After clinching its 10th team title and ninth in 11 years on Saturday afternoon, Penn State wrestling crowned five individual champions to wrap up a dominant 2022 NCAA Championships tournament.
Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks each won their second consecutive titles and Max Dean claimed his first during the championship session on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Penn State now has 32 individual champions since coach Cael Sanderson’s tenure began in 2010 and 53 all-time.
Earlier in the day, sophomore heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet took fourth place after defeating Michigan’s Mason Parris 6-1 in the consolation semifinals then medically forfeiting the third-place bout.
Penn State finished the weekend with 131.5 team points, outpacing second-place Michigan’s 95. Iowa (74 points), Arizona State (66.5) and Nebraska (59.5) rounded out the top five.
How It Happened
Defending champion No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young had a rematch from the 2021 title bout against No. 2 Daton Fix from Oklahoma State in the 133-pound final. Bravo-Young used ankle pick and switched to a double leg for an early takedown and held a 2-1 lead after the first period. An escape by Fix knotted the score at 2-2, but Bravo-Young’s quick escape in the third ultimately secured his second national championship with a 3-2 decision. He finishes the season with a 22-0 record.
Next to the mat, defending champion and No. 1 seed Nick Lee saw No. 15 Kizhan Clarke of North Carolina in the 141 title bout. Clarke was aggressive early and burst out with a takedown to put Lee down 2-0. Lee quickly fought back with an escape and a takedown of his own to go up 3-2 and rack up 1:40 of riding time in the first. Lee continued to assert himself in the second period, getting a quick escape then shooting on a low single and getting behind Clarke for another takedown. A stall point grew Lee’s lead heading into the final period. The intensity never wavered as Lee added another takedown in the third and a riding time point, leading to his second national championship with a 10-3 decision. Lee finishes his senior season with a 22-0 record.
Sophomore No. 1 Carter Starocci was next up to defend his 174-pound title against Virginia Tech’s No. 2 Mekhi Lewis. Following a quiet first period, Starocci earned the escape to start the second and go up 1-0. Virginia Tech then challenged for a Lewis takedown and on review the points were awarded to put Lewis ahead 2-1. After a Starocci escape tied it, Lewis opened the third with an escape to go ahead 3-2. The Nittany Lion then secured a takedown near the edge of the mat, and Lewis’s escape tied it at 4-4 to send the bout into overtime.
Neither wrestler scored during sudden victory, so the match moved to two 30 second tiebreakers. Each got an escape, but Starocci’s 15 seconds of riding time scored the tiebreaker point for his second straight title. His win capped off his season at 23-0 and marked Penn State’s 30th individual title since 2011.
No. 2 Aaron Brooks met No. 1 Myles Amine of Michigan for the 184-pound title in a rematch of the Big Ten championship match won by Amine. Brooks started strong, countering an Amine shot for a takedown then going to work on top. He would ride out Amine through the end of the first period and for the entirety of the second after Amine chose down, locking up the riding time point before the start of the final period. Brooks took down to start the third and got a reversal as Amine attempted an aggressive mat return. Amine got a takedown in short time, but Brooks got the 5-3 win and a second straight national title. Brooks finishes the season 21-1.
For the Nittany Lions’ final bout of the season, No. 1 Max Dean wrestled No. 6 Jacob Warner of Iowa for the 197-pound championship. After a scoreless first, Warner earned a quick escape to start the second and Dean evened it with one of his own in the third. With about 35 seconds remaining, Dean countered a sloppy Warner shot and got behind the Hawkeye for the decisive takedown and a 3-1 lead. Dean allowed Warner to escape as time ran out and claimed his first national championship with a 3-2 decision. He finishes the season 23-1.
The Nittany Lions’ five individual title-winners tied an NCAA record held by multiple teams, including the 2017 Penn State championship squad.
Geoff Rushton contributed to this report
