TULSA, Oklahoma — Just like the actual NCAA wrestling tournament itself, when you think Penn State can’t get any better, the Nittany Lions show in dramatic style what they can do.
The Lions will bring seven wrestlers to Friday morning’s quarterfinal round of the NCAA Wrestling Championship, with each of the seven competing in Friday night’s semifinal round (8pm/ESPN). At stake is qualification for Saturday night’s finals.
This 7-7 performance allowed Penn State to pull away in the team title race as the Lions have 77.5 points against Iowa’s 47.5, Nebraska’s 44, Cornell’s 43 and Michigan’s 36. rice field. Shortly before Friday night.
The semifinals are always the most exciting matches of the tournament, but Penn State brought their own energy to the quarterfinals. Notably, No. 141 Beau Bartlett, No. 149 Shane Van Ness (again), and No. 157 Biglerville’s Levi Haynes.
Other winners for the Lions were much more subdued: Roman Bravo-Young with 133, Carter Starossi with 174, Aaron Brooks with 184 and Greg Kirkriet with 285.
Bartlett has proven that every second counts, even if it takes 9:59 to win. He and his Cole Matthews of Reynolds in the pits brought it to the wire in a tiebreaker. There were no shots early on, but Bartlett had a good one near the end of the third period that he was unable to control.
Not a single shot was fired in the two minutes of the sudden victory, Reynolds kicked Bartlett out, who chose neutral and knocked Matthews down to take the win.
With :08 remaining, the prospects looked bleak, but Bartlett used his quickness to go low on one leg and quickly picked it up, shoving Matthews into his butt. Matthews tried to cover behind Bartlett, but Bartlett was able to continue his drive and secure the second leg with one second left.
Penn State maintained its clutch performance followed by Van Ness with a 149. He ended up in a match with Indiana’s Graham Lukes. Van Ness has won three times this season.
Lukes knocked Van Ness three times in the first 4:30 to take a 7-3 lead, but Van Ness got away in third, picked up the stall point, hit another double leg, and knocked Lukes back. Did. Van Ness continued to climb, applying a half-Nelson that allowed him to get a four-point move and his 9-7 lead. He kept the ride, scored a time point, and earned the right to face Cornell’s Iani Diacomiharis, who is in contention for his fourth NCAA crown.
Enter Haynes just to keep the pressure and comeback mode on at Penn State. He shot Virginia Tech AA Bryce Andonian and put him on the butt, but Andonian, a very good counter wrestler, reached out and rolled Haynes onto his back, putting him very close to a fall. rice field.
Andonian nearly attempted another takedown at the first period buzzer, but the referee’s challenge called it off. Haynes got away and started his comeback trail with two takedowns in the second period, reducing his gap to 7-6. He also gassed out Andonian, and a double leg in the third period that put Andonian high was not countered.
Haynes sat Andonian down and took the initiative. He hooked his leg and started riding and had to be careful not to let Andonian get out while Haynes tried to throw a half-Nelson from the side. But once he got it, he got it deep, Andonian went to the back and stayed there, and Haynes scored a fall at 6:11, sending the Penn State crowd to yet another quarter. I got caught up in the frenzy of the final.
Bravo-Young was challenged by Minnesota’s Aaron Nagao, but Bravo-Young has all the gear he needs. That gear on Friday morning meant a second period rideout to gain a two-minute riding time advantage. It worked, but it was a comeback in the third period that Bravo Young earned his 4-1 victory.
He will face Arizona State’s Michael McGee in Friday night’s quarterfinals. Oklahoma State’s Dutton Fix, who lost to Bravo Young in the last two finals, will face Cornell University’s Vito Aljaw, who beat Virginia Tech’s Sam Ratna 8-5.
Starocci couldn’t match the excitement of Van Ness or Haines’ games, but a 5-2 victory over Minnesota’s Bailee O’Reilly set up a pretty good match against Cornell’s Chris Foca on Friday night. remained stable in order to Two takedowns for Staroch in the first period, including one at the buzzer, were enough to move on.
Brooks used an escape and a takedown in the second period to subdue Ohio’s Caleb Romero. Brooks also scored a stall point for a berthing with a 4–1 victory over Trent at North Carolina State University in Mifflin County in his semifinal against Hidley.
Brooks and Hidley have faced each other in the finals and semifinals the past two seasons, with Brooks winning by a narrow margin each time.
Kerkvliet defeated Wisconsin’s Trent Hillger 4-0 to become Pennsylvania State’s seventh semifinalist. Kerlvliet’s second period takedown and third period ride was enough. He will face Air Force No. 2 seed Wyatt Hendrickson.
Note: Penn State’s Max Dean advanced to the consolation round with 197 with a 6-0 win over Ohio State’s Gavin Hoffman of Montoulsville. Dean will have another consolation match on Friday afternoon and a win will put him on the mat Friday night. , Noto grabbed the attention of the crowd by tipping Lee 4 points and pushing him firmly. … Edmund Roos of Illinois advanced through Susquehanna Twp., but Naval Jacob Coser of North York was eliminated in a surprise victory by Isaac Trumbull of North Carolina.
semi-final pairing
125: Spencer Lee, Iowa vs. Matt Ramos, Purdue. Liam Cronin of Nebraska vs. Patrick Glory of Princeton.
133: Roman Bravo-Young, Pennsylvania vs. Michael McGee, Arizona. Vito Arujau, Cornell vs. Daton Fix, Oklahoma.
141: Real Woods, Iowa vs. Brock Hardy, Nebraska. Beau Bartlett of Pennsylvania vs. Andrew Ariles of Northern Colorado.
149: Iani Diacomiharis, Cornell v. Shane Van Ness, Pennsylvania. Kyle Parco of Arizona vs. Sammy Sasso of Ohio.
157: Austin O’Connor, NC vs. Josh Humphries of Lehi. Peyton Robb, Nebraska vs. Levi Haynes, Pennsylvania.
165: David Carr, Iowa State v. Quincy Monday, Princeton. Kam Amin, Michigan vs. Keegan O’Toole, Missouri.
174: Carter Starossi, Pennsylvania v. Chris Foca, Cornell; Mehki Lewis, Virginia Tech vs. Mikey Labriola, Nebraska.
184: Parker Keckeisen, Northern Iowa vs. Trey Munoz, Oregon. Aaron Brooks of Pennsylvania vs. Trent Hydrley of North Carolina.
197: Nino Bonacorsi, Pitt vs. Ethan Laird, Ryder. Rocky Elam, Missouri vs. Tanner Sloan, South Dakota.
285: Mason Paris (Michigan) vs. Tony Cassioppi (Iowa). Wyatt Hendrickson of Pennsylvania State University’s Greg Kirkritt vs. Air Force.
