Penn State bouts at the Big Ten Championships
The prospects are great for almost all Penn State wrestlers earning their way to the national championships in Tulsa, OK. At 125, Gary Steen has his work cut out for him based on his body of work, but anything is possible on a wrestling mat.
The situation is simple. With 9, 9, 9, 9, 10, 8, 7, 9, 9, and 9 qualifier slots in order from 125 through 285, AND considering PSU wrestler’s seeds, here’s the situation;
133, 141, 157, 184, 197, 285: With first round byes, and eight or more available spots, win one bout ANYWHERE, championship OR consolation bracket AND OFF TO TULSA for Bravo-Young, Bartlett, Haines, Brooks, Dean and Kerkvliet!
174: With a first round bye, and only 7 qualifier spots, winning ONE bout in the championship bracket OR 2 in consolations will earn an auto-qualifier spot. Of course an at-large is all but guaranteed, plus the likelihood of it coming down to consolation action for Starocci is a negligible happening. CARTER, I’LL SEE YOU IN TULSA!
125, 149, 165: With first round bouts, and 8 or more spots in each of these three weight classes, winning two bouts ANYWHERE – championship OR consolation action – and it’s OFF TO TULSA for Steen, Van Ness and Facundo!
Most weight classes have 9 spots (125, 133, 141, 149, 184, 197, 285), and one (157) has 10, so there’s the added opportunity of winning the mini bracket and earning a spot, though we can say with fairly high confidence it won’t come down to that for all but 125.
Following are the paths the Blue and White have, with assumptions made when the guys are heavy favorites. In a few places (141 & 149), I took two paths.
125 #11 Gary Steen (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Michael DeAugustino (NU) – Steen has never wrestled DeAugustino, who will be favored.
Consolation 1st Round: Maximo Renteria (ILL) – Steen has not wrestled Renteria in the past, but will be the favorite here.
Consolation 2nd Round: Eric Barnett (WIS) / Patrick McKee (MINN) loser – Steen has not wrestled either, and will be an underdog in this bout.
133 #1 Roman Bravo-Young (9 spots allocated at 133)
1st Round: Bye - Bravo-Young is undefeated against Bye for his career
2nd Round: Brody Teske (IOWA) / RayVon Foley (MSU) winner from round 1 – RBY pinned both during the season.
3rd Round: Chris Cannon (NU) / Dylan Ragusin (MICH) winner from round 2 – RBY won vs Ragusin 4-2 this season and has two other career wins against the Wolverine. RBY and Cannon last wrestled in 2021, an 8-3 win for the Lion.
Finals: Likely to be the Jesse Mendez (tOSU) / Lucas Byrd (ILL) winner from the semis, though Aaron Nageo or Joe Heilmann could spoil that in the quarters. RBY handled Mendez 8-2, and has never wrestled Byrd, Nageo or Hileman.
141 #2 Beau Bartlett (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Joseph Olivieri (RUT) / Cole Mattin (MICH) winner from round 1 – Bartlett won 12/1 vs Olivieri and 7-2 vs Mattin this season. Bartlett also won by InjDef last year vs Mattin at 149.
3rd Round: Brock Hardy (NEB) / Danny Pucino (ILL) winner from the quarters – Bartlett has never faced either guy. Win and on to the finals, lose and it is a drop to consolation round 4.
If WIN in SEMIS: Finals: Likely to be Real Woods (IOWA) – Bartlett lost during the season 1-4.
If LOSE in SEMIS: Consolation round 4: Likely to be the Jakob Bergeland (MINN) / Frankie Tal Shahar (NU) loser from the quarters, neither of whom Bartlett has wrestled.
3rd Place bout: Could be any of Bergeland, Tal-Shahar, Pucino, or even Olivieri or Filius. Note: While mentioned as possible opponents in both the consi semis and finals, its obvious Bergeland or Tal Shahar can’t wrestle in both against the same opponent. They can however each have one shot at a common opponent in consecutive rounds.
149 #5 Shayne Van Ness (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Jake Harrier (ILL) – SVN has never wrestled Harrier (4-13 overall, 2-4 in B1G action).
2nd Round: Max Murin (IOWA) – SVN lost 1-4 at the dual. Win and it’s on to the 3rd round of championships, lose and it’s a drop to the 2nd round of consolations.
IF WIN vs Murin: 3rd Round: Sammy Sasso (tOSU) – Van Ness lost 3-6 during the season. Win here and it is on to the finals to likely face the Yahya Thomas (NU) / Austin Gomez (WIS) winner. Gomez hasn’t wrestled since 1/27 due to injury, which interestingly was suffered against Thomas. SVN lost 2-6 to Gomez at the dual, and has never faced Thomas.
IF LOSE vs Murin: 2nd Round Consolations: Dayne Morton (NEB) / Jaden Reynolds (PUR) winner from previous consi round. SVN has never wrestled either guy.
3rd Round of Consolations: Likely the Ethen Miller (MD) / Chance Lamer (MICH) winner from the 1st round of the championship bracket. SVN won by TF vs Miller and did not wrestle Lamer.
4th Round Consolations: Likely Austin Gomez (WIS) / Yahya Thomas (NU) loser from the semis.
3rd Place bout: Could be any number of guys.
157 #2 Levi Haines (10 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Michael Carr (ILL) / Derek Gilcher (IND) winner. Freshman Haines beat Gilcher 8-2, and did not wrestle Carr. Carr is a bit of an unknown, only 4-0 on the season but a talented past wrestler that came back late in the season after missing all or parts of the last few seasons due to injury. He owns a 12-7 win vs Siebrecht, who Haines beat 3-2.
3rd Round: Kendall Coleman (PUR) vs Will Lewan (MICH) winner – Haines won in SV against Lewan and has never faced Coleman.
Finals: Peyton Robb (NEB), Chase Saldate (MSU), or Cobe Siebrecht (IOWA). I believe any of these three could make the finals. Haines has not wrestled Robb or Saldate, and owns a 3-2 decision vs Siebrecht.
165 #4 Alex Facundo (8 spots allocated)
1st Round: Stony Buell (PUR) - Facundo did not face Buell this season. Buell is 8-13 on the season and 0-4 in Big Ten duals.
2nd Round: Carson Kharchla (tOSU) – Facundo won 4-1 during the season. Toss-up bout though imo.
3rd Round: Assuming Facundo wins in the 2nd round, he’ll surely face Dean Hamiti (WIS) in the semis. They did not wrestle during the season. Win and it is on to the finals, lose and it’s a drop to consolation 4th round.
Consolation 4th Round: Likely to be one of Caleb Fish (MSU), Maxx Mayfield (NU) or Andrew Sparks (MINN). Facundo beat Fish in SV in the dual and did not face Mayfield or Sparks. Facundo also lost to Fish at the Southern Scuffle last season.
Consi Finals: Cameron Amine (MICH) or Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) likely. Facundo beat Amine in TB, while losing to Kennedy in TB.
174 #1 Carter Starocci (7 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Troy Fisher (NU) vs Max Maylor (MICH) winner. Starocci pinned Maylor in the dual this season and has never wrestled Fisher.
3rd Round: Bailee O’Reilly (MINN) / Edmond Ruth (ILL) winner. Starocci has not wrestled either guy in his college career.
Finals: I would be surprised if it were anyone other than Mikey Labriola (NEB). These guys did not wrestle in 2023, but Starocci owns a SV win and a 6-1 win against the Cornhusker in previous years.
184 #1 Aaron Brooks (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Brian Soldano (RUT) vs Dylan Connell (ILL) winner – Brooks beat Soldano by Tech Fall this season and did not wrestle Connell.
3rd Round: Matt Finesilver (MICH) vs Abe Assad (IOWA) winner – Brooks beat Finesilver at the dual 14-4, but did not wrestle Assad this season. Brooks does own two wins against the Hawkeye in seasons past, 7-3 and 8-3.
Finals: Kaleb Romero (tOSU) or Isaiah Salazar (MINN) is likely, but Layne Malczewski (MSU) or Lenny Pinto (NEB) could crash the party. Brooks beat Romero at the dual 3-2, and also beat him at last year’s NCAA Championships 13-2. Brooks did not wrestle Salazar or Pinto or Malczewski this season, but does own a 4-0 win against Malczewski last season.
197 #1 Max Dean (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Braxton Amos (WIS) / Michial Foy (MINN) winner - Dean won 11-2 against Amos this season and did not wrestle Foy.
3rd Round: Cameron Caffey (MSU) / Jacob Warner (IOWA) winner – Dean beat both during this season, throwing two shutouts, 4-0 against Caffey and 2-0 against Warner. Dean also split two bouts with Caffey last season, losing at the dual, but winning at Big Ten’s 5-2. Dean also wrestled Warner twice last year, winning both, 8-3 and 3-2.
Finals: Silas Allred (NEB) or Zac Braunagel (ILL) likely, but Jaxon Smith (MD) or Gavin Hoffman (tOSU) is also possible. Allred or Braunagel or Smith would be first-time opponents for Dean. Dean is 3-0 lifetime against Hoffman, including a WBF this season.
285 #2 Greg Kerkvliet (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Tate Orndorff (tOSU) or Hayden Copass (PUR) – Kerkvliet is 5-0 all-time vs Hoffman, including one win this season. All five were by Major Decision. Kerkvliet has never wrestled Copass.
3rd Round: Tony Cassioppi (IOWA) will surely be waiting. Kerkvliet has turned three losses in seasons past, into a win, 4-1, this season. Kerkvliet also beat Cassioppi at the All-Star Classic.
Finals: Mason Parris (MICH) is the heavy favorite to be in the finals. While Kerkvliet won all three bouts between them in 2022 (8-5, 5-3, and 6-1), Parris turned the table and won against the Lion 1-3 this season at the dual.
The prospects are great for almost all Penn State wrestlers earning their way to the national championships in Tulsa, OK. At 125, Gary Steen has his work cut out for him based on his body of work, but anything is possible on a wrestling mat.
The situation is simple. With 9, 9, 9, 9, 10, 8, 7, 9, 9, and 9 qualifier slots in order from 125 through 285, AND considering PSU wrestler’s seeds, here’s the situation;
133, 141, 157, 184, 197, 285: With first round byes, and eight or more available spots, win one bout ANYWHERE, championship OR consolation bracket AND OFF TO TULSA for Bravo-Young, Bartlett, Haines, Brooks, Dean and Kerkvliet!
174: With a first round bye, and only 7 qualifier spots, winning ONE bout in the championship bracket OR 2 in consolations will earn an auto-qualifier spot. Of course an at-large is all but guaranteed, plus the likelihood of it coming down to consolation action for Starocci is a negligible happening. CARTER, I’LL SEE YOU IN TULSA!
125, 149, 165: With first round bouts, and 8 or more spots in each of these three weight classes, winning two bouts ANYWHERE – championship OR consolation action – and it’s OFF TO TULSA for Steen, Van Ness and Facundo!
Most weight classes have 9 spots (125, 133, 141, 149, 184, 197, 285), and one (157) has 10, so there’s the added opportunity of winning the mini bracket and earning a spot, though we can say with fairly high confidence it won’t come down to that for all but 125.
Following are the paths the Blue and White have, with assumptions made when the guys are heavy favorites. In a few places (141 & 149), I took two paths.
125 #11 Gary Steen (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Michael DeAugustino (NU) – Steen has never wrestled DeAugustino, who will be favored.
Consolation 1st Round: Maximo Renteria (ILL) – Steen has not wrestled Renteria in the past, but will be the favorite here.
Consolation 2nd Round: Eric Barnett (WIS) / Patrick McKee (MINN) loser – Steen has not wrestled either, and will be an underdog in this bout.
133 #1 Roman Bravo-Young (9 spots allocated at 133)
1st Round: Bye - Bravo-Young is undefeated against Bye for his career
2nd Round: Brody Teske (IOWA) / RayVon Foley (MSU) winner from round 1 – RBY pinned both during the season.
3rd Round: Chris Cannon (NU) / Dylan Ragusin (MICH) winner from round 2 – RBY won vs Ragusin 4-2 this season and has two other career wins against the Wolverine. RBY and Cannon last wrestled in 2021, an 8-3 win for the Lion.
Finals: Likely to be the Jesse Mendez (tOSU) / Lucas Byrd (ILL) winner from the semis, though Aaron Nageo or Joe Heilmann could spoil that in the quarters. RBY handled Mendez 8-2, and has never wrestled Byrd, Nageo or Hileman.
141 #2 Beau Bartlett (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Joseph Olivieri (RUT) / Cole Mattin (MICH) winner from round 1 – Bartlett won 12/1 vs Olivieri and 7-2 vs Mattin this season. Bartlett also won by InjDef last year vs Mattin at 149.
3rd Round: Brock Hardy (NEB) / Danny Pucino (ILL) winner from the quarters – Bartlett has never faced either guy. Win and on to the finals, lose and it is a drop to consolation round 4.
If WIN in SEMIS: Finals: Likely to be Real Woods (IOWA) – Bartlett lost during the season 1-4.
If LOSE in SEMIS: Consolation round 4: Likely to be the Jakob Bergeland (MINN) / Frankie Tal Shahar (NU) loser from the quarters, neither of whom Bartlett has wrestled.
3rd Place bout: Could be any of Bergeland, Tal-Shahar, Pucino, or even Olivieri or Filius. Note: While mentioned as possible opponents in both the consi semis and finals, its obvious Bergeland or Tal Shahar can’t wrestle in both against the same opponent. They can however each have one shot at a common opponent in consecutive rounds.
149 #5 Shayne Van Ness (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Jake Harrier (ILL) – SVN has never wrestled Harrier (4-13 overall, 2-4 in B1G action).
2nd Round: Max Murin (IOWA) – SVN lost 1-4 at the dual. Win and it’s on to the 3rd round of championships, lose and it’s a drop to the 2nd round of consolations.
IF WIN vs Murin: 3rd Round: Sammy Sasso (tOSU) – Van Ness lost 3-6 during the season. Win here and it is on to the finals to likely face the Yahya Thomas (NU) / Austin Gomez (WIS) winner. Gomez hasn’t wrestled since 1/27 due to injury, which interestingly was suffered against Thomas. SVN lost 2-6 to Gomez at the dual, and has never faced Thomas.
IF LOSE vs Murin: 2nd Round Consolations: Dayne Morton (NEB) / Jaden Reynolds (PUR) winner from previous consi round. SVN has never wrestled either guy.
3rd Round of Consolations: Likely the Ethen Miller (MD) / Chance Lamer (MICH) winner from the 1st round of the championship bracket. SVN won by TF vs Miller and did not wrestle Lamer.
4th Round Consolations: Likely Austin Gomez (WIS) / Yahya Thomas (NU) loser from the semis.
3rd Place bout: Could be any number of guys.
157 #2 Levi Haines (10 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Michael Carr (ILL) / Derek Gilcher (IND) winner. Freshman Haines beat Gilcher 8-2, and did not wrestle Carr. Carr is a bit of an unknown, only 4-0 on the season but a talented past wrestler that came back late in the season after missing all or parts of the last few seasons due to injury. He owns a 12-7 win vs Siebrecht, who Haines beat 3-2.
3rd Round: Kendall Coleman (PUR) vs Will Lewan (MICH) winner – Haines won in SV against Lewan and has never faced Coleman.
Finals: Peyton Robb (NEB), Chase Saldate (MSU), or Cobe Siebrecht (IOWA). I believe any of these three could make the finals. Haines has not wrestled Robb or Saldate, and owns a 3-2 decision vs Siebrecht.
165 #4 Alex Facundo (8 spots allocated)
1st Round: Stony Buell (PUR) - Facundo did not face Buell this season. Buell is 8-13 on the season and 0-4 in Big Ten duals.
2nd Round: Carson Kharchla (tOSU) – Facundo won 4-1 during the season. Toss-up bout though imo.
3rd Round: Assuming Facundo wins in the 2nd round, he’ll surely face Dean Hamiti (WIS) in the semis. They did not wrestle during the season. Win and it is on to the finals, lose and it’s a drop to consolation 4th round.
Consolation 4th Round: Likely to be one of Caleb Fish (MSU), Maxx Mayfield (NU) or Andrew Sparks (MINN). Facundo beat Fish in SV in the dual and did not face Mayfield or Sparks. Facundo also lost to Fish at the Southern Scuffle last season.
Consi Finals: Cameron Amine (MICH) or Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) likely. Facundo beat Amine in TB, while losing to Kennedy in TB.
174 #1 Carter Starocci (7 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Troy Fisher (NU) vs Max Maylor (MICH) winner. Starocci pinned Maylor in the dual this season and has never wrestled Fisher.
3rd Round: Bailee O’Reilly (MINN) / Edmond Ruth (ILL) winner. Starocci has not wrestled either guy in his college career.
Finals: I would be surprised if it were anyone other than Mikey Labriola (NEB). These guys did not wrestle in 2023, but Starocci owns a SV win and a 6-1 win against the Cornhusker in previous years.
184 #1 Aaron Brooks (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Brian Soldano (RUT) vs Dylan Connell (ILL) winner – Brooks beat Soldano by Tech Fall this season and did not wrestle Connell.
3rd Round: Matt Finesilver (MICH) vs Abe Assad (IOWA) winner – Brooks beat Finesilver at the dual 14-4, but did not wrestle Assad this season. Brooks does own two wins against the Hawkeye in seasons past, 7-3 and 8-3.
Finals: Kaleb Romero (tOSU) or Isaiah Salazar (MINN) is likely, but Layne Malczewski (MSU) or Lenny Pinto (NEB) could crash the party. Brooks beat Romero at the dual 3-2, and also beat him at last year’s NCAA Championships 13-2. Brooks did not wrestle Salazar or Pinto or Malczewski this season, but does own a 4-0 win against Malczewski last season.
197 #1 Max Dean (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Braxton Amos (WIS) / Michial Foy (MINN) winner - Dean won 11-2 against Amos this season and did not wrestle Foy.
3rd Round: Cameron Caffey (MSU) / Jacob Warner (IOWA) winner – Dean beat both during this season, throwing two shutouts, 4-0 against Caffey and 2-0 against Warner. Dean also split two bouts with Caffey last season, losing at the dual, but winning at Big Ten’s 5-2. Dean also wrestled Warner twice last year, winning both, 8-3 and 3-2.
Finals: Silas Allred (NEB) or Zac Braunagel (ILL) likely, but Jaxon Smith (MD) or Gavin Hoffman (tOSU) is also possible. Allred or Braunagel or Smith would be first-time opponents for Dean. Dean is 3-0 lifetime against Hoffman, including a WBF this season.
285 #2 Greg Kerkvliet (9 spots allocated)
1st Round: Bye
2nd Round: Tate Orndorff (tOSU) or Hayden Copass (PUR) – Kerkvliet is 5-0 all-time vs Hoffman, including one win this season. All five were by Major Decision. Kerkvliet has never wrestled Copass.
3rd Round: Tony Cassioppi (IOWA) will surely be waiting. Kerkvliet has turned three losses in seasons past, into a win, 4-1, this season. Kerkvliet also beat Cassioppi at the All-Star Classic.
Finals: Mason Parris (MICH) is the heavy favorite to be in the finals. While Kerkvliet won all three bouts between them in 2022 (8-5, 5-3, and 6-1), Parris turned the table and won against the Lion 1-3 this season at the dual.
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