Blue White Illustrated

"It wasn't a great day," he said. "Obvi- ously, the guys wrestled hard and we can wrestle better. And I think we will in a week and a half. As a team, we've got to lick our wounds a little bit. We kind of got beat up a little bit this weekend, but we'll get things figured out and get ready to roll. "I think just as individuals, everyone has little things they need to sharpen up a little bit," Sanderson added. "As a team, the same… little things. We need to wres- tle with a little bit more enthusiasm. And I don't see why we wouldn't do that. It's a national tournament." Clearly, the conference tournament didn't go as planned. Iowa ran away from Penn State on day one and kept up the pace on day two, scoring 157.5 points to Nebraska's 132, Ohio State's 112 and Penn State's 107. While the Nittany Lions had the most fi- nalists, only two – senior Mark Hall and freshman Aaron Brooks, who captured conference Freshman of the Year honors – emerged victorious, claiming titles at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively. Roman Bravo-Young dropped a 7-2 de- cision to Northwestern's Sebastian Rivera at 133; Nick Lee lost his first match of the season, a close 6-5 bout to Ohio State's Luke Pletcher at 141; and Vincenzo Joseph dropped his third bout in four tries against Iowa's Alex Marinelli, losing 3-2 after Marinelli took him down with just 10 seconds left to break a tie and avoid overtime. To make things worse, Shakur Rasheed, who was wrestling for third at 197, de- faulted out after three minutes because of his knees and, as Sanderson said, his abil- ity to defend himself. That's the bad, and there was plenty of it, but Sanderson likes looking for the good. He's made a career of it, and it's pretty safe to say that it's worked well for him. "It's a great conference with a lot of great wrestlers and great teams and coaches. … Let's see what we can do and come back with some fire," he said. "We want to contend [in Minneapolis], and it's not even about contending. It's about [being] the best we can be all the time. Everyone says that, and it makes for a great theme, but we want to do it. We want to live it, and that's hopefully what we can take into Minneapolis." Hall and Brooks will go as conference champions after wrestling outstanding bouts against outstanding foes. Iowa's Michael Kemerer trapped Hall's leg during a takedown attempt, but Hall trapped Kemerer on his back, getting the five-second danger call from the referee, which resulted in a takedown and a pair of back points for an early 7-2 lead. The Penn State senior went on to win, 8-5. "I definitely feel like he could have bailed, I had his arm. I had a good position and I just wrestled through it," Hall said. "Maybe he didn't hear it. Maybe I did have his hand or something, but it's just wrestling. "I can get a five- or six-point lead on anybody. I believe I have good enough de- fense and high-powered offense that's going to keep that lead for me, so I just have to realize who I am, believe in who I am and believe in what my coaches instill in me and be excited for opportunities like that." The Big Ten title was Hall's third in a row. Brooks, meanwhile, looks more poised each week. He pinned Nebraska's Tyler Venz in the semifinals with a standing cradle, then did everything right in wait- ing for an opening to strike against Michigan State's Cameron Caffey, get- ting the winning takedown with just 18 seconds left in their championship match. Brooks let out a primal scream after pinning Venz. But following his win over Caffey, he calmly walked off the mat as a titlist. "I'm feeling really confident," he said. "I'm staying humble and getting better every day. It's fun to win, but I know I have the biggest event of the year coming up." Brooks said he's also in top condition. "My cardio is really peaking right now, so I feel like when you're really confident in your cardio, you can go as much as you want," he said. "When you're not, you don't shoot as much. Me knowing my cardio is right there at its peak, I can go out there and fire off multiple shots." Sanderson called Brooks a calm kid. "He has a big-picture perspective, which is helpful. He's a competitor and that's what we've seen," the coach said. "The bigger the match, the better he wrestles." Earlier, Bravo-Young got in on Rivera's legs quickly, but the Northwestern wrestler eventually escaped. A takedown midway through the second period changed momentum in Rivera's favor when he had Bravo-Young's leg high in the air and returned him for a pair of points. His strong third-period ride and even- tual nearfall set the final at 7-2. "I think Rivera is really good," Sander- son said. "I think Roman can beat any- body. He just has to be himself a little bit more. He had a couple really beautiful at- tacks. He just need to fire a couple more of those off." Penn State's Lee yielded the opening takedown against Pletcher, but he es- caped and came back with a two-pointer of his own. Pletcher was able to keep Lee at bay and away from his legs in the sec- ond period, and then he drove through a hip-high double for the winning points in a 6-5 decision. "I don't think [Lee] was too happy," Sanderson said. "Pletcher's a great wrestler. He's strong and solid and quick and has great positioning. He's one of the guys Nick has to beat if he wants to be a national champion." Joseph got in fairly deep on a double- leg, but Marinelli hipped out strong. After trading escapes, Marinelli clamped a bodylock on Joseph and took off with a throw, but Joseph was able to clear his legs and slide out without harm. Marinelli pushed the pace and forced Joseph off-balance enough to slide down on a single-leg and push through for the winning takedown with just 12 seconds left. "And I thought Cenzo wrestled well," Sanderson said. "He just lost to a tough guy. Again, it's one of the guys he has to beat to be a national champion." ■

• Cover