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Penn State Extends Lead at the NCAA Wrestling Championships

Six Nittany Lions advance to the semifinals, with Nick Lee making history.

Mark Wogenrich

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Penn State's Nick Lee made history, and teammate Roman Bravo-Young set up Round 8 with Iowa's Austin DeSanto during Friday's quarterfinal round at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

Penn State completed a perfect quarterfinal round, getting help from a wise coach's challenge, to send six wrestlers to Friday night's semifinals. Lee headlines the group, winning by fall at 141 pounds to become the program's first five-time All-American.

The Nittany Lions (73 points) also built a 10.5-point lead over Michigan in the team standings. Next up: the semifinals, which begin at 8 p.m. Friday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. ESPN will televise.

Joining Bravo-Young (133) and Lee in the semifinals are fellow returning champions Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (184). Top-seeded Max Dean (197) and fourth-seeded Greg Kerkvliet (285) also advanced, giving Penn State six All-Americans for the seventh time under head coach Cael Sanderson.

However, three Nittany Lions were eliminated from the tournament Friday, the semifinalists to shoulder the team-title pursuit. Brady Berge, who returned to Penn State after retiring from the sport last year, fell 8-3 in the third round of consolations to Nebraska's Peyton Robb. Berge wrestled Robb not long after a grueling 4-3 win in the consolations over Central Michigan's Johnny Lovett.

Berge, the 10th seed, finished his tournament 2-2, though Sanderson didn't think he was seeded properly.

At 125, a wrestler who transferred from Penn State eliminated a wrestler who transferred to Penn State. Brody Teske of Northern Iowa decisioned Penn State's Drew Hildebrandt 8-4. Hildebrandt, a senior who transferred from Central Michigan, finished the season 10-5.

Beau Bartlett (149) fell in the second consolation round and was eliminated. He finished the season 15-10

Here's a look at Penn State's six semifinalists.

133: Bravo-Young, the weight's top seed, continued his dominant tournament with a 13-6 decision over Virginia's Brian Courtney. Now, Bravo-Young (20-0) faces an opponent with whom he is quite familiar. Bravo-Young and DeSanto have wrestled seven times in college, with Bravo-Young leading the series 5-2. He has beaten DeSanto five consecutive times, including a 3-1 decision for the Big Ten title earlier this month.

141: Lee became Penn State's first five-time All-American with his quarterfinal-round pin of Oregon State's Grant Willits (3:45). Lee (20-0) meets Stanford's Real Woods (17-1), the No. 4 seed who is the highest-ranked wrestler remaining behind top-seeded Lee. The Penn State senior seeks to punctuate a sterling career with his second NCAA title. Lee finished fifth twice and was voted a first-team All-American in 2020, when the NCAA canceled the wrestling championships. 

174: Starocci (21-0) had little trouble with Nebraska's Mikey Labriola, turning in a 6-1 decision to become a two-time All-American. Starocci, the No. 1 seed, gets No. 4 Hayden Hidlay (17-2) of North Carolina State in the semis.

184: Brooks, now a three-time All-American, overwhelmed Ohio State's Kaleb Romero 13-2. Brooks has been a bonus-points producer for Penn State with three majors at nationals. Brooks (19-1) meets unbeaten Trent Hidlay (20-0) of North Carolina State in the semis. Brooks is seeded second, Hidlay third.

197: The top-seeded Dean struggled with Binghamton's Lou DePrez, benefitting from a coach's challenge in the third period for a 4-3 decision. Sanderson wisely challenged an uncalled takedown in the third, a move that went Penn State's way and gave the top-seeded Dean a 4-2 lead. It was a huge turning point, since DePrez had the riding-time advantage. However, Dean advanced to the semifinals for the second time in his career. He placed second at 184 in 2019 while wrestling for Cornell. Dean meets Ohio State's Gavin Hoffman, the bracket's 21st seed who looks for his fourth upset of the tournament. Dean defeated Hoffman 5-3 in sudden victory in their February dual meet

285: Kerkvliet beat Nebraska's Christian Lance for the third time this season, scoring a 7-1 decision to reach the semifinals for the first time. His opponent: defending NCAA and Olympic freestyle champ Gable Steveson of Minnesota. Steveson actually gave up the first takedown of his quarterfinal bout against Northwestern's Lucas Davidson before winning 10-5. The last NCAA wrestler to beat Steveson was Penn State's Anthony Cassar in the 2019 semifinals.

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NCAA wrestling seeds are 'consistently inconsistent,' Penn State coach Cael Sanderson says

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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