Penn State Wrestlers with Five Big 10 Finalists
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (12-2, 8-1 B1G) will have five wrestlers in Sunday’s Big Ten finals as day one of the 2020 Big Ten Wrestling Championship concluded Saturday night at Rutgers University. The Nittany Lions have six NCAA qualifiers with one more alive to earn a spot on Sunday. The two-day event is being held at Rutgers University’s RAC. Penn State entered the tournament with five top-two seeds and five wrestlers making their first-ever appearances at the event, including three freshmen.
Penn State won its first five semifinal bouts before dropping its last by just one point. The Nittany Lions will look to up their qualifier total to seven Sunday.
Sophomore Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked No. 2 nationally at 133 in the NCAA coaches poll, met No. 3 Austin DeSanto of Iowa in Penn State’s first semifinal bout of the evening. Bravo-Young exploded out of the gates, taking DeSanto down off the opening whistle for an early 2-0 lead. The Hawkeye escaped after a brief ride and the bout continued in neutral for the remainder of the first period. With Bravo-Young leading 2-1, DeSanto chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 2-2 tie. Bravo-Young and DeSanto battled evenly for the next :40 before DeSanto forced a scramble with a low shot. Bravo-Young was able to work action to a stalemate and the bout resumed with just :20 on the clock. Trailing 3-2, Bravo-Young chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 3-2 lead. DeSanto forced another scramble with a shot and Bravo-Young once again worked action to a stalemate. The duo worked the outside circle as the clock wound its way down to :25. Bravo-Young worked on defense for the final seconds and walked away with a 3-2 victory. Bravo-Young will take on Northwestern’s Sebastian Rivera in the final Sunday.
Junior Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), ranked No. 1 at 141, faced off against No. 6 Chad Red of Nebraska in the semifinals at 141. Lee got in on a single leg at the 2:10 mark and steadily worked Red to the mat for a takedown and a 2-0 lead. He controlled the action from the top position for the next minute-plus, building up a riding time advantage with a strong ride. He finished the period on top and led 2-0 with 1:46 in riding time after the opening period. Lee chose down to start the second stanza and quickly escaped to a 3-0 lead. He connected on another low single and took Red down for a 5-0 lead. Red notched a late takedown and Lee led 5-2 with 2:16 in riding time after two periods. Red chose down to start the final period and quickly escaped to a 5-3 score. Red notched a late takedown to briefly tie the bout, but Lee added an escape and riding time to post the 7-5 victory. Lee will take on Ohio State’s Luke Pletcher in the finals.
Senior Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 165, met No. 4 Isaiah White of Nebraska in the semifinals. Joseph opened up an early lead, lifting White off the mat and taking him down for a 2-0 lead at the 2:20 mark. The Lion built up :43 in riding time before White escaped to a 2-1 score. Joseph fought off a solid White shot with :55 in the period and maintained his lead as action moved out of bounds.
The duo battled evenly for the remainder of the period and Joseph led by one after the first period. White chose down to start the second stanza and quickly escaped to a 2-2 tie. Joseph controlled the middle of the mat for the rest of the period, forcing White into a first stall. Tied 2-2, Joseph chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 3-2 lead. Joseph worked his way in on a low single, pulled White’s other foot in bounds and finished off a takedown to up his lead to 5-2 at the :20 mark. White picked up a late escape and Joseph added riding time, giving the Nittany Lion the 6-3 victory. Joseph will take on Iowa’s Alex Marinelli in the finals.
Senior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 2 at 174, met No. 4 Dylan Lydy of Purdue in his semifinal match-up. Hall and Lydy battled through the first half in neutral, working the clock down towards the 1:00 mark with no scoring. Lydy notched a quick takedown as the period wound down and Hall escaped before the clock hit 0:00, sending the bout to the second period tied 2-2. Hall chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 3-2 lead. He worked a single leg into a takedown to lead 5-2 with 1:10 left in the middle stanza. Lydy managed an escape and Hall led 5-3 after two periods. Lydy chose down to start the third period and escaped to a 5-4 score. Hall fought off Lydy’s late offense and walked away with a 5-4 win. Hall will take on Iowa’s Michael Kemerer in the finals.
True freshman Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.), ranked No. 5 at 184, took on No. 9 Taylor Venz of Nebraska in the semis at 184. Brooks scored quickly, taking Venz down for an early 2-1 lead. The Husker countered a Brooks shot, working shoulder control into a takedown on the edge of the mat. Brooks quickly escaped and the bout continued in neutral, tied 3-3 at the 1:49 mark. Brooks fought off a Venz shot with :30 left in the period. Tied 3-3, Venz chose down to start the second period. He escaped to a 4-3 lead and then Brooks worked his way in on a low shot. He turned the shot into a cradle, locking Venz up and turning him to his back. After a bit of work, Brooks got the fall at the 4:00 mark. Brooks will take on Michigan State’s Cameron Caffey in the finals.
Senior Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.), ranked No. 24 at 197, faced off against No. 5 Eric Schultz of Nebraska in his semifinal bout. Rasheed came out hot and notched a quick takedown to open up a 2-1 lead on the Husker. The duo then battled in neutral in the middle of the mat for the next minute-plus. Schultz turned a high shot into a takedown to open up a 3-2 lead on Rasheed with :40 on the clock. Rasheed was unable to break free of Schutz’s ride and trailed 3-2 after one period. Schultz chose down to start the second period and escaped to a 4-2 lead with 1:40 on the clock. Rasheed was unable to break through Schultz’s defense and trailed 4-2 after two. Rasheed chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 4-3 deficit. The Lion continued to work on offense, forcing Schultz into a first stall at the :25 mark.
Rasheed continued to chase the Husker around the mat. He almost locked up a mixer, turning Schultz to his back as the clock moved to 0:00, but Schultz rolled out of the move, killed the final seconds, and Rasheed dropped a 4-3 decision. Rasheed will wrestle in consolation action Sunday, still alive for third place.
Freshman Brandon Meredith (Limerick, Pa.), the 14th-seed at 125, took on Logan Griffin of Michigan State in Penn State’s first match of the session in consolation action at 125. Meredith fell behind 2-0 at the 2:00 mark and escaped to a 2-1 deficit over a minute later. The Lion trailed 2-1 after the opening stanza. Griffin took neutral to start the second period and neither wrestler threatened offensively. Down by one but already giving up a riding time edge, Meredith chose neutral to start the third period. He nearly connected on a single at the 1:30 mark but Griffin was able to step out of trouble and keep his lead. Griffin added another takedown and, with over 2:00 in riding time, posted the 5-1 win. The loss ended Meredith’s scoring chances in the tournament but the Lion continued on in the ninth place mini-bracket. He took on No. 17 Nic Aguilar of Rutgers in his first mini-bracket bout. Meredith notched an early first period takedown and led 2-1 after the opening period. Aguilar escaped to start the second period and the bout moved to the third knotted at that score. Meredith chose down to start the third period. Aguilar maintained control until the Lion escaped to a 3-2 lead with :47 on the clock. Aguilar notched a late takedown and posted the 4-3 win. Meredith ends his tournament with a 1-3 record.
Sophomore Jarod Verkleeren (Greensburg, Pa.), ranked No. 20 nationally at 149, took on No. 16 Collin Purinton of Nebraska in his first consolation bout. Verkleeren and Purinton battled evenly for the first minute-plus. The Lion stepped back from a slight Purinton shot and continued in neutral as the clock hit 1:30. Verkleeren and Purinton battled through three scoreless minutes to start the bout. The Lion sophomore chose down to start the second stanza and escaped to a 1-0 lead at 1:40. He gave up a takedown with :30 on the clock and fell behind 2-1 but escaped to tie the bout 2-2 before the period ended. Purinton chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 3-2 lead. Verkleeren forced a late scramble looking for a go-ahead takedown, but Purinton countered and finished off the bout with another takedown for the 5-2 win. With 10 149-pounders going to NCAAs, Verkleeren moved into the placer mini-bracket. He received a bye in his first placer bracket bout. Verkleeren will continue in the mini-bracket Sunday morning.
Junior Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.), the 13th-seed at 157, went 0-2 in the morning session and bowed out of the tournament. True freshman Seth Nevills (Clovis, Calif.), ranked No. 16 at 285, suffered an injury default loss in his first match during session one and ended the tournament at 0-1.
The Nittany Lions conclude day one with a 13-9 record including two majors, a tech fall and three pins. Penn State has six wrestlers qualified for NCAAs with Verkleeren still alive for a spot at 149.
The Big Ten received 79 automatic qualifiers: eight at 125, seven at 133, eight at 141, ten at 149, six at 157, eight at 165, nine at 174, ten at 184, six at 197 and seven at 285. In all, the NCAA allocated 283 automatic bids for 330 slots (33 per 10 weight classes). The remaining spots will be announced as at-large bids on Wednesday, March 11.
The tournament concludes Sunday at 12 p.m. with consolation bouts, followed up by the Big Ten finals after that. The finals will air live nationally on BTN. The Big Ten Tournament decides the Big Ten’s automatic qualifiers for the 2020 NCAA Championship at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Penn State at 2020 Big Ten Championship – Session 2
March 7, 2020 – Piscataway, N.J. – Rutgers University
TEAM STANDINGS AFTER SESSION 2 (top 5):
1: Iowa 121.5
2: Nebraska 102.5
3: Ohio State 94.0
4: Penn State 93.5
5: Purdue 77.5
