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Penn State Clinches 10th NCAA Wrestling Championship

The Nittany Lions sealed their title before five wrestlers competed in the finals.

Penn State clinched the team title at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Saturday afternoon, turning the evening spotlight on the Nittany Lions' five finalists.

Penn State officially secured its 10th NCAA team title in the medal round, before Greg Kerkvliet was scheduled to wrestle for third place at 285 pounds. The Lions won their ninth championship under head coach Cael Sanderson.

Now, the Lions can concentrate on the NCAA championship finals, which begin at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Four Lions seek to repeat as national champs: Roman Bravo-Young (133 pounds), Nick Lee (141), Carter Starocci (174) and Aaron Brooks (184).

Max Dean (197) will wrestle for his first NCAA title and make his second championship-bout appearance.

Roman Bravo-Young Penn State

Penn State's Roman Bravo-Young celebrates his 3-1 victory over Iowa's Austin DeSanto in the 133-pound semifinals at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

After falling to Michigan at the Big Ten tournament, Penn State dominated the field at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The Lions placed five wrestlers in the finals, crowned six All-Americans and generated bonus points in 12 of their 28 wins before the medal finals.

The Lions were one point from clinching after Kerkvliet defeated Michigan's Mason Parris 6-1 in the consolation round. They officially secured the team title less than an hour later, before Kerkvliet took a medical forfeit in his third-place bout against Lehigh's Jordan Wood. Despite wrestling with an injury, Kerkvliet finished fourth and became a two-time All-American.

Penn State has been on a dominant run under Sanderson since the 2010-11 season, the head coach's second year at Penn State. The Lions have won nine of the 11 NCAA team titles contested (2020's tournament was canceled) and have produced 75 All-Americans.

The Lions have won 27 NCAA individual titles since 2011, 17 more than second-place Cornell and Oklahoma State. They have 45 finalists, including this year, and are 45-5 in NCAA semifinal bouts.

The Lions can tie the NCAA record for most individual titles at a single tournament, which their 2017 team shares with Iowa (1986 and '97) and Oklahoma State (2005). Penn State is 27-13 in championship bouts and went 4-0 at the 2021 tournament. The Lions won three of those titles in overtime.

The Lions have won five consecutive NCAA championship bouts dating to Bo Nickal's 191-pound title in 2019.

Penn State is third all-time with 10 NCAA team titles. Oklahoma State leads with 34, followed by Iowa (24). With nine team titles, Sanderson moved into third place among head coaches behind Iowa's Dan Gable (15) and Oklahoma State's E.C. Gallagher (11).

Read more

Penn State goes 5-1 in NCAA wrestling semifinals, crowns six All-Americans

Michigan stuns Penn State at Big Ten championships

Lions complete another undefeated regular season under Cael Sanderson

AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.