa.
Rd. 1: #30 Victor Marcelli, Virginia – W, 10-2 maj. dec.
Rd. 2: #14 Hayden Hastings, Wyoming

184: #1 Aaron Brooks, So., Hagerstown, Md.
Rd. 1: #32 Jhaquan Anderson, Gardner-Webb – W, 17-1 (TF; 5:25)
Rd. 2: #17 Owen Webster, Minnesota

197: #15 Michael Beard, Fr., Pottstown, Pa.
Rd. 1: #18 Jacob Kosar, Navy – W, 14-4 maj. dec.
Rd. 2: #31 Owen Pentz, North Dakota State

285: #9 Greg Kerkvliet, Fr., Grove Heights, Minn.
Rd. 1: #24 Johnathan Birchmeier, Navy – W, 18-0 (TF; 2:17)
Rd. 2: #8 Jordan Wood, Lehigh