Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543434
M A R C H 2 0 2 6 19 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M FIVE YEARS AGO, 2021 The Penn State wrestling team headed home from St. Louis with mixed feel- ings following the conclusion of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions went unbeaten in the tourney's climactic round, with Roman Bravo-Young (133 pounds), Nick Lee (141), Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (184) claiming titles. Bravo-Young, Lee and Starocci all beat the top seeds in their respective weight classes. It was the third time in coach Cael Sanderson's tenure that the Lions finished with four or more champs, having previously done so in 2017 and '18. But in those earlier years, Penn State brought home the team title, too, and that didn't happen this time. The Nittany Li- ons had to settle for second place, totaling 113.5 points to Iowa's 129. The reason they fell short was because they didn't get enough points from the weight classes they didn't win. Two addi- tional wrestlers earned All-America hon- ors, with heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet and 197-pounder Michael Beard both finish- ing seventh, but the Lions didn't qualify anyone at 149, and they didn't place at 125, 157 and 165. "Obviously, we need a little bit more of a team effort," Sanderson said. "If you have four national champions and you're not winning the tournament, you've got to have more point-scorers. But it also speaks to how good Iowa is. They've got a really good team this year." 10 YEARS AGO, 2016 As far as the team title was concerned, there wasn't much drama going into the championship round of the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Nittany Lions clinched their return to the top of the po- dium before the finals began. Having wrapped up their fifth team title in six years, the Lions were able to focus on bringing home some individual hardware. They had put five wrestlers in the finals, and two of them won. At 125 pounds, third-seeded Nico Megaludis earned a 6-3 decision over Iowa's fourth- seeded Thomas Gilman. And at 149, No. 1 seed Zain Retherford posted a 10-1 major decision over another Hawkeye, second- seeded Brandon Sorensen. In his five bouts at nationals, Retherford amassed a technical fall, a major and three pins. The Lions were feeling good after start- ing out the final round with those two rousing wins, but Jason Nolf (157), Bo Nickal (174) and Morgan McIntosh (197) all lost, putting a damper on the evening. Even so, PSU easily outdistanced Okla- homa State for the team title, compiling 123 points to the Cowboys' 97.5. 25 YEARS AGO, 2001 After falling to Iowa, 94-74, in the semifinals of the Big Ten Men's Basket- ball Tournament, Penn State received an at-large invitation to the NCAA tour- ney and made the most of the rare op- portunity. Seeded seventh in the South Region, the Nittany Lions opened with a 69-59 victory over 10th-seeded Provi- dence in the first round, capitalizing on a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) from forward Gyasi Cline-Heard to set up a second-round matchup against second- seeded North Carolina at the New Orleans Superdome. Against the Tar Heels, who had been ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll as recently as mid-February, Penn State seized control of a back-and-forth game late in the second half. After falling be- hind 68-64 with 5:27 left, the Lions out- scored North Carolina 18-6 over the final five minutes. Guards Joe Crispin and Ti- tus Ivory scored 21 points apiece, while Cline-Heard added 19 in the 82-74 vic- tory, which sent Penn State to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1955. The joyride ended the following week in Atlanta with an 84-72 loss to 11th-seeded Temple. Flustered by coach John Chaney's matchup zone, Penn State went 13 of 33 from three-point range, getting 20 points from Ivory but only 12 from Crispin. Although it ended in disappointment, the season remains one of the best in pro- gram history. PSU finished 21-12 overall and 7-9 in Big Ten play and reached the NCAA Tournament for only the seventh time. "It definitely hurts," Ivory said follow- ing the loss to the Owls, "but this sea- son has been a great ride for myself, the seniors and the entire Penn State team. We didn't accomplish what we wanted to accomplish, but we accomplished more than a lot of people thought we would." — Matt Herb This Month In Penn State Athletics History Junior 133-pounder Roman Bravo-Young was one of four Penn State wrestlers who won individual titles at the 2021 NCAA Tournament. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS