NCAA Wrestling Championships 2022: Results, Updated Team Standings After Friday
The nation's best grapplers inched closer to winning a title as the semifinals of the 2022 NCAA wrestling championships were completed Friday night at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Penn State remains firmly in the driver's seat to take home another national championship. The Nittany Lions had their run of four straight national championships come to an end in 2021 after Iowa took the title.
Another dominant performance Friday has Penn State and head coach Cael Sanderson on the verge of victory.
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2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships Team Standings
1. Penn State, 108.0
2. Michigan, 84.5
3. Arizona State, 63.6
4. Iowa, 62.0
5. Nebraska, 54.0
6. Northwestern, 49.0
7. Virginia Tech, 48.0
8. Cornell, 45.0
T9. Missouri, 42.0
T9. Ohio State, 42.0
Full standings available at TrackWrestling.com
Day 2 Highlights
Penn State had six wrestlers in the semifinals and got its first five wrestlers to advance.
133-pounder Roman Bravo-Young put the Nittany Lions on the board early with a dramatic win over Iowa's Austin DeSanto. Bravo-Young, the 2021 national champion who is undefeated this season, scored a late takedown after a scramble within the last 30 seconds to secure the win.
Nick Lee followed suit for Penn State at 141 pounds, defeating Stanford's Real Woods 3-2. Nittany Lions 2021 champion Carter Starocci also cruised to another final at 174 pounds with a 10-3 win over NC State's Hayden Hidlay. Starocci will take on Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis.
But things were much more dramatic for Penn State's Aaron Brooks at 184 pounds. He held an early lead over NC State's Trent Hidlay, but Hidlay scored a takedown late in the third period. Brooks earned a point with an escape to force sudden victory, and there he closed things out to advance to the final.
Brooks will meet Michigan's Myles Amine in the final. Amine is a five-time All-American and advanced to his first final with a sudden-victory win over Cal Poly's Bernie Truax.
Penn State's Max Dean reached the final at 197 pounds with an easy win over Ohio State's Gavin Hoffman. Dean will meet Iowa's Jacob Warner, who advanced to the final as a No. 6 seed after an upset win over Wyoming's Stephan Buchanan. Warner was the Hawkeyes' last chance to keep its national finalist streak alive, and he delivered.
The Nittany Lions' streak was snapped when heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet ran into defending national champ and Minnesota star Gable Steveson. The reigning national champion and 2020 Olympic gold medalist cruised to a major decision over Kerkvliet. Steveson is on a clear mission to end his career with another title. He'll be matched up against Arizona State's Cohlton Schultz in the final after his dramatic overtime win.
Perhaps the most impressive win of the day came in the other 141-pound semifinal, when UNC's Kizhan Clarke upset Pitt's Cole Matthews. Clarke entered the tournament as a No. 15 seed and won on a tiebreaker.
At 125 pounds, top seed and 2019 champion Nick Suriano of Michigan reached the final for the second time. He will be matched up against Princeton's Patrick Glory, who topped Cornell's Vito Arujau 13-5 to give the Tigers their first national finalist in 20 years.
Not long after that, 157-pounder Quincy Monday give Princeton its second 2022 finalist by holding off Michigan's Will Lewan 3-2. He will face Northwestern's Ryan Deakin, who majored Arizona State's Jacori Teemer.
At 149 pounds, Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis will go for his third national title against Nebraska's Ridge Lovett. The 165-pound final will feature Stanford's Shane Griffith against Missouri's Keegan O'Toole.
The tournament will reach its dramatic conclusion when the night session for the finals commences Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
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