Penn State wrestling sends seven to Big 10 semifinals
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Penn State Nittany Lions (16-0, 8-0 B1G) will have seven wrestlers competing in the semifinals Saturday night at the 2023 Big Ten Championships. All seven have qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championships. Penn State has three more still alive for NCAA bids as well. The two-day event continues at 5:30 p.m. Eastern from Michigan’s Crisler Arena.
Penn State entered the tournament with seven top-two seeds, all of whom earned byes in the opening round (four first, three second). Penn State’s current NCAA qualifiers for the NCAA Championships in two weeks are: Roman Bravo-Young (133), Beau Bartlett (141), Levi Haines (157), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184), Max Dean (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (285). The others still alive for automatic bids are Gary Steen, Shayne Van Ness and Alex Facundo.
Roman Bravo-Young, ranked No. 1 at 133 and the top-seed, had an opening round by and met No. 18 Brody Teske in the quarterfinals. Bravo-Young took Teske down quickly and built up over 1:00 in riding time with a strong ride. He finished the period on top to lead 2-0 after one. He upped his lead to 4-1 early in the second stanza, added two back points to lead 6-1, then another two-point turn to lead 8-1 after two periods. Bravo-Young added two more takedowns quickly in the third period and rolled to a 13-2 major decision with over 5:00 in riding time. The win moved him into the semifinals as he became Penn State’s first automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships in Tulsa.
Beau Bartlett, ranked No. 4 at 141 and the second seed, had a first round bye and took on No. 28 Cole Mattin of Michigan in the quarterfinals. After a scoreless first period, Bartlett escaped to a 1-0 lead to start the second stanza. Bartlett took a 2-0 lead into the third period after picking up a stall point late in the second stanza. Bartlett used a takedown in the third period to ice the bout and posted a strong 4-2 victory to move into the semifinals. The win also clinched his spot at the NCAA Championships.
Levi Haines, ranked No. 7 at 157 and the second seed, had a first round by and met No. 24 Derek Gilcher of Indiana in the quarters. Haines took a 2-0 lead at the 1:10 mark and rode Gilcher out to lead 2-0 with over a minute in riding time after the opening period. He quickly escaped to a 3-0 lead to start the second and carried that lead into the third. Haines added a two-point turn and riding time to roll to a 6-0 win and advance to the semifinals. He also earned a spot at the NCAA tournament in Tulsa as a true freshman.
Carter Starocci, ranked No. 1 at 174 and the top seed, had a first round bye and took on No. 15 Troy Fisher of Northwestern in the quarterfinals. Starocci scored quickly, taking Fisher down to lead 2-1. He quickly added a second takedown to up his lead to 4-1 and carried that lead into the second stanza. Starocci escaped to a 5-1 lead in the second and added another takedown to lead 7-1 after two periods. The Nittany Lion junior added a fourth takedown and 2:04 in riding time to roll into the semifinals with 10-2 major decision. He also grabbed a spot at nationals with the win.
Aaron Brooks, ranked No. 1 at 184 and the top seed, had a bye in the opening round and battled No. 14 Brian Soldano of Rutgers in the quarterfinals. Brooks took Soldano down twice in the opening minute of the bout to lead 4-2, and led 6-2 after one. He quickly upped his lead to 8-2 to start the second stanza and carried that lead, and over 3:00 in riding time, into the third. The Lion senior took a 10-2 lead with a quick takedown and then turned Soldano for two and four to notch the 18-2 technical fall at 5:57. The win moved him into the semifinals and earned him a spot at NCAAs.
Max Dean, ranked No. 3 at 197 and the top seed, had an opening round bye and met No. 23 Michael Foy of Minnesota in his quarterfinal bout. Dean and Foy wrestled through a scoreless first period and the Gopher chose down to start the second. Dean controlled the action from the top position, breaking Foy down and building up 2:00 in riding time by finishing the period on top. Tied 0-0, Dean worked his way to an escape and a 1-0 lead at the 1:10 mark, maintaining a riding time edge. Dean, with the riding time point, moved into the semifinals with a 2-0 win. He also earned an automatic bid to nationals with the victory.
Greg Kerkvliet, ranked No. 2 at 285 and the second seed, had Penn State’s seventh first round bye and took on No. 16 Tate Orndorff of Ohio State in the quarterfinals. Kerkvliet took an early 2-0 lead with a fast takedown and then built up a big riding time edge, forcing Orndorff into a first stall and riding him out to lead 2-0 with 2:48 in riding time. Kerkvliet reversed the Buckeye quickly to start the second, cut him loose and then added another takedown to lead 6-1 with 4:02 riding time after two. He took an 8-1 lead early in the third with a clinched riding time point, rolling into the semifinals with a 9-1 major decision. Kerkvliet also earned a trip to Tulsa and the NCAA tournament with the victory.
Shayne Van Ness, ranked No. 13 at 149 and the fifth seed, took on Jake Harrier of Illinois in the opening round. He picked up a takedown midway through the opening period and added a late one to lead 5-2 after one. Van Ness increased his lead to 7-3 midway through the second, finished on top and led 7-3 with 2:25 in riding time after two. He added a quick scores in the third to up his lead to 12-3 early in the third and rolled to a 16-4 major decision with nearly 4:00 in riding time. Van Ness’ win moved him into the quarterfinals where he met No. 6 Max Murin of Iowa. Bartlett trailed 2-1 after the first period and tied it up with a takedown in the second. Murin upped retook a 3-2 lead with an escape early in the third and had riding time. Van Ness was unable to break through Murin’s third period defense and dropped into consolation action with a 4-2 decision.
Alex Facundo, ranked No. 9 at 165 and the fourth seed, faced Purdue’s Stony Buell. Facundo battled Buell through the first period and led 2-0 thanks to a late takedown in the opening stanza. He escaped to start the second and quickly took Buell down to open up a 5-0 lead and led 5-1 after two. Facundo added a third takedown in the final period and posted the 7-2 win to move into the quarterfinals. He took on No. 12 Carson Kharchla of Ohio State in the quarters. Facundo trailed 2-0 after a late Kharchla takedown in the first and then 3-0 after the Buckeye escaped to start the second. The Penn State freshman escaped quickly to start the third period, cutting the lead to 3-1. He chased Kharchla for the rest of the bout but the Buckeye defended his way to a 3-1 win, sending Facundo into consolation action.
Gary Steen, the 10th-seed at 125, met No. 15 Braxton Brown of Maryland in the opening round (the 7th-seed). Steen fell behind early to the ranked Terrapin, trailing 6-0 after the opening period and dropped a 14-0 major decision. He received a bye in the first round of consolation action to stay alive into session two.
The Nittany Lions went 9-3 in the first session and picked up 5.5 bonus points off four majors and a technical fall. Penn State and Iowa are tied in the early team standings, both with 63.5 points. Minnesota is in third with 51.5 (as of 2:15 p.m. with some consolation action ongoing). The tournament continues tonight with the conference semifinals and more consolation action beginning at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on both the Big Ten Network and B1G+. The event concludes on Sunday, March 5, with consolation action starting at 1:00 p.m. and the Big Ten Championship Finals and placing bouts at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on the Big Ten Network.
Penn State’s NCAA qualifiers will head to Tulsa, Okla., for the 2023 NCAA Championships on March 16-18, 2023, in Tulsa’s BOK Center. The six-session title tournament features sessions at 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 16; 12:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Friday March 17; and 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 18 (all times Eastern). The NCAA tournament will be broadcast national on the ESPN family of networks.
Penn State at 2023 Big Ten Championship – Session 1
March 4, 2023 – Ann Arbor, Mich. – University of Michigan, Host
Team Standings (Top 3 after session 1 as of 2:16 p.m.)
1: PENN STATE – 63.5
1: Iowa – 63.5
3: Minnesota – 51.5
