MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.; March 9, 2019 – No. 1 Penn State (14-0, 9-0 B1G) leads the field after day one of the 2019 Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis. Head coach Cael Sanderson's squad owns a 19.5-point lead after day one of the two-day event at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena.
The Nittany Lions had eight wrestlers in the semifinals, all of whom already qualified for the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh on March 21-13. Six of those Lions won and will compete for an individual Big Ten title in tomorrow afternoon's Big Ten Championship finals which air live nationally on the Big Ten Network. One more Lion punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships, brining Penn State's total to nine. The three Lions not in the championship finals tomorrow are all live for third place. Penn State leads the team race with 130.0 points while Ohio State is second with 111.5. Nebraska is in third with 84.0, Iowa is fourth with 83.5 and Minnesota is fifth with 76.5.
Sophomore Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), ranked No. 2 at 141 and the second seed, took on No. 3 Joey McKenna of Ohio State in the first of Penn State's eight semifinal match-ups. McKenna drew first blood with a takedown midway through the opening period and another in the final seconds to lead 4-1 after one. McKenna led 5-1 in the second and Lee cut into the lead late in the third but the Buckeye was able to hold on for a 5-4 win. Lee will continue in consolation action Sunday, still alive for third place.
Redshirt freshman Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn.), ranked No. 13 nationally at 149 and the sixth seed, faced off against No. 2 Micah Jordan of Ohio State in the semifinals. Jordan opened up a big early lead with three first period takedowns. Berge notched a second period escape but Jordan pulled away in the third to post a 13-4 major decision. Berge will continue in a quest for third place on Sunday.
Senior Jason Nolf (Yatesboro, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 157 and the top seed, took on No. 5 Alex Pantaleo of Michigan in the semifinals. Nolf notched a takedown early in the first period and amassed 1:14 in riding time to lead 2-1 after one. He escaped to start the second stanza and then took Pantaleo down again to up his lead to 5-1. He picked up a stall point and 2:08 in riding time to post a dominating 7-1 decision and advance to Sunday's Big Ten Championship finals match.
Junior Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 165 and the top seed, faced No. 7 Logan Massa of Michigan in the semifinals. Joseph scored quickly, taking Massa down to open up an early 2-1 lead, which he carried to the second period. Massa escaped to tie the match in the second and Joseph escaped to start the third period to take a 3-2 lead. Joseph pressed Massa for the entire third period and turned a shot and scramble into a fall at the 6:41 mark to move in to Sunday's finals.
Junior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 1 at 174 and the top seed, met No. 12 Devin Skatzka of Minnesota in the semifinals. Hall battled Skatzka through a scoreless first period. The Lion junior chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. He pressed the Gopher for the entire period and notched a takedown to lead 3-0 after two. Skatzka chose down to start the third and scrambled to a late reversal to cut the lead to 3-2. Hall escaped to a 4-2 lead and made the score stand. Hall's 4-2 decision pushes him through to tomorrow's finals.
Senior Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.), ranked No. 2 nationally at 184 and the second seed, took on No. 6 Taylor Venz of Nebraska in the semifinals. Rasheed wasted no time taking Venz down to open up an early lead and then countered a Venz shot to lead 4-1 midway through the first period. Venz escaped to start the second but not before Rasheed owned a 1:15 riding time edge. Rasheed escaped at the start of the third period and led 5-3 with 1:30 in riding time. He gave up a last second takedown but his 1:25 in riding time gave the Lion a 6-5 win and moves him in to the finals Sunday.
Senior Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas), ranked No. 1 at 197 and the top seed, met No. 13 Eric Schultz of Nebraska in the semifinals. Nickal took Schultz down at the 1:00 mark of the first period and added a second late to lead 4-1 after one. Schultz chose down to start the second period and escaped but Nickal added another takedown to lead 6-2 after two periods. Nickal added an escape, a takedown and 2:48 in riding time to post a 10-2 major decision and advance to the championship finals.
Senior Anthony Cassar (Rocky Hill, N.J.), ranked No. 3 at 285 and the second seed, met No. 14 Conan Jennings of Northwestern in the last of Penn State's eight semifinal bouts. After a scoreless minute, Cassar took a lead with a takedown and then added a second one late in the period to lead 4-1 after one. The Lion added a takedown and a stall point and led 7-1 after two periods. He added a reversal in the third period and rode Jennings out to roll to a 10-1 major decision with 2:05 in riding time. Cassar's win makes him Penn State's sixth finalist.
True freshman Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.), ranked No. 12 nationally at 133 and the fourth seed, took on Wisconsin's Jens Lantz in his first consolation bout. Bravo-Young took an early first period lead with two first period takedowns and added three more in the second period. The Lion freshman then picked up two more takedowns and added a bonus point thanks to 1:47 riding time to post a strong 14-5 major decision. The win clinched Bravo-Young's trip to nationals, making him Penn State's ninth qualifier. The Lion then met Dylan Duncan of Illinois in the consolation quarterfinals. Bravo-Young notched an early first period takedown to lead after the opening period. Duncan tied the match with an escape to start the second and the match was tied after two. Bravo-Young chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 3-2 lead. The Lion freshman made the escape stand and held on for a 3-2 decision. Bravo-Young ended day one with a 3-1 mark and is still alive for third place.
Sophomore Devin Schnupp (Lititz, Pa.), making his first ever appearance at the Big Ten Championship at 125, faced Rutgers' Shane Metzler in the first round off a special consolation bracket with the opportunity to place ninth at 125 and earn a trip to the NCAA tournament still in hand. Schnupp, who dropped a 6-1 decision to Metzler earlier in the tournament, lost 6-4 this time. Schnupp ends his season with a 6-17 record
Penn State went 8-3 in the second session. The Lions picked up three more majors and a pin and now have 17 bonus points off six majors, two technical falls and four pins.
Penn State has won five Big Ten Championships (tournament) under Sanderson and six Big Ten Regular Season (dual meet) titles, including this year's dual crown. The Nittany Lions have had 25 individuals win a total of 43 Big Ten individual titles.
Action resumes on Sunday with consolation action starting at 1 p.m. Eastern / 12 p.m. Central (local) and the championship finals at 4 p.m. Eastern / 3 p.m. Central (local). The Finals will air live on the Big Ten Network and the entire tournament, every mat, will stream live on BTN2go/BTN-Plus ($).
Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
2019 Big Ten Championships – Team Scores, Session 2 (top 3):
Saturday, March 9, 2019 – Williams Arena – Minneapolis, Minn.
Top 5 Teams after session 2
1: PENN STATE – 131.0
2: Ohio State – 111.5
3: Nebraska – 84.0
4: Iowa – 83.5
5: Minnesota – 76.5
Penn State's individual bout by bout agate:
All rankings listed InterMat as of 2/26/19
125: Devin Schnupp, So. (14th seed)
Rd. 1: #12 Travis Piotrowski, Illinois – L, 17-0 (TF; 4:39)
Cn. 1: Shane Metzler, Rutgers – L, 6-1 dec.
Cn. S1: Shane Metzler, Rutgers – L, 6-4 dec.
Schnupp made his first ever appearance at the Big Ten Championship at 125. Schnupp took on fifth seed and 12th-ranked Travis Piotrowski of Illinois in his first match and dropped a 17-0 technical fall. He then took on Rutgers' Shane Metzler in his first consolation bout and lost a 6-1 decision.
For this session's recap, see story above
133: #12 Roman Bravo-Young, Fr. (4th seed)
Rd. 1: Jevon Parrish, Nebraska – W, 18-5 maj. dec.
Qtrs: #7 Luke Pletcher, Ohio State – L, 8-5 dec.
Cn. 2: Jens Lantz, Wisconsin – W, 14-5 maj. dec.
Cn. Q: Dylan Duncan, Illinois – W, 3-2 dec.
Cn. S: #3 Austin DeSanto, Iowa – tomorrow
Bravo-Young, ranked No. 12 nationally at 133 and the fourth seed, made his Big Ten tournament debut against Nebraska's Jevon Parrish. Bravo-Young took an early 6-2 lead with three first period takedowns, added three more in the second and rolled to an 18-5 major with 2:26 in riding time. Bravo-Young then met No. 7 Luke Pletcher of Ohio State in the quarterfinals. Bravo-Young drew first blood and led 2-1 after the opening period. Pletcher answered with a takedown and two back points to lead 6-3 after two periods. The Buckeye added another takedown in the third and posted the hard-fought 8-5 win.
For this session's recap, see story above
141: #2 Nick Lee, So. (2nd seed)
Rd. 1: bye
Qtrs: #16 Max Murin, Iowa – W, 8-3 dec.
Semis: #3 Joey McKenna, Ohio State – L, 5-4 dec.
Cn. S: tomorrow
Lee, ranked No. 2 at 141 and the second seed at the tournament, had a first round bye. He met No. 16 Max Murin of Iowa in the quarterfinals and opened up an early lead with two first period takedowns. Murin cut the lead to 4-3 with an escape in the second period, but Lee got an escape, a penalty point and a takedown in the third to roll to the 8-3 victory. Lee's win moved him into the semifinals.
For this session's recap, see story above
149: #13 Brady Berge, Fr. (6th seed)
Rd. 1: Parker Filius, Purdue – W, 12-3 maj. dec.
Qtrs: #9 Pat Lugo, Iowa – W, 4-2 (sv2)
Semis: #2 Micah Jordan, Ohio State – L, 13-4 maj. dec.
Cn. S: tomorrow
Berge, ranked No. 13 nationally at 149 and the sixth seed, took on Purdue's Parker Filius in his Big Ten tournament debut. Berge notched two first period takedowns to open up an early lead, picked up another two points in the second period and poured it on in the third to roll to a 12-3 major with 1:43 in riding time. Berge took on No. 9 Pat Lugo of Iowa in the quarterfinals. Berge battled the third seed through a scoreless first period and then took a lead with an escape to start the second and Lugo escaped to start the third, tying the match at 1-1 with less than 1:40 to wrestle. The duo wrestled through one sudden victory period and both escaped in the first tiebreaker. With just :33 left in the second sudden victory minute, Berge deftly slid around Lugo for a takedown and posted the thrilling 4-2 (sv2) win, advancing to the semifinals.
For this session's recap, see story above
157: #1 Jason Nolf, Sr. (1st seed)
Rd. 1: bye
Qtrs: #12 Eric Barone, Illinois – WBF (2:13)
Semis: #5 Alex Pantaleo, Michigan – W, 7-1 dec.
Finals: tomorrow
Nolf, ranked No. 1 at 157 and the top seed, had a first round bye. Nolf met No. 12 Eric Barone of Illinois in the quarterfinals and opened up an early lead with three takedowns and then locked up a cradle on the third. Nolf settled in and picked up the fall at the 2:13 mark to move into the semifinals.
For this session's recap, see story above
165: #1 Vincenzo Joseph, Jr. (1st seed)
Rd. 1: bye
Qtrs: Joey Gunther, Illinois – W, 21-6 (TF; 5:59)
Semis: #7 Logan Massa, Michigan – WBF (6:41)
Finals: tomorrow
Joseph, ranked No. 1 at 165 and the top, had a first round bye. Joseph took on Joey Gunther of Illinois in the quarterfinals and opened up a big lead early with five takedowns in the first period. The Lion junior picked up an escape to start the second and tacked on two more takedowns to lead by ten after two. Joseph added four near fall points and a final takedown to post the dominating 21-6 tech fall at the 5:59 mark, moving in to the semis.
For this session's recap, see story above
174: #1 Mark Hall, Jr. (1st seed)
Rd. 1: bye
Qtrs: Drew Hughes, Michigan State – WBF (2:38)
Semis: #12 Devin Skatzka, Minnesota – W, 4-2 dec.
Finals: tomorrow
Hall, ranked No. 1 at 174 and the top seed, had a first round bye. Hall faced off against Drew Hughes off Michigan State in the quarterfinals and opened up a big early lead with two quick first period takedowns. Hall then locked Hughes up at the shoulders, took him took the mat and quickly pinned him at the 2:38 mark. Halls dazzling move moved him into the semifinals.
For this session's recap, see story above
184: #2 Shakur Rasheed, Sr. (2nd seed)
Rd. 1: bye
Qtrs: #20 Cameron Caffey, Michigan State – WBF (5:17)
Semis: #6 Taylor Venz, Nebraska – W, 6-5 dec.
Finals: tomorrow
Rasheed, ranked No. 2 nationally at 184 and the second seed, had a first round bye. He met No. 20 Cameron Caffey of Michigan State in the quarterfinals and took a big early lead with a takedown and four back points. He dominated the first period on top, keeping Caffey down for the bulk of the period to collect over 2:00 of riding time after one period. Rasheed added a takedown in the second, chose top to start the third and quickly locked up a cradle to pin Caffey at the 5:17 mark. Rasheed's win moved him into the semifinals.
For this session's recap, see story above
197: #1 Bo Nickal, Sr. (1st seed)
Rd. 1: bye
Qtrs: Brad Wilton, Michigan State – W, 19-4 (TF; 5:34)
Semis: #13 Eric Schultz, Nebraska – W, 10-2 maj. dec.
Finals: tomorrow
Nickal, ranked No. 1 at 197 and the top seed, drew a first round bye. He took on Michigan State's Brad Wilton in the quarterfinals and blew the match open early. Nickal notched two takedowns, picking up four near fall on the second. After a reset out of bounds, the Lion spent the rest of the period working on top and had nearly 3:00 of riding time and a seven-point lead after one period. Nickal picked up two more takedowns and two back points in the second and then finished bout early in the third with two more takedowns. Nickal posted the 19-4 tech fall at the 5:34 mark and moved into the semifinals.
For this session's recap, see story above
285: #3 Anthony Cassar, Sr. (2nd seed)
Rd. 1: Jacob Aven, Purdue – W, 12-4 maj. dec.
Qtrs: #13 David Jensen, Nebraska – W, 8-4 dec.
Semis: #14 Conan Jennings, Northwestern – W, 10-2 maj. dec.
Finals: tomorrow
Cassar, ranked No. 3 at 285 and the second seed, met Purdue's Jacob Aven in the opening round of his first Big Ten tournament. He picked up three first period takedowns, one in the second and then a final one in the third period. The Lion added 2:25 in riding time and posted the 12-4 major. He took on No. 13 David Jensen of Nebraska in the quarterfinals and opened up an early lead with a first period takedown. He picked up an escape and a takedown in the second and then added a final takedown and 3:48 in riding to roll to an 8-4 win. The victory moved Cassar through to the semifinals.
For this session's recap, see story above
