UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 14, 2019 – The Penn State Nittany Lions, under the guidance of head coach Cael Sanderson, will be sending nine wrestlers to the 2019 NCAA Wresting Championships on March 21-13 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Three of those nine NCAA qualifiers will be the top seeds at their respective weights.
A total of seven Penn Staters are seeded in the top three (including the three No. 1 seeds and three No. 2 seeds) and all nine of Penn State's entries are seeded in the top 12. For the first time, the NCAA is seeding all 33 wrestlers whereas last year only the top 16 were seeded. Please note that the records vs. the field listed below for each wrestler may include results against wrestlers at different weights.
True freshman Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.) is the No. 10 seed at 133. Bravo-Young earned an NCAA bid by placing fifth at the Big Ten Championships and is 21-4 on the year. He will meet No. 23 Mario Guillen of Ohio in the opening round of his first NCAA tournament. Bravo-Young is 8-4 vs. this year's field and 0-0 at the tournament all-time.
Sophomore Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.) is the No. 3 seed at 141. Lee, a returning All-American after placing fifth at 141 last year as a true freshman, earned his spot at nationals with a third place finish at Tens and is 27-2 on the year. Lee will take on No. 30 Nate Limmex of Purdue in the first round. Lee is 10-2 vs. this year's field and 6-2 at the tournament all-time.
Redshirt freshman Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn.) is the No. 12 seed at 149. Berge punched his ticket to Pittsburgh by placing sixth at Big Tens and is 18-3 overall. He will meet No. 21 Khristian Olivas of Fresno State in the opening round of his first NCAA tournament. Berge is 6-3 vs. this year's field and 0-0 at the tournament all-time.
Senior Jason Nolf (Yatesboro, Pa.) is the No. 1 seed at 157. Nolf, a three-time All-American and two-time defending NCAA Champion, won the Big Ten title to earn the automatic spot and he is 26-0 this year. Nolf will meet the winner of the pigtail match between No. 33 Ben Anderson of Duke and No. 32 Alex Klucker of Lock Haven in the opening round. Nolf is 11-0 vs. this year's field and 14-1 at the tournament all-time.
Junior Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.) is the No. 2 seed at 165. Joseph, a two-time All-American and the two-time defending NCAA Champion, earned his trip to Pittsburgh with a Big Ten runner-up finish at the conference tournament and is 23-1. He will take on No. 31 seed Evan Delong of Clarion in the opening round. Joseph is 10-1 vs. this year's field and 10-0 at the tournament all-time.
Junior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.) is the No. 1 seed at 174. Hall, a two-time All-American and the '17 NCAA Champion, won the Big Ten title for his automatic bid to nationals and is 26-0. Hall will meet the winner of the pigtail match between No. 33 Devin Kane of North Carolina and No. 32 Jake Covaciu of Indiana in the opening round. Hall is 16-0 vs. this year's field and 9-1 at the tournament all-time.
Senior Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.) is the No. 2 seed at 184. Rasheed, an All-American at 197 last season, was the Big Ten runner-up in Minneapolis to earn a trip to nationals and is 18-0 on the year. Rasheed will meet No. 31 Kevin Parker of Princeton in the opening round of his second NCAA tournament. Rasheed is 5-0 vs. this year's field and 4-2 at the tournament all-time.
Senior Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas) is the No. 1 seed at 197. Nickal, a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA Champion at 184, won the Big Ten title to earn the automatic spot and is 25-0 this year. Nickal will meet the winner of the pigtail match between No. 33 Rod Jones of Chattanooga and No. 32 Ethan Laird of Rider in the opening round. Nickal is 13-0 vs. this year's field and 14-1 at the tournament all-time.
Senior Anthony Cassar (Rocky Hill, N.J.) is the No. 2 seed at 285. Cassar, making his first trip to the NCAA tournament, won the Big Ten Championship in Minneapolis to earn his spot in the bracket and is 25-1 overall. Cassar will take on No. 31 Zack Parker of Ohio in the first round. Cassar is 12-1 vs. this year's field and 0-0 at the tournament all-time.
Penn State has won seven of the last eight NCAA Championships, all since Sanderson's arrival at Penn State (he is in his tenth season this year). The Nittany Lions have won eight NCAA titles overall, owning a title from 1953. The Nittany Lions have won the last three NCAA titles (2016, 17 and 18) and will be working towards their second straight four year title streak (having won in 2011, 12, 13 and 14).
The 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships will take place in Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 21-23. The three-day event takes place in PPG Paints Arena. Action begins on Thursday with session one at 12 p.m. and session two at 7 p.m. Session three is Friday at 11 a.m. and session four, featuring the national semifinals, is at 8 p.m. The medal rounds take place in session five on Saturday at 11 a.m. while the Championship Finals are set for Saturday at 7 p.m. All morning sessions (one, three, five) will air live on ESPNU and all evening sessions (two, four, fix) air on ESPN. Fans can view mat-by-mat coverage via ESPN3 at Watchespn.com and via the ESPN App.
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.
