The grind that is the NCAA Wrestling Championships has concluded it’s third session of wrestling and let’s recap the results for Penn State Wrestling.
Following the first two sessions, the Nittany Lions were out to a decent lead in the team race. But there were still plenty of teams in the hunt and plenty of matches to be wrestled.
And boy was the action in Session III just as exciting as ever!
But before that, here is a quick look at the team scores and the schedule for the action set for later today.
Team Scores
1. Penn State 84.5
2. Michigan 50.5
3. Arizona State 44.5
4. Iowa State 41.5
5. Iowa 40.5
6. Ohio State 35.5
7. Virginia Tech 33.0
8. NC State 32.5
Friday Evening Schedule
Session IV
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST
Where: Kansas City, Missouri
TV: ESPN and ESPN+
Live Stream: FuboTV (FREE Trial)
Session Duration: 3 hours
Now onto the action!
Penn State Wrestling Session III – Championship Bracket
125
No. 8 Richard Figueroa (ASU) dec. over No. 1 Braeden Davis (PSU) 3-2
141
No. 2 Beau Bartlett (PSU) fall over No. 26 Vance Vombaur (MINN) 6:48
157
No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) major dec. over No. 8 Peyton Robb (NEB) 8-0
165
No. 2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) dec. over No. 10 Cameron Amine (MICH) 6-1
174
No. 9 Carter Starocci (PSU) dec. over No. 1 Mekhi Lewis (VT) 4-0
184
No. 3 Dustin Plott (OKST) major dec. over No. 6 Bernie Truax (PSU) 16-6
197
No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) fall over No. 8 Stephen Buchanan (OU) 2:44
285
No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) dec. over No. 9 Nick Feldman (OHST) 1-0
Summary
With the quarterfinal matches this afternoon, the Nittany Lions advance a whopping six guys to the semifinals later tonight.
Braeden Davis suffered a stunning loss against Arizona State’s Richard Figueroa. With how well Davis rides on top, I never would have expected a third period reversal would end his run in the championship bracket. But that’s wrestling and the young man will certainly learn from it.
Beau Bartlett notched his second straight fall of the tournament, Levi Haines continued to keep the score operators busy with his third bonus point win, and Mitchell Mesenbrink got the job done once again against Cameron Amine.
Then all eyes were on Carter Starocci as he took on No. 1 Mekhi Lewis in the quarterfinals. Would his injured knee hold up?
Well you better believe it did!
Starocci did not give up a single point to Lewis. And he looked good on his feet in the first and second periods. But above all, he looked unbelievably strong on top. Carter is onto the semifinals!
At 184 Bernie Truax was off to a great start. He snagged an early takedown and was in the driver seat. But luck, or in this case bad luck, is always a factor in wrestling.
With a minute remaining in the first period, the head referee should have absolutely called for a potentially dangerous position. However he didn’t.
Bernie Traux was clearly in pain and it’s amazing he even finished the match. At this point it’s not clear if Truax will be able to continue later this evening.
Moving on.
Hey, look at that! Aaron Brooks just pinned another over-matched opponent in the first period!
With the win, Brooks is now assured his fifth All-American finish.
And in the final match of the session for the Nittany Lions, Greg Kerkvliet tip toes to the semifinals as he pulled out an insanely tight 1-0 win. With his win, Kerk is now a four-time All-American.
Session III – Consolation Bracket
133
No. 10 Aaron Nagao (PSU) dec. over No. 24 Julian Chlebove (ASU) 5-1
149
No. 7 Tyler Kasak (PSU) fall over No. 9 Ethan Fernandez (COR) 0:36
Summary
As I said last night with both Nagao and Kasak. Just keep winning and moving on.
And both of these guys did just that. However they will have some tough opponents down the road as Nagao draws Ohio State’s Nic Bouzakis and Kasak has Indiana’s Graham Rooks.
We’ll see everyone later on tonight!
Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
