Blue White Illustrated

like that, and I went to his hometown a couple years ago, stayed with his family a little bit, and that was cool. But we've just trained together, we practice together. We warm up together before every match, and we have since we were freshmen." Hall, who is No. 1 in the NCAA's Most Dominant Wrestler rankings (followed by teammate Nick Lee), reflected more on his personal growth than on his wrestling career as he prepared for his final colle- giate postseason. How has he changed? "I'd say my character, just me as a man," Hall said. "I've done a lot of growing and maturing throughout the years. Finding new values and standards for myself, I think, has been the biggest improve- ment." Hall, who wants to be a coach after his freestyle days are done, said wrestling has "done everything" for him and has taken him everywhere. "It's taken me some crazy places that otherwise I wouldn't have ever gone to," he said. "A lot of countries... a lot of dif- ferent states. I met a lot of great people. Some of the most influential people in my life came from wrestling as well, so yeah, it's just been a wild 19 years of this sport. "After the season is over, I'm not done wrestling. But folkstyle has been a really cool journey, and I'm excited to get to the next chapter of my life." Getting there as a two-time NCAA champion and four-time finalist would make it easier to turn the page. ■ T his year, Iowa, the team that in decades past reigned as king and put together winning streaks of nine and then six consecutive NCAA wrestling championships, wants to unseat Penn State, the current upper crust nobility that has won eight of the past nine titles. Based on their championship showing in the Big Ten tournament, the Hawkeyes are favored to do so. Iowa is of the belief that the 2020 team title is a foregone conclusion. Penn State would like to think that the king ain't dead yet. Iowa emerged from Rutgers on March 6-7 as Big Ten champion and will arrive in Minneapolis with thousands of black- and-gold fans ready to reclaim some- thing they believe is a birthright. The Hawkeyes actually are considerable fa- vorites in various tournament power index ratings. Penn State will hit the Twin Cities most likely with fewer fans than usual and a bit less talent than in past seasons – an unplanned transition year caused by injuries to Brady Berge (157) and An- thony Cassar (285) and the transfer of Brody Teske (125), a projected starter who never developed and ultimately left for Northern Iowa. Throw in a knee injury suffered by heavyweight Seth Nevills that forced him out of the Big Ten tourney, and Penn State will limp into nationals with only seven wrestlers and no more than two No. 1-seeded wrestlers, a number much lower than in past sea- sons. All in all, three days and three nights of wrestling inside U.S. Bank Stadium – home of the Minnesota Vikings – could be a heck of a lot of fun, even though the Big Ten tourney for Penn State was any- thing but. Here's how it shapes up for the Nittany Lions: 133 ROMAN BRAVO-YOUNG (19-2) PSU PERSPECTIVE After finishing eighth as a freshman, Bravo-Young is looking to take more than a few steps up on the podium. The problem is that 133 is one of the three deepest weight classes in the tournament, and the big names in the Big Ten will be waiting for him once again. He placed second in the league championships. Bravo-Young's quickness and aggressiveness have made him a fan favorite… among Penn State fans, that is. CHIEF CHALLENGERS Bravo-Young, Seth Gross (Wisconsin), Austin DeSanto (Iowa), Chas Tucker (Cornell), Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern), Micky Phillippi (Pitt) 141 NICK LEE (20-1) PSU PERSPECTIVE If Cael Sanderson could clone one wrestler into 10 starters, the prototype would be Lee. Placing fifth the past two seasons, he has ascended to elite status and is No. 2 in the nation's most dominant wrestler rankings behind teammate Mark Hall. Lee has split bouts with Ohio State's Luke Pletcher, with Pletcher avenging a dual meet loss by de- feating his PSU rival in the Big Ten finals. CHIEF CHALLENGERS Lee, Pletcher, Dom Demas (Oklahoma), Real Woods (Stanford), Ian Parker (Iowa State), Chad Red (Nebraska) 149 JAROD VERKLEEREN (17-8) PSU PERSPECTIVE Verkleeren, who wages a daily battle with type 1 diabetes, improves with each match. Whether it's enough to attain All-America status and earn vitally important team points for the Lions will depend on whether he can win early-round matches and give him- self a chance to pull out his typically close bouts against higher-seeded foes. CHIEF CHALLENGERS Sammy Sasso (Ohio State), Pat Lugo (Iowa), Austin O'Connor (North Carolina), Brock Mauller (Missouri), Brayton Lee (Min- nesota) 165 VINCENZO JOSEPH (15-1) PSU PERSPECTIVE Joseph knows what it feels like to win this title, having done Nittany Lions advance seven to NCAA tournament A N A L Y S I S B Y J I M C A R L S O N

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