UNIVERSITY PARK– Penn State wrestling started these U.S. Olympic Trials with 21 athletes affiliated the either the program or Nittany Lion Wrestling Club competing for a chance to go to the Olympics.
Of those 21, 10 are still competing for Paris and seven have been eliminated and seven of those will be wrestling in the semifinals Friday night.
David Taylor (86 KG), Kyle Dake (74) and Kyle Snyder (97) all have byes until Saturday night, where they’ll wrestle in a Best of Three series.
The semifinal bouts will take place in Session II of the trials, which begin Friday evening at 6:30.
Nittany Sports Now is here covering the Trials in person. For Session II, there will be a Live File keeping track of all of NLWCs competitors still fighting to get to the Olympics. Here’s a list of their matchups. This file will continue to be updated throughout the night.
74 KG
Jordan Burroughs vs. Jason Nolf
The two wrestle to a scoreless first period. Nolf got a point late in the first to go ahead 1-0. With six seconds left in the first period, Nolf got a takedown to go ahead by 3. Burroughs’ corner throws the challenge brick, and he wins the challenge to keep the score 1-0. A viscous takedown seconds into the second period makes it 3-0 in favor of Nolf. Nolf competed the upset and now faces Kyle Dake in a best of 3 series tomorrow.
57 KG
No. 2 Thomas Gilman vs. No. 3 Daton Fix
Gilman gets off to a 4-0 lead. He ends up cruising to a 6-0 win.
Gilman 6, Fix 0
65 KG
No. 1 Nick Lee vs. No. 4 Andrew Alirez
Lee and Alirez have an entertaining first period, tied at four at the end of it. Alirez takes a brief 5-4 lead but Lee answers with a takedown to go ahead 6-5. He eventually pushes the lead to 10-7. Alirez gets a late takedown, but it isn’t enough.
Lee 10, Alirez 9
Zain Retherford vs. Jesse Mendez
Retherford and Mendez went into the second period tied at two.
74 KG
No. 1 Jordan Burroughs vs. No. 4 Mitchell Mesenbrink
Burroughs gets things started with an early takedown to go up 2-0. He later goes up 6-0 and adds an extra point. He takes that lead into the second period. Mesenbrink kept battling, but Burroughs ultimately got an 8-3 win. He’ll take Nolf in the challenge tournament finals.
Burroughs 8, Mesenbrink 3
No. 2 Jason Nolf vs. No. 11 Jarrett Jacquez
Nolf takes care of business with a 9-2 win.
Nolf 9, Jacques 2
86 KG
No. 1 Aaron Brooks vs. No. 4 Alex Dieringer
It’s an exciting one at the start with Brooks leading 6-4 a minute into the second period. He subsequently adds a takedown to make it 8-4. He ends up winning by that score.
Brooks 8, Dieringer 4
Brooks vs. Zahid Valencia
It’s a tight match, with each man getting a point. A minute into the second period, Brooks goes ahead 3-1 with a takedown that got the partisan Penn State crowd going. Moments later, an emphatic takedown by Valencia makes it 5-3. NLWC challenges but the call is confirmed and Valencia leads 6-3. Brooks gets a takedown to make it 6-5. Then, with 11 seconds left, he gets a point on a push out. With six seconds left, Valencia, who had the tiebreaker on criteria, got called for an illegal singlet pull, putting Brooks ahead 7-6. That’s now it stayed.
Brooks 7, Valencia 6
125 KG
No. 2 Nick Gwiazdowski vs. No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet
Kerkvliet fell in a 5-1 decision.
Gwiazdowski 5, Kerkvliet 1
WOMEN’S BRACKET
62 KG: Jen Page (NLWC) vs. Mallory Velte
Page led 6-4 at the end of a high-scoring first period. She got a takedown in the second to go up 8-4, but Velte got a three-point takedown of her own to cut it to 8-7. Page hangs on.
Page 8, Velte 7
Page vs. Macey Kilty
Kilty won in a hard-fought 9-8 decision
Kilty 9, Page 8
So, as far as NLWC goes, here’s what tomorrow’s slate looks like for the finals, all best-of-three
57 KG: Gilman vs. Spencer Lee
65 KG: Retherford vs. Nick Lee
74 KG: Nolf vs. Kyle Dake
86 KG: Brooks vs. Taylor
97 KG: Kyle Snyder (NLWC) vs. Isaac Trumble
