B1G Championship: Penn State Wrestling lands four top seeds
Penn State Nittany Lions Wrestling will head to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the University of Michigan, for the B1G Championships with four top-seeded wrestlers and three second-seeded wrestlers, all earning first-round byes this weekend.
Here, we will break down each Lions' potential road and who they could end up meeting up with throughout the tournament,
125-POUNDS -- Gary Steen
Gary Steen will kick off the B1G Championships as the #10 seed and will face the #7 seed and #15-ranked Braxton Brown of Maryland.
The two met during the February 12 dual in Rec Hall, where Brown edged Steen by a score of just 1-0. Steen has had a tough year, and there's no doubt about that. However, he has picked up a couple of notable wins, including one over Michigan State's Tristan Lujan, which was arguably Steen's trademark win of the 2022-23 campaign. A win over Brown would put Steen up against #2 seed Liam Cronin, who has only accumulated a record of 2-1 this year after being sidelined by injuries accumulated during last season.
It will take a valiant effort from Steen to build some momentum and knock off a few big seeds, and we know he is capable. His 6-12 record may not bode well for him for an at-large bid if he can't find the podium this weekend. 125 has 9 allocated spots for NCAAs, so we'll need Steen to wrestle above his seed.
Malik Heinselman of Ohio State will also not be wrestling at the B1G Championships and will be replaced by Andre Gonzales.
Prediction: Spencer Lee (Iowa)
133-POUNDS -- Roman Bravo-Young
Two-time returning NCAA Champion and two-time B1G Champion Roman Bravo-Young will head into the weekend with a first-round bye as the top seed at 133. RBY has a 12-0 record and hasn't necessarily had too much of a challenge this year. Immediately entering the quarter-finals, he will meet with either #8 Brody Teske of Iowa, a former teammate at Penn State, or #9 RayVon Foley of Michigan State.
The good news for Lion fans is that RBY has wrestled both Teske and Foley and pinned both of them on consecutive weekends. It took RBY most of the seven minutes with each fall, but his rapid pace and hard hand-fighting wore down both wrestlers.
Anything could happen, but if seeding holds true, RBY will meet Ohio State's Jesse Mendez, who he beat in an 8-2 decision during the dual in early February. Anything less than a third-consecutive B1G title will be unacceptable for RBY.
There are 9 allocations at this weight for the NCAA tournament.
Prediction: Roman Bravo-Young (PSU)
141-POUNDS -- Beau Bartlett
Beau Bartlett entered the 141 weight class this year after wrestling 149 last year, where he was undersized and overwhelmed by his competitors. However, Beau has truly found his form this year and is heading into the post-season with an 18-1 record, with his lone loss coming to Real Woods of Iowa, who comes in as the #1 seed. If all goes according to plan, Bartlett will get his rematch against Woods, who took a 4-1 decision during that dual.
Beau will have to meet with plenty of worthy opponents on his way to the finals, including #3-seeded Brock Hardy of Nebraska, who he did not wrestle this year. Joe Olivieri of Rutgers also brings a tall task as he is highly talented, but Beau managed to take home a major decision against him in their bout just a few weeks ago.
There are 9 allocated spots at 141 for the NCAA Championships.
Prediction: Real Woods (Iowa)
149-POUNDS -- Shayne Van Ness
Shayne Van Ness enters the B1G Championships as the #5 seed and will likely meet with Iowa's Max Murin in the quarter-finals. Murin and SVN met previously this season during the Iowa-Penn State dual meet, with Murin taking home a decision victory. It seemed Murin's physicality in the ties truly neutralized SVN's offensive attacks, so it will be interesting to see what Cael and Co. have brought to the table to derail that.
SVN is also on the same side of the bracket as Ohio State's top-seeded Sammy Sasso. Austin Gomez of Wisconsin is seeded #2, and holds some impressive wins this year, including one over Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis.
There are 9 allocated positions at 149.
Prediction: Austin Gomez (Wisconsin)
157-POUNDS -- Levi Hanes
Levi Haines is arguably the most impressive wrestler on this team this year. The freshman has stepped up to the tall task of filling the 157 slot and has not disappointed even in the slightest.
Haines will start of the tournament with a bye and will meet either #7 seed Michael Carr of Illinois or #10 seed Derek Gilcher of Indiana. All-in-all, Haines has names like Kendall Coleman of Purdue and Will Lewan of Michigan on his side of the bracket, but #1 seed Peyton Robb of Nebraska also has Cobe Siebrecht of Iowa and phase Saldate of Michigan State on his. 157 is arguably one of the most entertaining in the tournament, and it will be interesting to see what happens here, but Haines has truly turned a lot of heads this year, one where he was expected to redshirt.
10 wrestlers at this weight from the B1G will make it to NCAAs.
Prediction: Levi Haines (PSU)
165-POUNDS -- Alex Facundo
Alex Facundo enters the post-season with a 16-2 record, a #4 seed at the B1G Championships. Facundo had a couple of tough matches this year, but I'm excited to see him not on the same side of the bracket as Patrick Kennedy of Iowa, who wrestled a bout that just seemed to stump Facundo during the dual. It won't be a walk in the park, either, and Facundo could make it to the semi-finals if he wrestles to his ability. Dean Hamiti, the top seed from Wisconsin, will be waiting for him there, more than likely.
8 wrestlers at this weight will make it to Tulsa for the NCAA Tournament.
Prediction: Cameron Amine (Michigan)
174-POUNDS -- Carter Starocci
NCAA Champion, B1G Champion, undefeated junior Carter Starocci will look for NCAA title no. 3 this year, and he is on the perfect track to do it. The team race is likely to be relatively close this year with Iowa, so I'm happy to see his arch-nemesis Donnell Washington of Indiana on the other side of the bracket, as their last bout produced fireworks and high emotions.
A fun fact: Ed Ruth's younger brother Edmund is in this bracket and is seeded at #5, so Carter could meet him in the semi-finals, granted Ruth wrestles out of his seed and takes down #4 Bailee O'Reilly of Minnesota.
Starocci is another candidate for a B1G title, and anything less would be a disappointment, given his track record this year. His offense has not been slow but also not super aggressive.
7 allocated spots for this weight will make it to Tulsa.
Prediction: Carter Starocci (PSU)
184-POUNDS -- Aaron Brooks
Despite capturing a lone loss during the Collegiate Wrestling Duals to Iowa State's Marcus Coleman, Aaron Brooks didn't mince motions during the rest of the year and has accumulated a 9-1 record. Also looking for a third NCAA title, Brooks is coming off consecutive B1G Championship titles as well.
Brooks and Kaleb Romero of Ohio State are seeded at #1 and #2, respectively, and their dual meet bout ended in a 3-2 decision for Brooks. However, Abe Assad is also on Brooks' side of the bracket in the #5 seed, and he did not wrestle during the dual between Iowa and Penn State. That would be a matchup that could potentially happen in the semi-finals if Assad wins his first-round bout and beats Matt Finesilver of Michigan, who is seeded #4.
9 wrestlers from 184 will go to the NCAA Championships.
Prediction: Aaron Brooks (PSU)
197-POUNDS -- Max Dean
After a tough start to the season, Max Dean has been nothing short of spectacular through the last couple of months and enters the B1G tournament with a first-round bye. Silas Allred of Nebraska is the #2 seed, and Max also has Jacob Warner of Iowa on his side of the bracket, setting up a potential NCAA Championship rematch in the semi-finals.
I actually expect Cam Caffey of Michigan State to make it to the semis and beat Warner. Caffey has only three losses this year in 21 total bouts and has a win over Dean last season. However, Dean should come home with a B1G title and will look to cap off his year with another NCAA crown before graduating and opening up 197 for the Lions next year.
9 more allocated spots at 197.
Prediction: Max Dean (PSU)
Heavyweight: Greg Kerkvliet
After Greg Kerkvliet's loss to Michigan's Mason Parris in the middle of the year, where he looked flat, he maintained his composure and compiled several impressive wins, including one the very next weekend over Iowa's Tony Cassioppi, whom he had previously not beaten.
Parris holds the #1 seed, and Kerk has the #2, so they will both get byes. Cassioppi has two losses but maintains the #3 seed, so Kerk will have to get through him to get redemption on Parris. After the win against Cassioppi in January, Kerk said in a post-match presser that he needed to learn how much he loved to win again. He knew that he hated losing, but the fire that was set under him following the loss to Parris truly set the tone for the rest of the season. Dare I say this, but I fully expect Kerk to bring home a national championship this year, and I think he'll do it impressively. He has done such an astounding job of rebounding after the loss.
I think he will save his best performance for the NCAA tournament, just as Penn State wrestlers usually do. Let's not forget how many conference titles Vincenzo Joseph had, and he always won when it truly, truly mattered.
9 total positions for B1G wrestlers at heavyweight.
Prediction: Mason Parris (Michigan)
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