Penn State wrestling NCAA tournament preview: How to watch, primer, and more

Penn State wrestling is ready to kick off the NCAA Tournament.

The opening day starts at Noon ET in Detroit, Mich., inside of Little Caesars Arena. There will be two sessions a day Thursday through Saturday, with the final one containing the championships bouts.

“I think for the most part our guys wrestled pretty well at the Big Tens,” head coach Cael Sanderson said last week.

“We got nine guys through, got through healthy, and we’re ready to roll here at nationals. Nationals are what we focus on, and our guys know that.”

Here’s everything you need to know to get ready for the tournament ahead

How many Penn State wrestlers are competing?

As the quote above notes, nine of Penn State’s 10 starters are competing at nationals.

The list includes everyone but a representative at 165 pounds. Creighton Edsell started the season there but was replaced by Brady Berge when he returned to the team in January. Berge, who medically retired last year but came back after serving as a volunteer assistant coach at South Dakota State, dropped down to 157 for the postseason.

The Lions’ NCAA contingent, with their respective seeds, is as follows:

125 pounds: No. 16 Drew Hildebrandt

133 pounds: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young

141 pounds: No. 1 Nick Lee

149 pounds: No. 13 Beau Bartlett

157 pounds: No. 16 Brady Berge

174 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci

184 pounds: No. 2 Aaron Brooks

197 pounds: No. 1 Max Dean

285 pounds: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet

Who do the Lions face in the first round?

Below, we’ll list each wrestler’s first-round match, plus who he could face in Round 2 with a win.

125 pounds: No. 16 Drew Hildebrandt, Penn State vs. No. 17 Anthony Noto, Lock Haven. The winner presumably gets No. 1 seed Nick Suriano, who has a pigtail opponent.

133 pounds: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young will face the winner of a pigtail match between No. 33 Domenick Zaccone (Campbell) and No. 32 Dominic LaJoie (Cornell).

141 pounds: No. 1 Nick Lee also must wait for a pigtail match to learn his first opponent. The Penn State wrestler draws the winner of No. 33 Dylan Cedeno (Utah Valley ) vs. Josh Mason (Bloomsburg)

149 pounds: No. 13 Beau Bartlett, Penn State vs. No. 20 Colin Realbuto, Northern Iowa. The winner gets the victory between No. 29 John Arceri (Buffalo) vs. No. 2 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State).

157 pounds: No. 16 Brady Berge, Penn State vs. No. 17 Hunter Willits, Oregon State. The winner presumably draws top-seeded David Carr of Iowa State, who has a pigtail opponent.

174 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci of Penn State faces the winner of a pigtail bout between No. 33 Connor O`Neill (Rutgers) and No. 32 Dominic Solis (Maryland).

184 pounds: No. 2 Aaron Brooks, Penn State vs. No. 31 AJ Burkhart, Lehigh. The winner draws whoever comes out on top between No. 15 Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 18 Abe Assad (IOWA).

197 pounds: No. 1 Max Dean awaits the winner of a pigtail bout between No. 33 Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) vs. No. 32 Will Feldkamp (Clarion).

285 pounds: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet draws No. 29 Brandon Metz of North Dakota State. The winner gets No. 13 Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) vs. No. 20 Joe Doyle (Binghamton).

How can I watch Penn State in the NCAA Tournament?

ESPN is home to this year’s event as it has been in past years. ESPNU carries the morning sessions and ESPN the evening ones. ESPN+ also has mat-by-mat streaming. And, longtime program radio voice Jeff Byers will be on the air on the Penn State Sports Network. That link can be found here.

Here is the TV start time schedule. When Penn State wrestlers are on the mat depends on how they perform and also matches that come before them on the bout sheet.

Thursday: Session one features first-round championship bracket action starting at Noon ET on ESPNU. Session two includes second-round action and first-round consolations starting at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Friday: Action gets underway at 11 a.m. Friday with championship bracket quarterfinal action on ESPNU. It will also include second- and third-round consolation matches. On Friday night starting at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, the semifinals will be held plus fourth- and fifth-round consolation matches.

Saturday: Matches for third, fifth, and seventh-place will be held starting at 11 a.m on ESPNU. The finals then start at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Is Penn State the favorite?

Yes, it is. But, the Lions will be pushed by Big Ten champion Michigan among many others.

Penn State is the individual favorite at 133, 141, 174, and 184 based on seeds. It also has a great chance at 184, where Brooks is the defending champion but also the two seed after losing to NCAA top-seed and Wolverine Myles Amine back at the Big Ten finals. And, while Minnesota’s Gable Steveson is a massive favorite at heavyweight, Kerkvliet will hope to be able to give him a run for his money in the semifinals should both make it there.

As always, this tournament will come down to bonus points early and consolation bracket advancement throughout the three-day tournament. Penn State has tough potential second-round draws at 125, 149, and 157, but this is a brutally difficult tournament. No matter the seed, each win will have to be earned, whether it comes early or late in the respective weight class brackets.

For those who are unaware, wrestlers earn points for their team in two ways. One is by advancing. The other way points are awarded to those who do so in the championship bracket compared to the consolation bracket, but both play a big role in the outcome. Then, they can also earn bonus points based on winning by major decision, technical fall, or pin/forfeit instead of just by decision.

Not familiar with individual match scoring? See this NCAA.com primer on match scoring and other FAQs here.

You can follow it all here at Blue-White Illustrated and inside The Wrestling Room forum.

Brackets are available at the official NCAA Wrestling website. The Penn State Wrestling Club will also update brackets and team scores throughout the weekend.