[Photo Story] Penn State Wrestling Dominates Big Ten Championships
Tradition never graduates.
Penn State wrestling’s perennial dominance was showcased over the weekend in historic fashion. Each season, the team finds a way to replace its commanding leaders to remain the top team in the nation every year.
In Cael Sanderson’s 15th season with the Nittany Lions, the team took home its eighth Big Ten title in his tenure leading the blue and white. Let’s take a look through the lens of our photographers to see how the weekend unfolded.
The weekend kicked off with Penn State’s Braeden Davis, Aaron Nagao, Tyler Kasak, and Bernie Truax each finding success in round one of the championships to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, nine of the 10 Nittany Lions advanced to the semifinals later that day. The only Penn Stater to not advance was Carter Starocci, who took an injury default after an injury suffered in the team’s regular-season finale against Edinboro.
Aaron Brooks and Greg Kerkvliet were two of nine Nittany Lions to advance to the finals. Both had strong performances, earning technical falls.
Davis was the first of seven Nittany Lions to wrestle in a Big Ten Championship bout. He won by decision with an 8-1 victory over No. 4-seeded Patrick McKee of Minnesota.
The next Nittany Lion to wrestle was Beau Bartlett, who lost an upset heartbreaker to Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez in a 4-1 decision.
Levi Haines helped the team bounce back with a 4-1 decision over Michigan’s Will Lewan.
Possibly the bout of the day, Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink came back from a 9-2 deficit against the top seed from Wisconsin, Dean Hamiti. Mesenbrink won by decision in dramatic fashion to continue his historic freshman season.
Truax’s strong tournament run came to an end after losing by decision to No. 1 seed Isaiah Salazar of Minnesota.
It looked too easy for Brooks as he won by technical fall again, clinching his fourth individual Big Ten title. Brooks became the third Nittany Lion to secure four individual Big Ten titles and the fourth in conference history.
Kerkvliet proved again why he’s the top heavyweight in the country with a 9-3 decision over Ohio State’s Nick Feldman.
The impressive weekend gave the team momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament in Kansas City in two weeks.
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