Penn State wrestling holds NCAA Championships team lead after Day 1: Takeaways

Penn State wrestling is the Day 1 leader at the NCAA Championships.

Six Nittany Lions will take part in Friday morning’s quarterfinals. Three others are alive in the consolation round bracket.

“You just have to go get these quarterfinals and these semifinals and it’s about these kids having an opportunity to go compete for a national title,” head coach Cael Sanderson said, according to PennLive.

Here’s how things shook out following a full day of action at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.

Bonus points lift Penn State to early lead

Sanderson loves bonus points. His Penn State wrestlers earned plenty of them on Thursday.

The Nittany Lions ended 10 of 15 winning bouts with extra team points. Roman Bravo-Young earned a second-round victory by fall at 133 pounds after teammates Carter Starocci (174 pounds) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) did so in round one. The former then won by decision in round two and the latter by major decision.

Max Dean had the tightest bout of session two. The Penn State 197-pounder needed a late reversal and then ride out to beat Virginia’s Jay Aiello in a controversial match, 4-2. The Cavaliers thought Aiello had a takedown at one point and also wanted possible back points in another instance but were awarded nothing either time.

In the consolation bracket, Drew Hildebrandt stayed alive at 125 pounds with a 3-1 win over Stanford’s Logan Ashton. Brady Berge did the same at 157 with a dominating 15-7 major decision win over Derek Holschlag of Northern Iowa. Both have elimination matches Friday, as does 149-pounder Beau Bartlett. The Penn State wrestler dropped a close 6-4 decision to No. 4 Sammy Sasso of Ohio State to drop out of the championship bracket.

Analyzing the team race

As noted above, bonus points powered Penn State to a Day 1 lead.

The Lions recorded three pins, one technical fall, and six major decisions over the pair of sessions. Combined with five decisions, Penn State racked up 27.5 team points. Arizona State is in second with 22. Michigan (21), Iowa (20.5), and North Carolina State (17.5) round out the top five.

It means PSU has a comfortable lead. But, it is by no means insurmountable. According to the Penn State Wrestling Club team scoring tracker, N.C. State has the maximum potential point at 269.5. Iowa is next at 262.5, followed by Penn State (245), Michigan (238), and Arizona State (191).

In other words, the Lions should feel good about where they stand. But, much work remains to be done.

Second session results

125 pounds: No. 16 Drew Hildebrandt, Penn State wins by decision over No. 33 Logan Ashton, Stanford, 3-1 (consolation)

133 pounds: No.1 Roman Bravo-Young, PSU wins by fall over No. 16 Josh Koderhandt, Navy, 4:45

141 pounds: No. 1 Nick Lee, Penn State wins by decision over No. 16 Quinn Kiner, Rider, 9-2

149 pounds: No. 4 Sammy Sasso, Ohio State wins by decision over No. 13 Beau Bartlett, PSU, 6-4

157 pounds: No. 16 Brady Berge, PSU wins by major decision over No 33 Derek Holschlag, Northern Iowa, 15-7.

174 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci wins by decision over No. 16 Adam Kemp, Cal Poly, 10-4.

184 pounds: No. 2 Aaron Brooks, PSU wins by major decision over No. 15 Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech, 9-0

197 pounds: No. 1 Max Dean, Penn State wins by decision over No. 17 Jay Aiello, Virginia, 4-2

285 pounds: No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU wins by major decision over No. 13 Tate Omdorff, Ohio State, 10-1.

First match for each Penn State wrestler Friday

The action begins with quarterfinal bouts at 11 a.m. on ESPNU and ESPN+. All bouts are in the championship bracket unless otherwise noted.

125: No. 16 Drew Hildebrandt, PSU vs. No. 15 Brody Teske, Northern Iowa (consolation)

133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State vs. No. 25 Brian Courtney (Virginia)

141: No. 1 Nick Lee, PSU vs. No. 8 Grant Willits (Oregon State)

149: No. 13 Beau Bartlett, Penn State vs. No. 19 Yahya Thomas, Northwestern (consolation)

157: No. 16 Brady Berge, PSU vs. No. 15 Johnny Lovett, Central Michigan (consolation)

174: No. 1 Carter Starocci, Penn State vs. No. 9 Mikey Labriola, Nebraska

184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU vs. No. 7 Kaleb Romero, Ohio State

197: No. 1 Max Dean, Penn State vs. No. 8 Lou Deprez, Binghamton

285: No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet vs. No. 12 Christian Lance, Nebraska