Penn State wrestling sends six to NCAA semifinals; where are the Lions in the team race?

Penn State wrestling continues to lead the way at the 2022 NCAA Championships with three sessions in the books.

The Nittany Lions were perfect in the quarterfinals on Friday morning and afternoon at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich. However, it was not all sunshine and rainbows for head coach Cael Sanderson’s team ahead of tonight’s semifinal round.

Takeaways from Thursday’s first session

Penn State has often been dominant in the quarterfinal round under Sanderson. This year was no different.

Roman Bravo-Young kicked things off with a 13-7 win over Brian Courtney of Virginia at 133 pounds. The senior and defending champ is now a four-time All-American. He did have a chance to score a takedown late and earn a major decision, but the officials waved it off.

Nick Lee became the first five-time All-American at Penn State with a win by fall over Oregon State’s Hunter Willits in 3:45 at 141 pounds.

Carter Starocci earned his second All-American honors, then, at 174 pounds. He picked up a 6-1 decision over Mikey Labriola of Nebraska to advance.

Penn State 184-pounder Aaron Brooks is a three-time All-American. He dominated Kaleb Romero of Ohio State en route to a 13-2 major decision with 2:28 at riding time.

At 197, Max Dean was awarded a third-period takedown upon video review. That was the difference as the Penn State wrestler and now three-time All-American beat Lou Deprez of Binghamton 4-3. It’s the second time in this tournament where a review when Dean’s way. His opponent in the second round, Virginia’s Jay Aiello, wanted both a takedown at one point and back points at another. Neither was awarded.

Finally, heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet beat Christian Lance of Nebraska 7-1. He is a two-time All-American.

As for the bad news, three Penn State wrestlers have exited the tournament. Drew Hildebrandt was eliminated after losing to former Lion Brody Teske 8-4 at 125 pounds. Beau Bartlett was taken out by Northwestern’s Yahya Thomas, 5-3, at 149. Finally, Brady Berge beat Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan 4-3 in a 157-pound consolation bout to stay alive. His tournament ended one match later, however, as Peyton Robb of Nebraska beat the Nittany Lion 8-3.

Assessing where Penn State stands in the team race

Penn State continues to lead the team race after three sessions. But, the Lions should hardly be considered a shoo-in champion at this point.

The Lions have now racked up 73 points to Michigan‘s 62.5. Arizona State, then, has 53, Iowa 37.5, and North Carolina State 37.

However, as the Penn State Wrestling Club team race maximum potential points tracker notes, the Wolverines have the most left to gain with a possible final score of 196. The Lions are second with 163, while the Hawkeyes have 145.5, Sun Devils 132.5, and Wolfpack 106. Further down the leader board, Nebraska ends session three with just 27 points at the moment. But, 159.5 is possible.

Penn State has the most semifinalists at six. Michigan has five, Arizona State four, and everyone else has two or fewer. But, the Wolverines have eight wrestlers alive (two are in the consolation round of 12) compared to PSU’s six.

Session three results

All bouts are in the championship bracket unless otherwise noted.

125:  No. 15 Brody Teske, Northern Iowa wins a consolation bout by decision over No. 16 Drew Hildebrandt, PSU, 8-4. Hildebrandt has been eliminated from the tournament.

133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State wins by decision over No. 25 Brian Courtney (Virginia),13-6. He’s onto the semifinals.

141: No. 1 Nick Lee, PSU wins by fall over No. 8 Grant Willits (Oregon State), in 3:45. He’s off to the semifinals.

149: No. 19 Yahya Thomas, Northwestern wins a consolation bout decision over No. 13 Beau Bartlett, Penn State, 5-3. Bartlett is eliminated from the tournament.

157: No. 16 Brady Berge, PSU wins a consolation bout over No. 15 Johnny Lovett, Central Michigan, 4-3 (consolation). He’ll wrestle again this session.

157: No. 10 Peyton Robb, Nebraska wins a consolation bout by decision over No. 16 Brady Berge, PSU, 8-3. Berge’s tournament is over

174: No. 1 Carter Starocci, Penn State wins by decision over No. 9 Mikey Labriola, Nebraska, 6-1. He is into the semis and is a two-time All-American.

184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU wins by major decision over No. 7 Kaleb Romero, Ohio State, 13-2. He is a three-time All-American and into the semis.

197: No. 1 Max Dean, Penn State wins by decision over No. 8 Lou Deprez, Binghamton, 4-3.

285: No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet wins by decision over No. 12 Christian Lance, Nebraska, 7-1

Session four matches for Penn State

All bouts are semifinal matches. Those begin starting with the 125-pound weight class at 8 p.m. ET tonight on ESPN. The Penn State radio network will also be on the air starting at 7:40 p.m. And, we’ll be discussing it all on The Wrestling Room forum.

133 pounds: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State vs. No. 5 Austin DeSanto, Iowa

141 pounds: No.1 Nick Lee, PSU vs. No. 4 Real Wood, Stanford

174 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci, Penn State vs. No. 4 Hayden Hidlay, N.C. State

184 pounds: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU vs. No. 3 Trent Hidlay, N.C. State

197 pounds: No. 1 Max Dean, Penn State vs. No. 21 Gavin Hoffman, Ohio State

285 pounds: No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet vs. No. 1 Gable Steveson, Minnesota