Penn State's Wrestling Rankings Suggest Another Prime Postseason
Following a dominant regular season, the top-ranked Penn State wrestling enters the postseason with an opportunity to land perhaps nine medalists on the NCAA podium. And clearly, opposing coaches respect Cael Sanderson's formidable lineup.
Nine Penn State wrestlers are ranked among the top 15, and eight in the top 10, of their respective weight classes, according to the latest NCAA Division I coaches rankings. The coaches' rankings are among several criteria, including the NCAA RPI, that will determine seeds for the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Three Penn State wrestlers begin the postseason atop their weights: Roman Bravo-Young (133), Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (184). All three seek to become three-time national champions.
Greg Kerkvliet is second at heavyweight, while defending champ Max Dean is No. 3 at 197. Beau Bartlett (141) ranks fourth.
At 157, freshman Levi Haines has climbed into NCAA contention with a No. 8 ranking in a wide-open weight class. Alex Facundo (165) is ranked 10th, while Shayne Van Ness is 13th at 149.
The NCAA Division I Championships are scheduled for March 16-18 at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Under Sanderson, Penn State has qualified at least nine wrestlers to nationals nine times. Sanderson's record for Penn State All-Americans is eight, set during the 2017-18 season, when the team won its sixth of nine national championships under Sanderson.
Before nationals, Penn State will fine tune its postseason roster at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Lions finished second to Michigan at Big Tens last year, continuing their curious stretch at the conference tournament.
Penn State has won just one Big Ten team title (in 2019) over the past six seasons. In that stretch, the Lions have four runner-up finishes.
Penn State recently clinched its ninth Big Ten regular-season title under Sanderson, who won his 100th conference match this season. The Lions are 104-11-1 in Big Ten duals under Sanderson since 2009 and 109-2 in duals overall during the past eight seasons.
The Big Ten Tournament is scheduled for March 4-5 at Michigan's Crisler Arena.
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