Penn State Sports Magazine
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4 0 A P R I L 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 and going chest-to-chest for the fall in 2:46. Brooks was equally dominant in a 184-pound weight class that was infi- nitely deeper than Starocci's. Foes such as Ohio State's Kaleb Romero, NC State's Trent Hidlay and Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen are all national championship caliber, but not when Brooks is in the weight class. He always seems to know when that shot is there, when his oppo- nent's legs are vulnerable, and two times he got to Keckeisen's. Add an escape, penalty point and time point, and it was a 7-2 thumping and a third gold medal. Sanderson entered Brooks' life at an early age without even knowing it. "No one in my family ever wrestled. It was just me and my brother at the time," Brooks said. "We just lived with my dad. He got this new GMC, a car with a movie thing in the back. He brought home this DVD and was, like, 'This is the great- est wrestler of all time.' He didn't know anything about wrestling. "It was Coach Cael. And I was 7 years old. I was like, 'I want to be like that dude.' That's where I learned my ankle pick and all these things. Next thing you know, I'm wrestling for him." Mental Toughness Bravo-Young had to work his way through a strong bracket and found an equally strong Vito Arujau of Cornell in the 133-pound final. Arujau was able to match Bravo-Young's quickness, speed and strength and managed 2 takedowns, a reversal and near fall. His 9-4 upset brought an end to Bravo-Young's 56- bout win streak. "Vito is tough," Sanderson said. "He's always been really good. He just went out there and scored points and won the match." Kerkvliet had success against Michi- gan's Mason Parris last year, but Par- ris turned the tables on Kerkvliet three times this season. Kerkvliet shot an out- side single, which he had great success with against Parris last season, but Par- ris was able to slip in and, just like the Big Ten finals, quickly hit a barrel roll on Kerkvliet for 2 points. Parris also had a couple of escapes and managed to ride effectively for a 5-1 win over the Penn State junior. With one more win, Haines would have been the talk of the tournament. The first talker was against Virginia Tech All-American Bryce Andonian in the quarterfinals. Andonian caught Haines on a counter and put him on his back for a 6-point move. But three Haines takedowns later, Andonian was done. The third of those takedowns was a dou- ble-leg that bellied out Andonian, and Haines worked a half-nelson to turn him for a fall in 6:12. Haines went on to beat Nebraska's Peyton Robb for the second consecutive time, 5-3, and faced former NCAA cham- pion Austin O'Connor of North Carolina in the 157-pound final. O'Connor, who was a college freshman when Haines was 12, broke open a scoreless bout in the third period with a pair of takedowns for a 6-2 win. "That was a great learning experi- ence but a heck of an accomplishment, too; Levi just took second in the coun- try," Sanderson said. "He won some big matches, and he's a gutsy, tough kid. He's just going to keep getting better and bet- ter. We're super proud of him and happy for his success this weekend." ■ With his 10th national team championship, Cael Sanderson is steadily gaining on Dan Gable. The legendary Iowa coach won 15 NCAA team titles from 1976-97. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS