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Penn State Wrestling widens NCAA Championship lead – Session III results

By Chris Snyder

Penn State's Aaron Brooks, top, wrestles Virginia Tech's Hunter Bolen at 184 pounds during the second session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.220317 Ncaa Session 2 Wr 009 Jpg
Penn State's Aaron Brooks, top, wrestles Virginia Tech's Hunter Bolen at 184 pounds during the second session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.220317 Ncaa Session 2 Wr 009 Jpg /
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Penn State Wrestling’s Aaron Brooks (Image via the Des Moines Register) /

Breaking down the action No. 1 Penn State Wrestling saw in Session III of the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships

Following the conclusion to the second session of the 2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships, the Nittany Lions were leading the way with Arizona State, Iowa, and Michigan close on their heels.

The wrestling kicked off on Friday before noon and the Little Caesar Arena was rocking and excited for an action-packed session.

Would Penn State Wrestling be able to advance their big guns into the semifinals later tonight and pad their lead even further?

Consolation Matches

125
No. 16 Drew Hildebrandt (PSU) vs. No. 15 Brody Teske (UNI)

Result: Brody Teske dec over Drew Hildebrandt 8-4

This was the best Hildebrandt has looked in the past month. He appeared to have more energy and he looked to get to his offense early.

Unfortunately, it simply wasn’t good enough.

The former 4th place finisher at 125 in last year’s NCAA, who compiled a record of 45-5 in 2020 and 2021, finished the season going 1-3 in the Big Ten Championships and 1-2 in the NCAA Championships.

At this point, I’m beginning to think there might be more to Hildebrandt than just an injury or illness. Because Drew didn’t just dip at the end of this season, he drove a bus off of a cliff with an M1A1 tank attached to it.

In any case, Drew was a big part of Penn State’s perfect dual record during the Big Ten portion of the season. I just wish he would have had a better tournament season for himself and for the Nittany Lions.

149
No. 13 Beau Bartlett (PSU) vs. No. 19 Yahya Thomas (NU)

Result: Yahya Thomas dec over Beau Bartlett 5-3

Once again Beau Bartlett battled hard against a tough opponent. And once again he was unable to score more points than the guy standing across from him. The loss marks the end to Bartlett’s 2022 NCAA run.

But look on the bright side for Beau, closing the chapter from this season then allows him to begin the journey for next year. Which is hopefully a more successful one at 141 pounds in the blue and white singlet.

Overall Bartlett had a good season. He beat several ranked opponents, placed seventh at the Big Ten Championships, and qualified and competed in the NCAA Championships. The future looks bright for next year.

157
No. 16 Brady Berge (PSU) vs. No. 15 Johnny Lovett

Result: Brady Berge dec over Johnny Lovett 4-3

Berge gave the rest of the wrestling field at the 2022 NCAA Championships the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag in saying Penn State grapplers in the consolation bracket weren’t finished.

Brady willed his way to the win and his season continues.

Next up for Berge is a match against No. 10 Peyton Robb (NEB).

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