Penn State's Aaron Brooks, Roman Bravo-Young Win Big Ten Wrestling Titles
Penn State wrestler Aaron Brooks called the injury a "great mental test." But coach Cael Sanderson had to be practical and considered several options during Saturday's quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships.
"That was a tricky moment there when he was on the mat because we were trying to figure out, 'How do we get this kid to nationals?'" Sanderson said Sunday. "Does he finish the match? Can he finish the match? And he just decided to suck it up and not just finish the match - obviously he did - but go on and win the tournament. Gutsy performance by Aaron."
Brooks (184 pounds) won his second Big Ten title by pressing through a leg injury that clearly caused pain but ultimately didn't derail his mission. Brooks rallied from a 6-3 deficit to defeat Iowa's Nelson Brands 14-8 in that match, then completed the mission with a 10-6 victory over Nebraska's Taylor Venz in Sunday's final at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Brooks and teammate Roman Bravo-Young (133) highlighted Penn State's up-and-down weekend at the Big Ten championships, in which the team placed second to Iowa. The Lions claimed two titles, had four finalists and qualified nine wrestlers to the NCAA championships, scheduled for March 18-20 in St. Louis.
Sanderson held out hope Sunday that "longshot" Beau Bartlett could receive an at-large selection at 149 pounds. The team will find out Tuesday, when at-large selections are made. The NCAA brackets are scheduled to be released Wednesday.
In the meantime, Sanderson is looking for more effort across the board, the kind that Brooks showed in winning his second Big Ten title.
"We had guys wrestle well, we had some guys wrestle not so well," Sanderson said. "More than anything to me, I want to see great effort. I'm not sure we saw great effort all the time, which is probably the hardest thing as a coach. But we’ve got time to regroup here and figure some things out and be better at nationals."
Brooks, ranked No. 1 nationally at 184, certainly delivered. He was in a bad spot Saturday, injured and trailing. In those moments, Sanderson wondered whether the better decision might be to accept a medical forfeit and reset with an at-large selection to nationals.
Brooks wouldn't hear of it. By Sunday, the sophomore said he felt "amazing."
"A little adversity, but bouncing back," he said. "It's a true test to yourself and your own grit. So it was a great mental test for me just to see that I could compete through whatever adversity comes."
Bravo-Young, ranked second nationally, won his third consecutive bout against Iowa's Austin DeSanto dating to 2019. The two have wrestled five times in college, with Bravo-Young growing ever more dominant. He defeated DeSanto, ranked No. 3 nationally, 5-2 to win his first Big Ten title.
Penn State has qualified at least nine wrestlers to nationals for the eighth time in 12 years under Sanderson. If Bartlett receives an at-large big, Penn State would send all 10 wrestlers to nationals for the third time under Sanderson and first since 2014.
Here are Penn State's NCAA qualifiers.
125: Robby Howard (6th)
133. Roman Bravo-Young (1st)
141: Nick Lee (2nd)
157: Brady Berge (6th after a medical forfeit)
165: Joe Lee (8th)
174: Carter Starocci (2nd)
184: Aaron Brooks (1st)
197: Michael Beard (6th)
Hwt: Greg Kerkvliet (4th)
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