What's next for Penn State wrestling following the Big Ten tournament?

Penn State wrestling is waiting to shine on the sport’s biggest stage.

The Nittany Lions have made it through the Big Ten tournament. Now, they have a two week wait until they hit the mats at the NCAA Tournament March 17-19 in Detroit, Mich.

Head coach Cael Sanderson and Big Ten champs Nick Lee and Max Dean will meet the media later this week. Until then, here are some things to know as the march to nationals continues.

“I thought we competed,” Sanderson told reporters in Nebraska, per CNHI.

“We lost a lot of close matches, but we still had a chance to win, as we saw. Our guys competed hard, especially today. We have to regroup and get ready. I thought the guys wrestled well. There’s a fine line between winning and losing, and that’s life.”

Will all 10 Penn State wrestlers head to Detroit?

UPDATE: At-large bids are out, and Edsell did not receive one.

ORIGINAL SECTION:

This is really the most important question at this moment in time.

Nine Nittany Lions earned an automatic qualification spot during the Big Ten tournament. They are Drew Hildebrandt (125), Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141), Beau Bartlett (149), Brady Berge (157), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184), Max Dean (197), and Greg Kerkvliet (285).

That leaves one weight class out of the mix at the moment. Penn State wrestler Creighton Edsell performed pretty much as expected in the conference tournament but did not earn an auto-bid at 165 pounds. That means he must wait for the NCAA to release its at-large selection. It’s not out of the question for Edsell to get one. But, the odds are stacked against it and he’ll need help in other conference tournaments across the country.

Does Edsell deserve a spot at nationals? That’s up for debate. The Penn State wrestler has kept charging this season despite losing his spot at 165 initially when Berge returned. But, his record and results are what they are. Time will tell, but Penn State could certainly use his presence and point-scoring potential for the NCAA Tournament team race.

What’s up with Drew Hildebrandt?

There is simply no other word than shocking to describe Drew Hildebrandt’s first Big Ten performance at Penn State.

The Nittany Lion did do what he needed to in terms of finishing inside the top-10 at 125 pounds to qualify for NCAAs. But, the two-time All-American going 0-2 in the first two sessions was about the last thing anyone expected before the event began.

There is no word on whether Hildebrandt was hurt, sick, or otherwise off from the form that made him so good since joining the team in January. But, the fact that he injury defaulted out of the ninth/tenth place match was rather notable. It will be interesting to see what Sanderson has to say on the matter later this week. Penn State will need Hildebrandt to be better at the national tournament if it wants to take the title.

How will Penn State fall in the seeding?

We have some time until seeds are announced. But, the Big ten tournament taught us a few things about where Penn State wrestlers will be seeded.

Berge should be higher than expected at 157 following his third-place finish at Big Tens. Aaron Brooks, then, is going to drop probably to No. 3 at 184 after losing the conference title match to Michigan’s Myles Amine That will likely put him on Amine’s side of the bracket.

The other note of note is that heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet took third at Big Tens but may still end up on the same side of the NCAA bracket as Minnesota star Gable Steveson. That would obviously be a nearly impossible hurdle to clear as it relates to making the finals.

All that said, Penn State has a path to win NCAAs just as it did Big Tens. Now, it must work on fine-tuning things at each weight class to get the job done.