Nittany Lion Wrestlers Send Seven To 2022 Big Ten Semi-Finals

LINCOLN, Nebraska. – In the Penn State Nittany Lions (17-0, 8-0 B1G), seven wrestlers will compete in the semi-finals tonight at the 2022 Big Ten Wrestling Championships. All seven have qualified for the NCAA championship. Penn State, under head coach Seal Sanderson, also has three more for the NCAA bid. The two-day event continues today at 6:30 pm ET.

The Nittany Lions entered the tournament with six top two seeds to earn a first-round bye (four firsts, two second). Current Penn State NCAA Championship Qualifiers in two weeks: Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141), Brady Burge (157), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184), Max Dean (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (285). Three others are still alive in consolation acts: Drew Hildebrandt at 125, Beau Bartlett at 149 and Creighton Edsell at 165.

Senior Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Arizona), the No. 1 seed at 133, said goodbye in the first round. In the quarter-finals, he beat Purdue’s 23rd-seeded Matt Ramos in 9th place. Bravo-Young started an early close match and moved to an 11-3 major decision with 2:56 driving time. The victory pushed him into the semi-finals against No. 10 Dylan Raguzin of Michigan. Senior Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), the No. 1 seed at 141, said goodbye in the first round. He faced No. 22 Joe 22 Joe Zargo of 8th seed Wisconsin in the quarterfinals. Lee dominated the fight against No. 22 Joe Zargo of Wisconsin, turning a takedown in the first period into several close falls. Lee didn’t lose a point and completed a 16-0 technical fall with a 5:06 turnaround. Lee’s victory took him to the semi-finals, where he faced 18th seed Jake Bergeland of Minnesota.

Senior Brady Burge (Mantorville, MN), seeded 10th in the 157th, faced model Garrett 31st from Wisconsin (7th overall) in the first round. Berge landed two takedowns in the first period, a third in the second, and a fourth in the third to move to a major 10-2 decision with 1:52 drive time. In the quarterfinals, he faced No. 9 Iowa runner-up Caleb Young. Berge had just two takedowns in this fight and scored a thrilling 5-3 victory. The victory took Berge to the semi-finals against No. 10 Will Levan of Michigan. Sophomore Carter Starocci (Erie, PA), No. 1 seed at 174 pounds, said goodbye in the first round. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Dominic Solis of Maryland. Starocci quickly made short work of Terrapin, opening up a 6-2 lead and then finishing the match with a pin at 2:13 in the first period. The win took Starocci to the semi-finals where he fought No. 4 Michael Kemerer of Iowa.

Junior Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, MD), the No. 1 seed at 184 pounds, said goodbye in the first round. In the quarter-finals, he fought No. 8 Maryland’s Kyle Cochran in 8th seed. Brooks, like Starocci a few minutes earlier, quickly ended his match. He grabbed Cochran by the shoulders in the middle of the first stanza, rolled him onto his back, reloaded once, and quickly fell at the 1:40 mark of the opening stanza. The win took Brooks to the semi-finals, where he faced No. 19 Taylor Wentz of Nebraska. Junior Max Dean (Lowell, MI), the No. 2 seed of 197, said goodbye to Penn State in the sixth opener. In the quarterfinals, he faced Rutgers’ No. 12 Greg Bulsack, finishing 7th. Dean collected the only takedowns of the fight for a landslide 6-2 win. The victory took Dean to the semi-finals where he faced No. 5 Cameron Cuffee of Michigan State.

Sophomore Greg Kerkvliet (Inver Grove, Heights, Minnesota), the No. 3 seed at 285, fought Zach Schrader of Maryland in the final round of the first round at Penn State. Kirkvliet quickly took down Schroeder, turned him three times to open a 14-0 lead and then pinned him into turn four, taking a fall at the 2:13 mark of the first period. In the quarterfinals, he faced No. 11 Christian Lance of Nebraska, who finished 6th. Kirkvliet was in control of the entire match, landing the only takedowns of the fight to go to a 7-1 win with over 2:00 ride time. The victory took him to the semi-finals, where he faced No. 4 Tony Cassioppi of Iowa.

Senior Drew Hildebrandt (Granger, Ind.), the No. 2 seed at 125, said goodbye in the first round. In the quarter-finals, he faced No. 13 Michael DeAugustino of the Northwest, who finished 7th. Hildebrandt beat DeAugustino in the second period when he received a penalty point to lose 2-0. He equalized with a third period reversal and sent the match to a sudden time win. But DeAugustino pulled off a quick takedown to steal a 5-3 win (sv) and send Hildebrandt into consolation action. Sophomore Beau Bartlett (Tempe, Arizona), No. 7 seed in 149th, faced No. 30 Michael Blokhus of Minnesota (10th) in the first round. Bartlett was trailing 1-0 after two, but used a run, takedown and late defense to take a 3-2 win and advance to the quarter-finals. He took on No. 5 runner-up Austin Gomez of Wisconsin in the quarter, where he lost the major 12–4, moving into repechage action. No. 10 seed at 165 weight Creighton Edsell (Vyalusing, PA), who faced Purdue’s Hayden Laurie (7th overall) in the first round. Edsell led 1-0 into the third, got a penalty point in the middle of the final period, but ended the fight with a quick takedown in extra time to win 3-1 (CB). In the quarterfinals, he faced #5 runner-up Alex Marinelli of Iowa. Edsell struggled hard with the second seed but lost 8-2 and moved into the repechage bracket.

Penn State went 11-3 in the first session and scored 9.5 bonus points in two majors, one technical fall and three pins.

Pennsylvania State has ten wrestlers in Lincoln looking to qualify for the 2022 NCAA Championship Wrestling. The tournament serves as a national qualifier for the conference, and 88 Big Ten wrestlers will go to Detroit to fight for the NCAA title. The Big Ten automatically scores 10 out of 125, 10 out of 133, 7 out of 141, 7 out of 149, 7 out of 157, 7 out of 165, 8 out of 174, 12 out of 184, 11 out of 197, and 9 out of 285.

The 2022 Big Ten Tournament is hosted by the University of Nebraska on Saturday and Sunday, March 5-6. Today’s second session will start at 6:30 pm (B1G+) with a repechage game, with the semi-finals scheduled to start at approximately 8:30 pm (B1G network). The third and fourth Sunday sessions start at 12:00 (B1G+) and 16:30 (B1G network) respectively, with the title and conference spots scheduled for 16:00.

Penn State ended the dual-contest season with a 17-0 record and won the 2022 regular season Big Ten title with an 8-0 record. This marked the sixth time head coach Seal Sanderson has led Penn State through an unbeaten double-bout season.

All rankings listed by Penn State Wrestling are individual and team TPI InterMat. Penn State Wrestling’s 2021-22 season is represented by the Family Clothesline. Penn State Wrestling fans are encouraged to follow Penn State Wrestling on @pennstateWREST on Twitter, on the Penn State Wrestling Facebook page www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is the University of Pennsylvania. Wrestling lives here.

Penn State at the 2022 Big Ten Championship – Session 1

March 5, 2022 – Lincoln, Nebraska – University of Nebraska Host

Team classification (best 3 after the first session as of 15:20)
1: Michigan – 68.5
2: Penn State – 67.5
3: Iowa – 55.0

Weight agate (listed RATINGS ARE INTERMAT as of 02/22/22):

125: #5 Drew Hildebrandt Sr., Granger, Ind. – 2nd
Rd. 1: bye
Block: #13 Michael DeAugustino, NW – L, 3-5 (sv)
Cn 2: #10 Patrick McKee, Minnesota – Tonight