Recap: Penn State is on the cusp of winning the 2023 NCAA Championship after strong semifinal showing

Penn State wrestling has wrapped up another day at the NCAA Championships. The Lions are on the cusp of winning another team title. But, they haven’t clinched it yet. That said, they have numerous finalists who will compete for first place Saturday night. And, others are alive for medals as the team has eight All-Americans.

Read on to see how it happened Friday night.

More: 4 takeaways from Penn State in the semifinal round of the NCAA Championships

Full Friday night results

All bouts were semifinal matches unless otherwise noted:

125 pounds: No competitor

133 pounds: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State d. No. 4 Michael McGee, Arizona State, 6-4 (sudden victory)

141 pounds: No. 2 Andrew Alirez, Northern Colorado d. No. 6 Beau Bartlett, PSU, 6-2

149 pounds:  No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis, Cornell d. No. 12 Shayne Van Ness, Penn State, 8-3

157 pounds: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU d. No. 3 Peyton Robb, Nebraska, 5-3

165 pounds: No competitor

174 pounds: No. 1 Carter Starocci, Penn State d. No. 4 Chris Foca, Cornell, 6-0

184 pounds: No. 3 Aaron Brooks, PSU d. No. 2 Trent Hidlay, North Carolina State, 6-3

197 pounds: No. 9 Max Dean, Penn State d. No. 11 Jaxon Smith, Maryland, 3-2 (consolation fourth round)

197 pounds: No. 2 Bernie Truax, Cal Poly d. No. 9 Max Dean, PSU, 8-6 (sudden victory) (consolation fifth round)

285 pounds: No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU d. No. 2 Wyatt Hendrickson, Air Force, 4-2

Rolling updates: Penn State at the NCAA Wrestling Championships Session Four

11:08 — Greg Kerkvliet is going to the NCAA finals. The three-seed, he beats No. 2 Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force 4-2 with 1:27 in riding time. He is the fifth Nittany Lion to reach the finals. This session is over.

10:56 — Penn State wrestling is on the doorstep of clinching the NCAA Championship. However, as Greg Kerkvliet readies to take the mat in a heavyweight semifinal, program play-by-play announcer Jeff Byers says the Lions will not be able to mathematically win it until Saturday.

10:47 — Max Dean’s final college match will be for seventh place. He loses to No. 2 Bernie Truax 8-6 in sudden victory in the last consolation bracket match of the evening.

10:25 — Three-seed Aaron Brooks is an NCAA finalist again. He beats Trent Hidlay, the two-seed, of North Carolina State, 6-3, at 184 pounds. It’s his third trip back to the finals. He had 1:49 in riding time and is the Lions’ fourth finalist.

Penn State updates: 157-174

10:03 — Carter Starocci is headed back to the NCAA finals. He beats fourth-seeded Chris Foca of Cornell 6-0 thanks to two takedowns, an escape, and over two minutes in riding time. The top-ranked 174-pounder is the third Penn State wrestler to reach the finals tonight.

9:53 — Max Dean is a four-time All-American. He earns this year’s honor by beating Jaxon Smith of Maryland 3-2 in a consolation bout at 197 pounds. He goes into another consolation bout tonight for the right to wrestle for a higher placing on Saturday.

9:30 — Levi Haines’ fantastic freshman season takes him to the NCAA finals. He beats Peyton Robb of Nebraska 5-3 in a 157-pound semifinal. He beat him two weeks ago at Big Tens, as well. And he did it again, scoring the only two takedowns of the bout. He is the Lions’ second finalist in 2023. He is the third true freshman in Penn State history to make the finals, joining Cary Kolat and Mark Hall. Only 23 true freshmen have won a NCAA title. Hall is one of them.

Updates: 133-149

9:13 — A takedown gave Shayne Van Ness a surprising 3-2 lead over top-seeded Yianni Diakomihalis in the third period of a 157-pound semifinal. However, the Cornell standout took down and then turned the Nittany Lion for a six-point throw. He wins, 8-3. But, the Penn State 12-seed gave Diakomihalis everything he had. And, ‘SVN’s tournament is not over. He can wrestle for as high as third tomorrow.

8:54 — Beau Bartlett has fallen into the consolation bracket. He fell 6-2 to No. 2 seed Andrew Alirez in one of the 141-pound semifinals. The sixth-seeded Nittany Lion is already an All-American and will wrestle for as high as third place on Saturday.

8:38 — A fantastic match at 133 pounds. Roman Bravo-Young needed sudden victory, but he beats Michael McGee of Arizona State 6-4 with a takedown 20 seconds into the extra period. A fantastic match that saw the Sun Devil lead late in the third before a ‘RBY’ takedown gave him a lead. But, McGee escaped, and with riding time, forced overtime. Bravo-Young finished it there to win his 100th career match and move into the finals. He will face three-seed Vito Arujau of Cornell in the finals, who upset two-seed Dalton Fix of Oklahoma State in the other semifinal.

8:18 p.m. — Roman Bravo-Young is up next. But, the major story at the moment is Matt Ramos of Purdue pinning top-seeded Spencer Lee of Iowa. It’s one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history.

The action will start at 125 pounds just after 8 p.m. ET. Roman Bravo-Young will be on the mat first for Penn State in the 133-pound weight class. We’ll update this when a more approximate time is available.