Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1488968
6 6 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he Penn State wrestling program has become a dynasty. The Nittany Lions have won nine NCAA team championships during head coach Cael Sanderson's already legendary tenure and claimed 32 indi- vidual titles. Penn State wrestlers have gone 32-13 in the NCAA finals since 2011, and the team has produced mul- tiple individual titlists in all but three of Sanderson's seasons. Suffice it to say, the Lions have scored more triumphs over the past 13 years than can be listed in this space. While Penn State's accomplishments in wrestling during the Sanderson era rank among the best in all of college sports, there's another scary possibility looming for Penn State's opponents: The veteran coach may have one of his best teams yet. As the calendar flips to 2023, Penn State is bracing for the Big Ten portion of its dual meet schedule, followed by the conference and NCAA tournaments. The Nittany Lions have three repeat NCAA champs in their lineup: gradu- ate Roman Bravo-Young at 133 pounds, junior Carter Starocci at 174 and senior Aaron Brooks at 184. Each member of that trio is favored to again stand on the tallest podium when the NCAA finals are contested in Tulsa, Okla., in March. They have continued to hold the No. 1 spot in their respective weight classes throughout the nonconference season. And those three aren't the only de- fending national champions in Penn State's lineup. The Lions also feature senior Max Dean at 197 pounds. Dean is coming off his first NCAA title, and despite a pair of losses in De- cember, he is still in the top five at 197 and could certainly regain the top seed by the time nationals roll around. He has work to do, of course, but his talent and drive are unquestioned, and he's had success against the other contenders in his weight class. Moving on from that group, junior heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet enters the 2023 portion of the schedule as the top- ranked wrestler in his weight class fol- lowing an impressive first two months of the season. Among other highlights, he finally beat Iowa's Tony Cassioppi, taking an 8-3 decision at the NWCA All-Star Classic in Austin, Texas, which was an exhibition but still a notable accomplishment for the Nittany Lion. He is again in the hunt for All-America honors, if not his first national title. This is not a perfect team, of course. Redshirt freshman Gary Steen does not appear to be a qualifier at 125 pounds, even though Sanderson believes he's close to winning big matches. At 141 pounds, junior Beau Bartlett is wrestling as well as he ever has now that he's slotted at his natural weight after competing at 149 last season. He's the fifth-ranked wrestler in his weight class but is still unlikely to stand atop the first-place podium like Nick Lee did a year ago at 141. Bartlett's move down has created an opportunity for redshirt freshman Shayne Van Ness to produce more points for the Lions at 149 pounds than Bartlett did a year ago, especially with his hunger for bonus points. At 157, junior Terrell Barraclough must improve if he's going to make nationals and produce points there. It's not out of the question that he could give way to freshman phenom Levi Haines by then. Either one of those wrestlers could pro- duce more than Brady Berge did in the weight class a year ago, even if hopes were high back then. Finally, redshirt freshman Alex Fa- cundo has all the makings of someone who can jump into the All-America rounds at 165 after Creighton Edsell failed to qualify for nationals a year ago. That would boost Penn State's team points, as well. Put it all together, and the potential exists for this to be one of Sanderson's highest-scoring teams at nationals. It's true that improvement is needed across the board — at some spots more than others — if that possibility is to become a reality by the time March ends. It's hardly a farfetched idea, though, and that should make Penn State wrestling fans as excited as ever and opponents as concerned as ever that the gap between the Nittany Lions and everyone else is about to swell yet again. ■ O P I N I O N GREG PICKEL GREG.PICKEL@ON3.COM PSU Wrestlers Appear Capable Of Extending A Dominant Run THE LAST WORD Roman Bravo-Young has won the past two national championships at 133 pounds. The graduate wrestler is one of three two-time defending NCAA champs in the Lions' starting lineup this season. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE