Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1495456
A P R I L 2 0 2 3 4 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State crowned two national champions at the NCAA Tournament March 16-18 in Tulsa, Okla., but there were seven other Nittany Lions compet- ing at the BOK Center, all but one of whom earned All-America notice. Here's a look at how they fared: 133 pounds: Roman Bravo-Young did not go out on top. The super senior lost decisively in the final to Cornell junior Vito Arujau. Before his 10-4 defeat, Bravo-Young ran through the first three rounds with ease prior to facing Arizona State's fourth-seeded Michael McGee in the semifinals. Bravo-Young, the two-time defend- ing champ and top seed, prevailed 6-4 in sudden victory. It was one of the better matches of the tournament. His final bout was not. Arujau, seeded third, scored throughout the matchup and was the better wrestler on this particular day. 141 pounds: Junior Beau Bartlett finally had a chance to compete at 141, his natural weight, after wrestling at 149 in the postseason the previous two years. Seeded sixth, he won his first three bouts, including a 3-1 upset victory over third-seeded Cole Matthews of Pitt in the quarterfinals to earn All- America honors. Bartlett dropped out of the championship bracket in the semifinals when he fell to second-seeded An- drew Alirez of Northern Colorado by decision, 6-2. His tournament was not over, though. Bartlett opened action in the consolation bracket by beat- ing Clay Carlson of South Dakota State for the second time in the tournament, this time by a 12-3 major decision, to reach the third-place match. Once there, he finished his season strong by beat- ing 10th-seeded Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina 4-1. 149 pounds: Redshirt freshman Shayne Van Ness had one of the more incredible tournaments of any Nittany Lion. The 12th seed at 149 pounds, he first erased an 8-1 deficit and pinned Ethen Miller of Maryland in the opening round. The Penn State wrestler then upset fifth-seeded Paniro Johnson of Arizona State 14-8 to reach the quarters. There, he stormed back again, this time beating Graham Rooks of Indiana 10-7 to become an All-American. Van Ness' time in the top bracket ended in the semifinals with a hard-fought 8-3 loss to top- seeded Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell. Once in the consolation bracket, Van Ness returned to his winning ways. He topped fourth- seeded Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech 5-3 and dominated No. 3 Kyle Parco of Arizona State 7-2 to take third. 157 pounds: Levi Haines' stellar freshman season ended with a loss in the finals. The electric first-year Nittany Lion won two consecutive decisions and pinned Big Ten foe Peyton Robb in a thrilling semi- final match. However, he was not able to beat top-seeded sixth-year senior Austin O'Connor in the finals. The North Carolina star was never threatened by the second-seeded Haines en route to a 6-2 win. 165 pounds: Redshirt freshman Alex Facundo had been hoping to outperform his No. 13 seed, but that didn't happen. Facundo dropped his first bout to No. 20 Holden Heller of Pitt 5-3, then bowed out of the tournament following a 12-4 loss to No. 4 Julian Ramirez of Cornell in the consola- tion bracket. 197 pounds: Max Dean admitted to the ESPN cameras following his final college match that he did not earn what he sought in his last college tournament. Still, the four-time All-American and defending national champ fought until the end. Dean went into the tournament seeded ninth and beat Levi Hopkins of Campbell in his first match. However, he dropped into the consolation bracket after falling to Nebraska's eighth-seeded Silas Allred in the second round. The loss meant that Dean would need to win two matches in the consolation bracket to earn All- America honors. He did that and more, capturing his next three matches by decision before an 8-6 sudden victory setback opposite No. 2 Bailey Truax of Cal Poly sent him into the seventh-place match. He won it by 4-2 decision over 10th-seeded Jacob Cardenas of Cornell. "I didn't quite get what I came here for, but I'm proud of my effort and really proud of our team," Dean told ESPN after wrapping up his senior year. "I'm sad it's done. [Being at Penn State] meant a lot to me. Cael Sanderson is a leader. I know I needed him in my life. I'm just really grateful for him and everybody. I'm just so lucky." Heavyweight: Junior Greg Kerkvliet reached the NCAA finals for the first time but fell short against Michigan's undefeated champion, Mason Parris. While the Big Ten standouts wrestled a competitive match, Parris scored the first takedown and con- trolled the match en route to a 5-1 victory. — Greg Pickel Roman Bravo-Young edged Arizona State's Michael McGee in a semifinal thriller, but the victory turned out to be the last of his college career. Bravo-Young fell to Vito Arujau of Cornell in the final. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS Eight Lions Earn All-America Honors At National Tourney