Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1462941
A P R I L 2 0 2 2 4 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M "I had to make sure I was in alignment with him, make sure I was walking, liv- ing the right way. This platform is great to wrestle, but it's to glorify God. I'm blessed with this opportunity, these gifts." Dean's takedown with 36 seconds re- maining was necessary to overcome Io- wa's Jacob Warner, 3-2. Three of Dean's five victories came by either one or two points. Once the clock expired, Dean raced to his corner and leapt into the arms of Cunningham and did the same with Sanderson. He became highly emotional when thanking his coaches, fiancé and fam- ily, particularly his brother Gabe, a two- time champ at Cornell, as well as his teammates. "You stand in the middle of the mat, 'OK, beat me. I dare you, I did every- thing right; you'll have to drag me off this mat,'" Dean said. "I wouldn't be able to do that without the people behind me." ■ THREE BEST WRESTLERS 1. Nick Lee | 141 | Sr.+ Nick Lee claims the top spot at the conclusion of his Penn State career. Lee is the Lions' first five-time All-American. He earned the honor by capping a brilliant senior season with a relentless decision victory over North Caro- lina's Kizhan Clarke in the 141-pound final. All told, Lee went 5-0 in Detroit and 22-0 during his final sea- son in blue and white. He's a two-time NCAA champ and leaves with a career record of 118-13. 2. Carter Starocci | 174 | So. It might be hard to believe, but the technically sound and aggressive Starocci is only a sophomore. However, it's true, and he's already a two-time All- American and NCAA champ. Starocci improved off a brilliant freshman season in Year 2. He took on all comers and finished with a 23-0 record after a perfect trip to the national tournament. The Penn State wrestler won his second crown by toppling Mehki Lewis of Virginia Tech, the 2019 national champ at 165 pounds, in an instant classic by a final score of 6-5. He also had a fall earlier in the tournament and a tremendous season overall. 3. Max Dean | 197 | Jr. It's extremely challenging to leave senior Roman Bravo-Young and junior Aaron Brooks out of this section. But, at the end of the day, we can only pick three of the five champs. We go with Dean because, while Penn State had a tremendous option already in the room, Dean showed why he beat out Michael Beard at the start of the season and kept the job as the campaign unfolded. He went 23-1 overall and earned All-America honors for the third time while also claiming his first NCAA title. And it happened at Penn State, not Cor- nell. Dean took out Jacob Warner of Iowa, 5-3, in the 197-pound final in Detroit. He did have two contro- versial wins before that, but history won't remember those. History will instead remember the impact Dean had on Penn State, and vice versa. Key Moment Penn State had many key moments this season. There are a number of ways one could go with this pick. The one we're choosing, however, might come as a surprise. Even though grad transfer 125-pounder Drew Hildebrandt and senior 157-pounder Brady Berge did not make it to the medal stand in Detroit as expected, their midseason arrival was still the top moment of the season for the Lions. How so? Coach Cael Sanderson and members of his team have said numerous times how much of an impact both wrestlers had this year, on and off the mat. Hildebrandt was supposed to do more at Big Tens and nationals, while Berge did do some scoring at nationals but not as much as had been hoped. Regardless, both spring semester additions were an upgrade in their respective weight classes, and they won some key dual meet matches along the way. Thus, their arrival was the top key moment overall when looking back on the season. Best Highlight How could we go with anything other than the final session of the NCAA Championships? It was a magical night for the Nittany Lions inside Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Penn State went five- for-five in the finals for the first time since 2017. This year's team is one of only five in NCAA history to ever accomplish that feat. While each win was a highlight, the one that stands above the rest came at 174 pounds. Carter Starocci won his second consecutive NCAA title in an absolute thriller opposite former 165-pound champ Mehki Lewis of Virginia Tech. The Nittany Lion stand- out was pushed to his limit on collegiate wrestling's biggest stage. The championship match went into overtime tied at 3-3. After a scoreless tiebreaker period, Starocci escaped faster than Lewis did in ultimate tiebreaker to earn a 6-5 decision. All told, 15 seconds of riding time were the difference. A close runner-up here would be Penn State going into Carver-Hawkeye Arena and taking out Iowa, 19- 13, in front of a raucous road crowd. Prediction Bravo-Young will be back at Penn State for the 2022-2023 season. Readers of Blue White Illus- trated's sister online publication might recall reading in November that the 133-pound senior said this season would be his last. However, he has hinted in recent interviews, including on ESPN just after win- ning his latest NCAA title, that he could be back. He's a four-time All-American and two-time champ with an 80-9 career record. — Greg Pickel 2 0 2 1 - 2 2 W R E S T L I N G R E S U L T S Date Opponent Result Nov. 13 Oregon State* W, 32-7 Nov. 13 Sacred Heart* W, 47-3 Nov. 18 Army W, 32-7 Dec. 3 at Penn W, 20-16 Dec. 5 Lehigh W, 23-16 Dec. 20-21 Northern Iowa^ W, 29-9 Dec. 20 Cornell^ W, 21-16 Dec. 21 Arizona State^ W, 29-10 Jan. 7 at Maryland W, 46-0 Jan. 9 Indiana W, 29-11 Jan. 16 Rutgers W, 27-11 Jan. 21 at Michigan W, 29-6 Jan. 23 at Michigan State W, 28-9 Jan. 28 at Iowa W, 19-13 Feb. 4 Ohio State W, 32-7 Feb. 6 Nebraska W, 21-13 Feb. 20 Rider W, 45-0 Mar. 5-6 Big Ten Tournament# 2nd Mar. 17-19 NCAA Championships** 1st * Journeyman Duals at Manheim, Pa.; ^ Collegiate Wrestling Duals at Niceville, Fla.; # at Lincoln, Neb.; ** at Detroit PENN STATE WRESTLING SUPERLATIVES 2021-22 SEASON Junior Max Dean's decision to transfer from Cornell to Penn State this past offseason paid off handsomely when he captured the championship at 197 pounds, the first NCAA title of his career. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL