Penn State Wrestling: National Championship within Nittany Lions’ reach – Session IV Results
By Chris Snyder
Semifinal Matches – Championship Bracket (cont.)
184
No. 2 Aaron Brooks (PSU) vs. No. 3 Trent Hidlay (NCST)
Result: Aaron Brooks dec over Trent Hidlay 6-4
As I mentioned in our NCAA Wrestling Preview, Brooks and Hidlay met in the finals last year where Aaron was able to win his first NCAA title.
The match started out with both grapplers working in tight. And Brooks was able to land the first blow by earning a takedown in the upper right-side of the mat. Hidlay then snuck out and the match was 2-1 in favor of Brooks.
The first period ended and Brooks started the second in the bottom position.
Aaron broke free to earn the escape and his lead was then 3-1 with both grapplers on their feet and squared up. Hidlay got a stall warning called on him and the second period came to an end.
Brooks was in the top position to start the third period and he let Hidlay out to make the score 3-2.
Trent then somehow snuck in a takedown of his own and Brooks quickly escaped to knot the score at 4-4.
The final seconds of the third period ended and the match went to sudden victory. Brooks then quickly turned a horrible shot by Hidley into a takedown and he earned his way into the finals once again!
197
No.1 Max Dean (PSU) vs. No. 21 Gavin Hoffman (OSU)
Result: Max Dean dec over Gavin Hoffman 9-3
The two grapplers already met this season where Dean got the best of Hoffman 5-3 in sudden victory.
Dean got his offense going quickly with a takedown early in the first period and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The Penn State fans haven’t seen the normally strong Max Dean on top so he promptly answered any lingering questions with a “Not so fast my friend!” and rode Hoffman out for the rest of the first period.
Max started the second period in the bottom position and got to his feet for the escape. He next took Hoffman to the mat again and added to his lead to make the score 5-0 midway through the second.
Dean continued to work on Hoffman and he pushed his riding time to over three minutes to begin the third period.
Hoffman elected to start the third period in the neutral position and Gavin took Dean to the mat for his first takedown to make the score 6-2.
Max was given the escape and he snagged a single leg and turned it into another takedown at the far right-side of the mat to extend his lead to 8-3 with only seconds remaining in the match.
The third period ended and Max Dean had his hand raised in the center of the mat and he’s headed to the finals at 197!
285
No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet vs. No. 1 Gable Steveson (MINN)
Result: Gable Steveson dec over Greg Kerkvliet 8-3
Kerkvliet and Steveson locked horns in last year’s NCAA Championships where it was no surprise Gable ended up winning a 9-4 decision. Prior to this, the two talented wrestlers met in a high school match in Minnesota.
The action was hot and heavy early with these two and Kerk almost landed a takedown early when he grabbed a single leg. But Steveson is incredibly difficult to take down and he fought out.
Gable promptly took a committed shot and struck first on Kerkvliet with a takedown to take the lead 2-0. Kerk fought out for the escape and the match stood at 2-1 in favor of Steveson going into the second period.
Kerkvliet was in the bottom position for the start of the second however Steveson was able to keep him down on the mat and not give away the escape until a minute left in the period.
The score was tied at 2-2 with both grapplers squared up and on their feet in the second period and neither guy could score a takedown.
The third period began with Kerkvliet on top and Steveson broke free early to regain the lead 3-2 with a minute and 14 seconds of riding time.
And with a short time in the third period, Gable pulled off an amazing move to earn the takedown and the match was effectively over.
Hey look, Greg Kerkvliet gave Gable Steveson everything he could handle and he wasn’t that far from pulling off the massive upset. This is simply a testament to how good Steveson really is.