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NCAA Wrestling Championships: Penn State Wrestling’s title Contenders

By Chris Snyder

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 18: Vincenzo Joseph of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs to the mat as he is introduced during the championship finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 18, 2017 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Hunter Martin/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 18: Vincenzo Joseph of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs to the mat as he is introduced during the championship finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 18, 2017 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Hunter Martin/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
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Iowa’s Michael Kemerer celebrates his win against Oklahoma State’s Joe Smith at 174 pounds during the Hawkeye’s last home dual of the season, on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020, in Carver Hawkeye Arena.0223 Iowawr 020 Cr2
Iowa’s Michael Kemerer celebrates his win against Oklahoma State’s Joe Smith at 174 pounds during the Hawkeye’s last home dual of the season, on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020, in Carver Hawkeye Arena.0223 Iowawr 020 Cr2 /

174

(1) Michael Kemerer (IOWA) 7-0
(2) Demetrius Romero (UVU) 16-0
(3) Carter Starocci (PSU) 8-2
(4) Mikey Labriola (NEB) 11-1

Past Matchups

03/06/21 Kemerer dec. Starocci, 7-2
03/06/21 Starocci SV1 Labriola, 3-1
01/18/20 Kemerer dec. Labriola, 3-1

And we’re now onto our first relatively experienced group of top seeded wrestlers. Both Kemerer and Romero are seniors, Labriola is a junior, and Starocci is a redshirt freshman.

Kemerer is the most decorated wrestler of the group in finishing 3rd (2017) and 4th (2018) in the NCAA’s at 157. Romero finished in the round of 12 at 165 in 2019 and Labriola finished 6th in 2019 at 174.

Kemerer, Starocci, and Labriola all wrestled a who’s who list of B1G grapplers this season in matches against No. 5 Logan Massa (MICH), No. 7 Kaleb Romero (OHST), and No. 9 Donnell Washington (IND). The trio went an impressive 7-1 against this group of other top B1G 174 wrestlers.

While the former trio is battle tested on the season, Demetrius Romero only had 3 matches all season against top 20 ranked opponents. To his credit he’s only really been pushed in one match which just so happened to be the first match he wrestled in 2021. Romero won in SV1 against No. 12 seeded Bernie Truax of Cal Poly 6-4.

This should be a fun group to watch as the action unfolds later this week.

Sleeper: (8) Daniel Bullard (NCST) 8-1

Bullard wrestled in both the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Championships, however he did not place in either showing. He followed those up with a solid season in 2020 going 24-6 with a handful of wins over top 25 opponents.

Bullard has built on this experience in putting together a good 2021 season with an 8-1 record and claiming his first ACC Championship title. A 4-2 victory in SV1 against No. 16 seeded Clay Lautt of UNC. We’ll know just how good he is as he may have a Friday morning match against No. 1 Michael Kemerer if the bracket goes chalk.

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