Team title, 5 champs: Here’s how each Nittany Lion did in the Big Ten Wrestling Championships

Penn State wrestling’s dynastic-type run continued on into the Big Ten Championships finals on Sunday afternoon inside the Xfinity Center at the University of Maryland.

The Nittany Lions were able to successfully defend their team title from last year as five wrestlers claimed the top spot on their respective podium. The five champions tied the all-time mark, which was set in 2011.

Penn State finished with 170.5 points — a program record, which was 47 points ahead of Michigan. Nebraska rounded out the top three with 118 points.

Here’s a look at how the Big Ten Championships ended for all 10 Nittany Lions:

125 Pounds: Braeden Davis

Final record: 4-0

Finish: 1st

Recap: The true freshman looked like anything but a freshman in his finals match against Minnesota’s Patrick McKee.

He stayed cool, calm and collected after getting a feel for McKee in the first period. In the second period, Davis put McKee to his back for three nearfall points.

McKee did escape before the period came to an end. The third period saw Davis get out from McKee rather easily compared to other opponents of McKee.

Right before time expired, Davis pulled off a double-leg takedown, lifting McKee into the air and a takedown. The crowd erupted as Davis earned an 8-1 win for his first Big Ten title.

After the win, Davis drew from advice that came from his father.

“At the end of the day, it’s just a match. You just don’t let your highs be too high and your lows be too low,” Davis said. “I think that’s really good advice. It’s really important.”

Looking back over what he accomplished this weekend, Davis went through three six-year wrestlers and McKee, who was in his fifth-year of eligibility.

“I guess it just means that it doesn’t matter if they got five years ahead of me. I just keep coming out there and trying to win,” he said of the accomplishment.

133 Pounds: Aaron Nagao

Final record: 4-1

Finish: 3rd

Recap: Nagao squared off with Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee in the consolation finals.

The pair also faced off in the quarterfinals, where Nagao edged Van Dee, 4-3, Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday, Nagao got a takedown about one minute into the bout. He threw in his legs and cranked Van Dee over for a fall in 1:51.

Nagao got his offense going against Maryland’s Braxton Brown, but it wasn’t until there was just under 20 seconds left in the first period of their consolation semifinals match.

In the second period, Nagao put Brown to his back for nearfall points, but was called for an illegal hold. He led 7-1, but Brown did escape before the period ended.

Brown added a takedown in the third period to make things interesting, but Nagao was far enough ahead to win 9-5.

141 Pounds: Beau Bartlett

Final record: 2-1

Finish: 2nd

Recap: Bartlett didn’t suffer a loss all season.

Earlier this year, he topped his finals opponent in Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez. However, Mendez had the distinct honor of handing the Penn State wrestler his first loss.

The Buckeyes wrestler tallied the first points with an escape in the second period. Bartlett responded early in the third period with an escape of his own.

As the time dwindled down, the pair got into a scramble situation that looked like Bartlett would come out on top of. Instead, Mendez countered back and got the winning score with 11 seconds left in a 4-1 win.

149 Pounds: Tyler Kasak

Final record: 4-1

Finish: 3rd

Recap: Kasak seemed to feed off of what Davis and Nagao pulled off in their matches.

He snapped off a takedown of Maryland’s Ethen Miller nine seconds into their consolation finals match. Kasak then put Miller to his back with a deep bar and half nelson for four nearfall points.

Miller was able to get off his back. He went to escape, and Kasak picked him up and almost fireman’s carried Miller to his back for a fall in 2:36.

Kasak made sure to keep the Nittany Lions perfect in the third session against Iowa’s Caleb Rathjen.

The last time the two squared off, Rathjen got out to an early lead. This time around, Kasak took an early lead thanks to a nice double-leg takedown.

Rathjen’s escape in the second period was all the scoring for that frame. The third period was all Kasak as he quickly escaped and tallied a takedown with 15 seconds remaining in the bout for an 8-1 win in the consolation semifinals.

157 Pounds: Levi Haines

Final record: 3-0

Finish: 1st

Recap: Haines took on Michigan’s Will Lewan for the title.

The pair faced off during the January dual, with Haines collecting a 2-1 win thanks to a stall from Lewan.

Sunday afternoon saw the score tied, 1-1, which forced a sudden victory period. Both wrestlers had a stall called against them, so it was anybody’s game.

Haines made sure to not let the match up to the referee as he collected a takedown 11 seconds into the sudden victory period for a 4-1 victory and his second straight Big Ten title.

“It was just part of my game plan. I just stayed persistent, stayed on him, saw an opening and took it,” Haines said of the match and winning. “It doesn’t really mean a whole lot to me. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to compete. I’m thankful that I really opened up this weekend. I just really enjoyed myself and took everything in. It just made the event all the more better.”

165 Pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink

Final record: 3-0

Finish: 1st

Recap: Mesenbrink faced Wisconsin’s Dean Hamiti in one of the most anticipated finals matches.

The two have a style of letting it fly. They did just that, combining to score 24 points.

“I’m glad we wrestled like we did because a lot of the times you don’t want to give up points. It’s really low scoring matches. He got some takedowns. I got some takedowns,” Mesenbrink, who was named Freshman of the Year, said. “It was just fun because that’s what’s exciting. When you watch that match, I can’t remember all of it, but it was exciting, I know that.”

At first, Hamiti was the one scoring all the points. He pulled off a slick ankle pick and a nice counter takedown to lead 6-1 after one period.

Mesenbrink opened the second period with an escape. However, Hamiti got a third takedown, which seemed to ignite Mesenbrink.

He recorded a takedown of Hamiti after several failed attempts with one second left to trail 9-6 going to the third.

Hamiti opened with a reversal, which just caused Mesenbrink to burn more. He escaped, shot back in immediately and took Hamiti to his back for a five-point move with just over one minute left in the bout.

Mesenbrink rode Hamiti for the remainder and earned the 13-11 win. He jumped to his feet, pointed to the Penn State section and went over to slap assistant coach Casey Cunningham’s and head coach Cael Sanderson’s hands.

“It was a great match, two of the best guys in the country. They just let it rip,” Sanderson said. “It was great for everybody. We’re happy for him.”

174 Pounds: Carter Starocci

Final record: 0-2

Finish: Did not place

Recap: Ever since Starocci suffered a knee injury against Edinboro, everyone wondered what his status would be.

Well, he came out to the mat, shook hands with his opponent on Saturday afternoon — Minnesota’s Andrew Sparks — and the referee blew his whistle. A second later, the referee blew his whistle again, and Sparks was declared the winner via injury default.

The loss snapped Starocci’s 64-match win streak, which was the longest in the country.

He then injury defaulted again to Purdue’s Brody Baumann to end what could be his last Big Ten Championships.

“He wanted to wrestle the whole tournament and was planning on wrestling the tournament. It is really tough for him. He’s having a hard time about this. He’d wrestle if both of his legs were hurt,” Sanderson said on Saturday. “He’s just so competitive. He’s pretty upset, but there’s just no reason, when he meets the criteria to get an at-large (bid), to put himself in a position to set himself back.

“He’s not happy, with me, but that’s why he’s Carter Starocci.”

184 Pounds: Bernie Truax

Final record: 3-1

Finish: 2nd

Recap: Truax had an unfamiliar opponent in Minnesota’s Isaiah Salazar in the finals.

The pair traded escapes in regulation with Salazar being the aggressor early and often. However, Truax’s defense was stellar, which forced a sudden victory period.

In that overtime period, Truax’s defense had a little bit of a crack that Salazar took advantage of. The Golden Gophers’ wrestler shot in and Truax draped over the top of him and had a crotch lock.

When Salazar rolled over to try and get better positioning, Truax lost his grip and was put on his back. Salazar caught him, collected the takedown and nearfall points for an 8-1 win.

197 Pounds: Aaron Brooks

Final record: 3-0

Finish: 1st

Recap: As much history that the team set on Sunday, Brooks just added to individually.

He faced Iowa’s Zach Glazier, who was the only opponent this season to not give up bonus points to Brooks.

“He’s a really good wrestler. He’s super hard to open up,” Brooks said of his opponent. “He’s tough and does a real good job of protecting himself.”

Brooks was able to open Glazier up to the tune of six takedowns that were executed flawlessly. He had three takedowns alone in the third period, which allowed him to pick up a 19-3 technical fall in 6:07.

The win gave Brooks his fourth Big Ten title, making him just the third four-time conference champion in Penn State’s history joining Ed Ruth and David Taylor. He became the 18th wrestler in Big Ten history to win four titles.

He was also crowned the Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament and the Wrestler of the Year.

“It’s a blessing. I’m just grateful that I had this opportunity to spread the word of God and just go out there and compete like that,” Brooks said. “Eyes look to me, hopefully they see that, that’s why I do it. I think being real close to my family, a lot more people who don’t get to come watch me compete, got to come, so that’s real cool. I’m blessed for that.”

285 Pounds: Greg Kerkvliet

Final record: 3-0

Finish: 1st

Recap: Kerkvliet took on Ohio State’s Nick Feldman, who he had no problems dispatching in the February dual, 12-0.

Feldman put up a little more of a test on Sunday, but not for very long.

The Buckeyes’ wrestler got a takedown of Kerkvliet 26 seconds into the bout, but the Nittany Lion was unfazed as he escaped rather quickly. Kerkvliet added a takedown of his own to lead 4-3.

The second period saw Kerkvliet open with an escape, and then he added a takedown. Feldman wanted to start on his feet in the third period, which didn’t allow either wrestler to score in a 9-3 victory for Kerkvliet, who won his first Big Ten title.

Big Ten Championships

Sunday at College Park, Md.

Team key: Illinois (Ill.), Indiana (Ind.), Iowa (I), Maryland (M), Michigan State (MSU), Michigan (Mich.), Minnesota (Minn.), Nebraska (N), Northwestern (NW), Ohio State (OSU), Penn State (PSU), Purdue (P), Rutgers (R), Wisconsin (W)

Team scores: 1. Penn State 170.5, 2. Michigan 123.5, 3. Nebraska 118, 4. Iowa 110.5, 5. Ohio State 89, 6. Rutgers 87.5, 7. Minnesota 74, 8. Wisconsin 46.5, 9. Purdue 41.5, 10. Maryland 39

Finals

125: Braeden Davis, PSU, dec. Patrick McKee, Minn., 8-1; 133: Dylan Shawver, R, tech. fall Dylan Ragusin, Mich., 23-8 (7:00); 141: Jesse Mendez, OSU, dec. Beau Bartlett, PSU, 4-1; 149: Ridge Lovett, N, dec. Austin Gomez, Mich., 5-4; 157: Levi Haines, PSU, dec. Will Lewan, Mich., 4-1 (SV); 165: Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, dec. Dean Hamiti, W, 13-11; 174: Edmond Ruth, Ill, med. forfeit, Shane Griffith, Mich.; 184: Isaiah Salazar, Minn., dec. Bernie Truax, PSU, 8-1 (SV); 197: Aaron Brooks, PSU, tech. fall Zach Glazier, I, 19-3 (6:07); 285: Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, dec. Nick Feldman, OSU, 9-3

Consolation Finals

133: Aaron Nagao, PSU, pinned Jacob Van Dee, N, 1:51; 149: Tyler Kasak, PSU, pinned Ethen Miller, M, 2:36

Consolation Semifinals

133: Nagao, PSU, dec. Braxton Brown, M, 9-5; 149: Kasak, PSU, dec. Caleb Rathjen, I, 8-1