NCAA Wrestling Championships brackets released: Penn State’s draws

Penn State Wrestling’s opening round matches have been set at the upcoming NCAA Wrestling Championships

The NCAA recently released the brackets for the upcoming 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships which is set to begin next Thursday, March 18th. Let’s take a look at Penn State Wrestling’s’ opening round matchups.

125
No. 23 Robbie Howard (PSU) vs. No. 10 Malik Heinselman (OSU)

Records:
Howard 5-4
Heinselman 10-3

Past Matchups:
2/19/21 – Heinselman dec. Howard, 5-2
3/6/21 – Heinselman dec. Howard, 5-2

133
No. 2 Roman Bravo-Young (PSU) vs. No. 31 Sean Carter (APP)

Records:
Bravo-Young 9-0
Carter 12-6

Past Matchups:
N/A

141
No. 2 Nick Lee (PSU) vs. No. 31 Julian Flores (DREX)

Records:
Lee 8-1
Flores 6-3

Past Matchups:
1/1/19 – Lee fall Flores, 4:14

157
No. 12 Brady Berge (PSU) vs. No. 21 Andrew Cerniglia (NAVY)

Records:
Berge 8-2
Cerniglia 8-1

Past Matchups:
N/A

165
No. 23 Joe Lee (PSU) vs. No. 10 Travis Wittlake (OKST)

Records:
Lee 6-5
Wittlake 16-1

Past Matchups:
1/1/20 – Wittlake dec. Lee, 8-4

174
No. 3 Carter Starocci (PSU) vs. No. 30 Victor Marcelli (UVA)

Records:
Starocci 9-2
Marcelli 8-5

Past Matchups:
N/A

184
No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) vs. No. 32 Jhaquan Anderson (GW) OR No. 33 Joe Accousti (SH)

Records:
Brooks 9-0
Accousti 4-3

Past Matchups:
N/A

197
No. 15 Michael Beard (PSU) vs. No. 18 Jacob Koser (NAVY)

Records:
Beard 6-4
Koser 7-3

Past Matchups:
N/A

285
No. 9 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) vs. No. 24 Michael McAleavey (CIT)

Records:
Kerkvliet 6-2
McAleavey 15-1

Past Matchups:
N/A

Thoughts

A couple of things to note:

1. Robbie Howard gets another shot at Malik Heinselman. I had the same question here as I do now. Can he finally get over the “Malik-hump”?

2. Beau Bartlett unfortunately did not get a spot in the 149 group. It was a long shot, but I was hoping he might get an at-large bid.

3. Penn State’s big guns were well represented in grabbing a No. 1 seed (Brooks), two No. 2 seeds (Bravo-Young and N. Lee), and a No. 3 seed (Starocci).

4. Everyone else, including Howard, have some difficult opening round matches. Did the underclassman learn anything from the B1G’s? You’re ’bout to find out!