Penn State Sports Magazine
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4 4 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 P enn State entered the Big Ten Tour- nament as a prohibitive favorite after going undefeated in claiming the league's dual meet crown. The Nittany Lions did not disappoint. They won four individual titles en route to the team championship, qualifying nine athletes for the NCAA Tournament along the way. "We're super happy to win a Big Ten championship," head coach Cael Sand- erson told reporters after the tournament concluded March 5 at Michigan's Crisler Center. "As a coach or as a team, your heart is always with the guys who didn't reach their goals. Unfortunately, that happens in pretty much every event. Somebody doesn't have quite the tournament that they want, but we still celebrate and are happy and move on to the next one." Super senior Roman Bravo-Young and senior Aaron Brooks are now three-time Big Ten champs. Bravo-Young beat Minnesota's Aaron Nagao in the 133-pound final to cap a perfect tournament. At 184 pounds, Brooks crushed Kaleb Romero of Ohio State 11-2 in the finals. Junior Carter Starocci became a two- time Big Ten champ at 174 pounds, beat- ing Nebraska's Mikey Labriola 6-2 in the finals, while freshman phenom Levi Haines won his first conference crown by defeating the Cornhuskers' top-seeded Peyton Robb 3-1 in a thrilling sudden- victory outcome at 157. Less than two months earlier, it had been unclear whether Haines would be competing this deep into the season. He had seemed likely to redshirt, but the Lions needed to solidify the 157-pound class at midseason and turned to the newcomer from Arendtsville, Pa. That decision turned out to be a wise one, as evidenced by Haines' performance against Robb. "I just stayed persistent, pulling on his head. When I felt an opening, I let it rip," Haines told reporters. "It goes back to what we do in the practice room. I have guys doing similar stuff on me, and I'm just comfortable in that position. "It's a very good step in the right di- rection. It's the toughest competition in the country, so you can't get much more prepared than competing against these guys." Penn State's other wrestlers went into the event with title aspirations, but the team wasn't able to bring home cham- pionship trophies in six weight classes. Redshirt freshman Gary Steen saw his season end with an 0-2 finish at 125 pounds. At 141, second-seeded junior Beau Bartlett was upset in the semifinals by Brock Hardy of Nebraska before wres- tling back to take third with a 5-2 decision over Dylan D'Emilio of Ohio State. Redshirt freshman Shayne Van Ness did not make it out of the quarterfinal round at 149, dropping a 4-2 decision to Iowa's Max Murin. Van Ness lost to the Hawkeye senior again, 3-2, in the third- place bout. At 165, redshirt freshman Alex Fac- undo fell all the way to the seventh-place match after being upset 3-2 in the con- solation bracket by Bubba Wilson of Rut- gers. The Nittany Lion did finish with a win, outlasting Illinois' Dan Braunagel 3-1 to place seventh. Senior Max Dean was the top seed at 197 but fell 6-3 to 10th-seeded Silas Allred of Nebraska in the final. Second-seeded heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet also lost in the final round, with Michigan's top-seeded Mason Par- ris prevailing 5-3 in sudden victory. "Our guys won some big matches and lost some big matches," Sanderson said. "It's part of being a team. We got nine wrestlers through to the nationals. That's first and foremost, and we're happy." In addition to the championship tro- phy, Penn State brought home some in- dividual honors. Sanderson was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the seventh time, while Haines received Freshman of the Year accolades. ■ Freshman Levi Haines, who had originally been slated to redshirt this season, claimed the 157-pound title by going 3-0 at Big Tens. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE Big Ten Tournament Team Results Place Team Pts. 1. Penn State 147.0 2. Iowa 134.5 3. Nebraska 104.5 4. Ohio State 99.0 5. Michigan 84.5 6. Minnesota 79.0 7. Northwestern 78.5 8. Wisconsin 55.5 9. Purdue 47.0 10. Illinois 46.5 11. Rutgers 32.0 12. Indiana 30.0 13. Michigan State 28.0 14. Maryland 24.0 Four Individual Champs Spearhead Big Ten Tourney Romp G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G. P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M