NCAA Wrestling Championships: Penn State Wrestling’s paths to titles

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: Nico Megaludis (L), Zain Retherford (C) and Morgan McIntosh of the Penn State Nittany Lions pose with the first place team trophy after the finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 19, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 19: Nico Megaludis (L), Zain Retherford (C) and Morgan McIntosh of the Penn State Nittany Lions pose with the first place team trophy after the finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 19, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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Penn State Wrestling
Brady Berge of the Penn State Nittany Lions (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

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No. 12 Brady Berge

Berge draws No. 21 Andrew Cerniglia of Navy in the opening round. Brady has been a bonus machine against lower ranked wrestlers this season and I don’t think this match will be any different.

Next up could then potentially be Iowa’s No. 5 Kaleb Young. Young finished 5th in the 2019 NCAA’s and compiled a record of 4-2 in the national event which includes two wins over Ryan Deakin.

Last year Young took a step back as he finished 15-5 on the year and lost each of his last three matches. So far this season it’s been smooth sailing for Kaleb, minus the B1G finals beatdown Deakin put on him 6-0.

Berge and Young have never met in college and if Berge is ever going to prove my eternal optimism for him, he will have to beat Kaleb. Which, shockingly, is what I think happens!

This then pits Berge up against Rider’s No. 4 Jesse Dellavecchia in the quarter finals. This is also where I believe Berge’s run in the Championship bracket ends and he get relegated to the wrestleback bracket.

As with Howard, if Berge can get some favorable draws in wrestlebacks I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibilities where he can find himself in the 5th place match. Regardless of the outcome of this match, a top 6 finish at the NCAA’s could be a huge confidence boost to Berge going into next season.

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