Penn State wrestling denied another Big Ten title, but Lions send at least nine to NCAAs
Penn State performed well at the 2022 Big Ten wrestling tournament. But, while it left with a handful of individual champions, it did not win the conference crown.
Michigan won its first Big Ten tournament title since the 1970s. The Wolverines locked it up when Myles Amine locked it up by upsetting Penn State 184-pounder Aaron Brooks in the final. But, that was hardly the only reason the Lions didn’t secure their first conference title since 2019.
Head coach Cael Sanderson’s team finished second in the end. Now, it turns its attention to the NCAA tournament. That has always been the goal, of course, but the Lions wouldn’t have been bothered by leaving Pinnacle Bank Arean on top. Second in the team race, however, is not a total disappointment for the blue and white.
“You’re not going to win the NCAA tournament if you can’t wrestle well at the Big Tens and qualify and get there, but the ultimate goal is the national tournament,” Sanderson said last Monday.
“That’s our goal and that’s the way we design our training, but you still have to be able to wrestle well at the conference meet.”
Did Penn State meets Sanderson’s goal?
The Nittany Lions mostly did. They won Big Ten titles at four weight classes. Roman Bravo-Young (133), Nick Lee (141), Carter Starocci (174), and Max Dean (179) took first place.
Brooks, of course, was second at 184. Brady Berge, then, took third at 157, as did Greg Kerkvliet at 285.
There were disappointments, of course. Two-seed Drew Hildebrandt went 0-2 to start his tournament at 125 pounds. He won a mini-bracket match Sunday morning, however, to earn one of the Big Ten’s 10 automatic qualifying spots at his weight class. The two-time All-American and senior then injury defaulted out of the ninth/tenth place match. That could explain his disappointing performance at Big Tens. But, we don’t know that this point in time.
Beyond that, there are two other weights of note.
Beau Bartlett did wrestle back for seventh to earn his ticket to nationals at 149 pounds. He wrestled well on Sunday but was stymied by some usual deficiencies on offense during Saturday’s session.
Finally, Creighton Edsell did not earn an automatic bid at 165. He now waits to see if he is awarded an at-large bid next Wednesday to take him to Detroit.
How many Lions are off to nationals right now?
Nine Penn State wrestlers qualified for nationals.
Hildebrandt is in at 125, as are 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 makes it a successful weekend for Penn State. Now, they wait on Edsell.
All told, Penn State left points and wins on the mat at the Big Ten tournament. But, NCAAs is the ultimate goal, and everything looks good on that front following the conference tournament.
