Wrestling fans came into this weekend expecting Penn State to dominate at the Big Ten championships and they weren’t disappointed.
Of PSU’s 10 starters, nine of them are going to the Big Ten Semifinals later tonight.
The lone exception is 125-pounder Braeden Davis, who lost his quarterfinal match in heartbreaking fashion to Rutgers’ Dylan Shawver.
The good news for Davis is he’s still virtually a lock to qualify for the NCAA Championships, needed just one win in the consolation bracket to make it officially official.
Penn State’s other nine starters are officially going to Philly, and now, they’ll be looking to win individual conference titles.
SEMIFINAL RUNDOWN
Carter Starocci improves Penn State’s winning margin 26-5 with his convincing win over Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari.
Here’s a rundown of the nine semifinal matches Penn State will be involved in Saturday night.
125: No. 4 Luke Lilledahl vs. No. 1 Matt Ramos (Purdue)
141: No. 1 Beau Bartlett vs. No. 4 Vance VomBaur (Minnesota)
149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness vs. No. 5 Kannon Webster (Illinois)
157: No. 2 Tyler Kasak vs. No. 3 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska)
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink vs. No. 4 Beau Mantanona (Michigan)
174: No. 1 Levi Haines vs. No. 4 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa)
184: No. 1 Carter Starocci vs. No. 5 Jaxon Smith (Maryland)
197: No. 2 Josh Barr vs. No. 3 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan)
Heavyweight: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet vs. No. 3 Joshua Heindselman (Michigan)
THE STANDINGS
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: Cael Sanderson
So, what do the team standings look like through one session of the Big Ten Championships?
Well, as one could imagine, Penn State wrestling is way ahead, with its 88 team points being 28 ahead of Nebraska. It seems pretty clear where this one is headed.
Session II is scheduled to begin at 6, with the semifinal matches starting at 8.
