Penn State-Michigan wrestling preview: Time, television info, expected lineups, and more

A big weekend has arrived for the Penn State wrestling program.

The No. 1 Nittany Lions and No. 3 Michigan Wolverines are set to meet tonight in Ann Arbor. Nineteen of the 20 expected starters rank inside of the top-20 in their respective weight classes, according to InterMat.

Here’s what to expect.

How to watch, follow Penn State-Michigan

Big Ten Network will televise Penn State-Michigan. The match will start at 6 p.m. ET, which is the same time BTN will come on the air.

If radio is more your style or is the only thing available, you’re in luck. Program play-by-play voice Jeff Byers will call the action from matside in Ann Arbor. The LionVision page will have the stream.

Also, the team’s official Twitter account posts bout-by-bout updates, and we’ll be discussing it all here on The Wrestling Room forum.

What is the weekend’s biggest question for Penn State?

Will all of the Penn State regulars be available?

The Lions have had more than a few matches with at least one starter out of the lineup. In last Sunday’s win over Rutgers, for example, defending NCAA champ and 141-pound top-ranked wrestler Nick Lee was unavailable.

“You have different challenges every week, different kids are having to step up and you have guys that are out with COVID and then you have guys that are out with the flu and there are a lot of challenges,” head coach Cael Sanderson said Tuesday.

“You feel like it’s the same for everybody, but you’re competing and you need the best effort from whoever is in your lineup. I think we’ve seen our guys step up and compete well.”

An honorable mention here goes to which spot Brady Berge will wrestle at. He made his season debut last weekend at 165 pounds and won. But, many still wonder if he could end up back at 157. Expect him at the former over the latter until we have reason to say otherwise.

Bout before the match that’s drawing the most hype

Most weeks, there are only one or two candidates here. However, you could go any number of directions.

We settled on the man pictured above, Aaron Brooks, opposite Myles Amine. It’s a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2, respectively, at 184 pounds in the InterMat rankings. Brooks is the defending NCAA champ, while Amine finished third at the Toyko Olympics in freestyle competition. He’s also a four-time All-American for the Wolverines.

“This is like the gauntlet part of the season,” Brooks told reporters on Tuesday. “I’ve had really good opponents these last couple weeks, so heading into Michigan it’s the same mindset, same outlook.”

Expected matchups for Penn State, Michigan

All rankings are courtesy of InterMat and all expected matchups are courtesy of Penn State Athletics. Lions wrestlers are in the bold-face text.

125: No. 7 Drew Hildebrandt vs. No. 1 Nick Suriano

133: No. 8 Dylan Ragusin vs. No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young

141: No. 4 Steven Micic vs. No. 1 Nick Lee

149: No. 19 Beau Bartlett vs. #16 Kanen Storr OR Cole Mattin

157: Tony Negron OR Terrell Barraclough vs. No. 15 Will Lewan

165: No. 16 Brady Berge vs. No. 10 Cameron Amin

174: No. 6 Logan Massa vs. No. 1 Carter Starocci

184: No. 2 Myles Amin vs. No. 1 Aaron Brooks

197: No. 8 Patrick Brucki vs. No. 2 Max Dean

285: No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet vs. No. 2 Mason Parris

Up next

After facing Michigan, Penn State will travel to East Lansing for a Sunday dual with Michigan State. It starts at 1 p.m. and will be streamed only on BTN+.