Penn State wrestling notes: Cael Sanderson talks 'flawed' NCAA seeding system, Drew Hildebrandt, Creighton Edsell, more

Penn State has nine wrestlers headed to next week’s NCAA Tournament.

Head coach Cael Sanderson addressed their spots in the brackets and more on Thursday.

The Nittany Lions will have four number one seeds (Roman Bravo-Young at 133, Nick Lee at 141, Carter Starocci at 174, and Max Dean at 197), a number two (Aaron Brooks at 184), a No. 13 (Beau Bartlett at 149), and two No. 16s (Drew Hildebrant at 125 and Brady Berge at 157). That information was released on Wednesday. NCAAs will be contested March 17-19 in Detroit, Mich.

Penn State held its pre-tournament media day. Read on to hear Sanderson’s thoughts on how the seeding worked out, Hildebrandt’s outlook after a disappointing Big Ten tournament performance, and more.

Sanderson talks NCAA seeds

Penn State fans had some gripes on Wednesday night. They were frustrated that Hildebrandt dropped to No. 16, even though it’s fair to say he at least partially wrestled himself to that spot at Big Tens. Similarly, some thought Berge should have been seeded higher at 157. But, his lack of matches at that weight likely helped seal his fate. That said, he also beat the nine seed, Iowa’s Kaleb Young, twice at Big Tens.

Regardless, i’s safe to say that Sanderson was not the biggest fan of how things broke for Penn State, either. Both wrestlers would face their bracket’s top seed with a first-round win.

“It was consistently inconsistent like it has been in the past years,” Sanderson said. “It is what it is at this point. I think it’s something that probably should be addressed. Just obviously, a flawed system that kind of lacks judgment and wisdom, consistency, but you know, right now we’ve got our draws and we’re ready to roll.”

Sanderson expounded on that answer later in the news conference.

“You can look at it and see how it’s done,” he said. “They have a system that they follow. It’s just not consistent and doesn’t have a setup where you’re using the wisdom and judgment of people who follow the sport on a daily basis. But, it’s been like that for years. You should get what you earn. That’s what the system needs to be. It’s something that should be addressed in the offseason.

“But, this is nothing new, and I’m sure most programs are usually not feeling great, because you see things from your perspective, We got our first-round match and we’re going to focus on that.”

Can Penn State expect big points from Hildebrandt at nationals?

To say Hildebrandt will have to take a big step forward from his performance at Big Tens is an understatement.

The good news for Penn State, however, is that the senior has a successful history at NCAAs. He was a two-time All-American at Central Michigan before joining the Lions back in January. He wrestled well in the regular season but struggled in Lincoln. There, he exited the competition after just two matches and had to wrestle back just to earn one of the conference’s last two automatic berths at 125 pounds.

What’s the outlook now? For starters, Hildebrandt was seeded lower than his head coach expected at No. 16. But, that can’t be of any concern once the action begins. His tournament starts with  No. 17 seed Anthony Noto of Lock Haven. The winner gets top-seeded Nick Suriano of Michigan.

“I think his was a surprise also,” Sanderson said. “Lost to two top-10 guys. but again, if you don’t go take care of business, you leave it up to somebody else, and a committee and a system that you just don’t know what to get.

“Drew’s fine. He has to be himself and go score some points. He can’t let it come down to seconds. That’s risky and you’re rolling the dice. He has to wrestle to win and score points.”

Edsell was a ‘great candidate’ for an at-large bid, but..

As noted above, Penn State only has nine wrestlers at NCAAs. Creighton Edsell did not earn an automatic bid at Big Tens. He was also passed over for an at-large invitation at 165 pounds from the selection committee. The wild card berths went to Arizona State’s Anthony Valencia, William Formato of Appalachian State, Brian Meyer of Lehigh, and Caleb Fish of Michigan State.

“I think it was close,” Sanderson said. “I think he was the next guy probably in and it could have gone his way, but if you leave it in somebody else’s hands, that’s the kind of stuff that can happen, unfortunately.

“He was a great candidate but there were some other great candidates. There’s not much we can do about it now.”

Penn State wrestling odds and ends

–We’ll have more from Nick Lee and Max Dean next week, but both said they haven’t taken a look at the bracket yet. That’s not uncommon for wrestlers. “If someone tells me somehow, it’s not a big deal, but just focused on myself and what I’m doing,” Dean said.

–Sanderson said the team will finish “hard training” this week and then get refreshed and ready to roll out to Detroit next week.

–On moving on from Big Tens and getting Penn State ready for nationals, Sanderson said: “I think for the most part our guys wrestled pretty well at the Big Tens. 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.”