Penn State wrestling: Recapping session three of the NCAA Championships

Penn State wrestling has completed session three at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. The Lions have seven semifinalists: Roman Bravo-Young, Beau Bartlett, Shayne Van Ness, Levi Haines, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks, and Greg Kerkvliet. Those start at 8 p.m. tonight on ESPN. Max Dean’s tournament is still alive, too. He’ll wrestle tonight for All-American honors.

Here’s how it happened.

Key links for session three

BRACKETS | TEAM SCORE | LISTEN | WATCH | DISCUSS

Rolling updates: NCAA Wrestling Championships Session 3

3:59 — Max Dean is still alive for All-American honors after beating Tanner Harvey of Oregon State 10-5 in the third round of consolation action. Session three is over.

3:39 — We have one more Penn State match to go in session three of the NCAA Championships. Max Dean is up soon in a 197-pound consolation match opposite Oregon State’s Tanner Harvey to try and keep his tournament alive.

2:54 — Penn State finishes a perfect quarterfinal round as Greg Kerkvliet rides out Wisconsin’s Trent Hillger to win, 4-0, in a heavyweight quarterfinal bout. He’s an All-American and into the semis. Max Dean, meanwhile, beat Ohio State’s Gavin Hoffman by decision, 6-0, to keep his tournament alive. He’ll wrestle again in this session in the third round of 197-pound consolations.

2:17 — Aaron Brooks is back in the semifinals. He beats Kaleb Romero of Ohio State 4-1 in the 184-pound quarterfinals to earn All-American status. The Lions are six-for-six in the quarterfinals.

2:02 — Carter Starocci is a three-time All-American and winner of 50 straight bouts. He accomplished both by beating No. 8 Bailee O’Reilly of Minnesota 5-2 in the quarterfinals. The workmanlike effort sends him to the semifinals at 174 pounds tonight.

1:32 — Here are the updated team scores through 157:

PSU 56

Iowa 37.5

Nebraska 36.5

Cornell 32

Arizona State 27

1:25 — Levi Haines is an All-American. He wins by fall in 6:11 over Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech. The Hokie started the match off with a six-point throw. The Penn State freshman worked to overcome that and eventually tied the match at eight in the third. He worked to turn Andonian and finally locked in a cradle to end the match and give Penn State it’s fourth semifinalist.

Updates: 133-149

1:10 — Shayne Van Ness overcomes another third period deficit to become an All-American and semifinalists at 149 pounds. He beats Graham Rooks of Indiana 10-7 by scoring the bout’s final seven points in a furious comeback to beat the Hoosier. The Lions are now three-for-three in the quarterfinals.

12:51 — Beau Bartlett is an All-American at 141 pounds. The sixth-seeded Penn State wrestler upsets No. 3 Cole Matthews of Pittsburgh 3-1 in tiebreaker. He converted a single leg shot into a double leg takedown with a second left to score the 3-1 win. Without it, he would have lost on rideout, 2-1. Now, he’s a semifinalist for the first time.

12:31 — A third period reversal, 1:39 in riding time, and a caution point are the difference as Penn State 133-pounder Roman Bravo-Young punches his ticket back to the semifinals with a 4-1 decision over No. 8 Aaron Nagao of Minnesota. He can win his 100th match tonight in the semis and is now a five-time All-American and winner of 55 consecutive matches.

12:18 — Roman Bravo-Young is getting underway now against No. 8 Aaron Nagao of Minnesota.

12:05 — Wrestling has started. In terms of timing for today’s bouts, check out the tweet below for how it will work:

Good morning peoples! //
30 minutes till noon and we're getting ready //
Today's session features 4 quarters on mats 3, 4, 5, 6 //
Consos on mats 1, 2, 7, 8 //
We are holding quarters till all are done then 4:30 break before next weight //#PSUwr

— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) March 17, 2023

11:55 — Here are the first mat assignments of the day:

Shayne Van Ness: In the hole, mat 3

Levi Haines: In the hole, mat 4

Roman Bravo-Young: On deck, mat 5

Beat Bartlett: In the hole, mat 6

We would expect ‘RBY’ to wrestle first. However, that probably won’t happen until around 12:10, 12:15 p.m.