Penn State wrestling updates from session one of the 2022 NCAA Tournament

Penn State wrestling’s pursuit of an NCAA Tournament title is officially underway.

Nine Nittany Lions will be involved in the opening round of this year’s championship. It’s being held in Detroit, Mich., and starts at Noon ET.

Drew Hildebrandt will lead things off for Penn State at 125 pounds. He isn’t first up on his mat, so head coach Cael Sanderson’s team actually won’t be in action until closer to 12:15 p.m. From there, the Lions will have a competitor in every weight class but 165 pounds.

Session one includes both the first round and the initial consolation matches. The Lions hope to avoid having anyone there by the time the championship bracket first round concludes with four-seed Greg Kerkvliet at 285 pounds.

Refresh often for the latest updates.

First round matchups for Penn State

Here is a reprint of the information found in our tournament preview:

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 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 live or follow along?

Below is your best option. Or, you can join us to talk with other Penn State fans in The Wrestling Room forum.

If you can watch, ESPNU is carrying the morning sessions and ESPN the evening ones. ESPN+ also has mat-by-mat streaming.

Want to listen on the radio instead? Penn State wrestling voice Jeff Byers will be on the air on the Penn State Sports Network.

Rolling updates, part two

Again, this page will not refresh automatically, so please refresh your browser to see the latest information. We’ll start when the first Penn State wrestler takes the mat.

3:35: Greg Kerkvliet puts an exclamation point on session one for Penn State with a fall in 4:17. That is it for session one.

3:06: Two more Nittany Lions are into the second round. At 184 pounds, Aaron Brooks had a dominating 21-7 major decision over Aaron Burkhart of Lehigh. Then, at 197, Max Dean hammered Will Feldkamp by technical fall, 17-1.

2:30: Penn State has its first pin of the NCAA Championship as Carter Starocci decks Connor O`Neill in the third period. Lions now have four wrestlers into round two with three to go in this session.

1:50: Brady Berge is off to the consolation bracket at 157 pounds. He lost to Oregon State’s Hunter Willits 2-1. A total of 1:13 in riding time was the difference.

1:30: Beau Bartlett scores a takedown with seven seconds left to win it, 5-4, over Colin Realbuto of Northern Iowa. Just a tremendous effort to stay alive in the 149-pound championship bracket.

1:20: Finally, Penn State is on the mat. Roman Bravo-Young wins by major decision, 16-4, with 2:58. Nick Lee also wins by major, as he scored a 15-3 major with 4:05 in riding time. Both are into round two.

12:50: No other Penn State wrestler has taken the mat yet. Roman Bravo-Young is in the hole to face Dominic LaJoie of Cornell.

Rolling updates, part one

12:20: After a scoreless first period that saw Drew Hildebrandt be the aggressor, Drew Hildebrandt deferred his choice to the third and Lock Haven’s Anthony Noto picked neutral. He scored the initial takedown on a counter for a 2-0 lead, but Hildebrandt escaped to make it 2-1 after two. Hildebrandt picked down to start the third and quickly escaped to 2-2. Hildebrandt was in on a late single leg shot but couldn’t finish it before the horn. The first Penn State bout of the tournament is off to sudden victory. Noto had the first shot and finished a takedown. He wins, 4-2. Hildebrandt is off to the consolation bracket.