Victory Bell Rings
Fansided

Penn State Wrestling will win a national championship if these guys step up

By Chris Snyder

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 23: Members and staff of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team pose for a team photo after winning the team title of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 23, 2019 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 23: Members and staff of the Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team pose for a team photo after winning the team title of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 23, 2019 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
Penn State Wrestling
Penn State’s Brady Berge, center, has his hand raised after winning in sudden victory against Iowa’s Kaleb Young at 157 pounds during the third session of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, Sunday, March 6, 2022, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.220306 Big Ten Wr 033 Jpg /

Penn State Wrestlers who will need to step up – No. 2

Brady Berge

Seed: 16

Shocking. Right?

I know you guys weren’t shocked at all when I included Beau Bartlett in this article and I highly doubt you batted an eye at Berge’s name above.

But I am actually surprised to include him here. Because the way he wrestled the remainder of the season at 157 was impressive, to say the least.

While the tight matches against stiffer competition were still there, Brady looked like a different wrestler than the one the Nittany Lion faithful saw last year. He appeared quicker, more decisive, and significantly more committed on his shot attempts.

This is the Brady Berge I’ve been waiting to see for the past four years.

This brings me back to why I was surprised.

I thought Berge would get at least a top 10 seed in his bracket. And this would mean he might not have a difficult match until the quarterfinals. Which ultimately meant his run to be an All-American while piling up points for the team wouldn’t be too daunting of a run.

Nope.

Assuming Berge gets past his opponent in the first round, he will have the fight of his life waiting for him in the second round as No. 1 David Carr will be his opponent. I say “will” because I don’t think either Derek Holschlag or Jordan Slivka have any shot against the reigning champion at 157.

Can Brady beat Carr? Well sure, as I’ve stated many times, anything can happen in wrestling.

Is it likely Brady will beat Carr? Not really, and that’s a problem because it just further adds to the common theme of this article. Talented and successful Penn State wrestlers will need to win a boatload of matches in the consolation bracket against other talented and successful wrestlers.

Brady unretired from wrestling in January and there’s no way he made that decision just to have an early exit in the NCAA Championships. Penn State will need Berge in full-on “push mode” the entire tournament.

Home/Penn State Wrestling