Myles Amine (Michigan) won the Big Ten title at 184 pounds. Photo by Sam Janicki.

The 2022 Big Ten Wrestling Championships are in the books, and on the backs of two individual champions, the University of Michigan won the title. Led by head coach Sean Bormet, Michigan won its first Big Ten team championship since 1973. The Nittany Lions crowned four champions en route to a runner-up finish.

Michigan, which entered the final session 9.5 points ahead of Iowa and 10.5 points ahead of Penn State, kept up its winning ways beginning with the first-place match at 125 pounds.

Nick Suriano, the top seeded wrestler, handily defeated Wisconsin’s third-seeded Eric Barnett to win his second career Big Ten championships. With the win, Michigan expanded its lead to 14.5 and 15.5 points, respectively.

In the third-place match at 125 between Minnesota’s Patrick McKee and Michael DeAugustino from Northwestern at 125 pounds, McKee won his fourth straight match after being defeated in the first round. McKee placed third at the 2021 NCAA Championships in a similar fashion where he won six consecutive matches.

In the highly anticipated finals bout at 133 pounds, Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young won by decision, 3-1, over Iowa’s Austin DeSanto. In the match between the weight’s top two seeds, Bravo-Young broke a third period tie with a takedown for the victory. After victories by DeSanto in the first two matches in their career history, Bravo-Young has rattled off five consecutive wins.

Dylan Ragusin from Michigan took third at 133 pounds, as he was awarded a takedown after a coaches challenge in overtime to beat Lucas Byrd of Illinois, 3-1. At the conclusion of 133 pounds, Penn State had moved into second place with 125.5 points, trailing Michigan with 138 points.

Due to a medical forfeit by Iowa’s Jaydin Eierman, Penn State’s reigning NCAA champion Nick Lee was crowned the 2022 Big Ten champion at 141 pounds. Lee entered as the number one seed and took home his first Big Ten individual title.

Minnesota’s Jakob Bergeland placed third at 141 pounds, as he defeated 2018 Big Ten champion Stevan Micic from Michigan 3-0, thus Penn State closed the gap to 138-131.5.

149 pounds featured the top two seeded wrestlers meeting in the finals, as No. 1 seed Sammy Sasso from Ohio State took on Wisconsin’s Austin Gomez. After a first period takedown by Sasso, Gomez scored a takedown in the second period and two more in the third to win 8-5. Gomez, a junior, was competing in his first Big Ten Championships after previously wrestling for Iowa State.

Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin won his third consecutive Big Ten title at 157 pounds with a 7-2 finals victory over Will Lewan from Michigan. Deakin controlled the match the entire time and now he’ll take his unblemished season record to the NCAA Championships in two weeks.

In a rematch of a quarterfinals match, Brady Berge from Penn State again defeated Iowa’s Caleb Young, this time 3-1 in overtime to take third place at 157 pounds. Berge spent part of the season as an assistant coach at South Dakota State before returning to the Nittany Lions at 157 pounds and ultimately coming into the Big Ten Championships as the tenth-seeded wrestler. After the medal matches at 157 pounds, Michigan maintained a lead of 138-132.5 lead over Penn State.

On the strength of a second period escape and point for stalling, Iowa’s Alex Marinelli won 2-1 over Michigan’s Cameron Amine for the championship at 165 pounds. With his win, Marinelli joined Big Ten wrestling royalty with his fourth consecutive Big Ten title. Most recently this was accomplished by Isaiah Martinez from Illinois (2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018).

In the third-place match at 165 pounds, Wisconsin freshman Dean Hamiti scored a sudden victory takedown to beat Ohio State’s Carson Kharchla, 4-2.

In the first of two Penn State-Michigan match-ups for first place, 2021 NCAA champion Carter Starocci from Penn State won his first Big Ten title with a 5-1 decision over Logan Massa at 174 pounds. The top two seeds at 174 pounds had met previously in a dual meet in January, with Starocci winning 3-2. With the third individual championship for the Nittany Lions, they closed Michigan’s lead to 1.5 points – 138 to 136.5.

The first-place match at 184 featured the nation’s two top ranked wrestlers, as Aaron Brooks from Penn State faced off against Michigan’s Myles Amine, a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist for San Marino. Brooks, the 2020 and 2021 Big Ten champion, entered the third period leading. However, a late takedown in regulation by Amine, followed by another in overtime gave Amine won his first Big Ten individual title by the score of 6-4. With Amine handing Brooks his first loss since 2020, Michigan went back up by 5.5 points.

Zac Braunagel from Illinois, the 12th seeded wrestler at 184 pounds, won four straight matches to place third at 184 pounds. In the third place match, Braunagel won 3-1 in sudden victory over Kaleb Romero from Ohio State.

In another first place match featuring the top two seeds, Penn State’s Max Dean knocked off Eric Schultz from Nebraska at 197 pounds by score of 4-2. The Husker faithful cheered loudly in the third period, but Dean was able to stave off any takedown attempt and secure the title.

In a replay of a quarterfinal rematch at 197 pounds, Michigan’s Patrick Brucki again defeated Iowa Hawkeye wrestler Jacob Warner by score of 3-1 to place third. With both Michigan and Penn State picking up additional team points during the finals, the team score was 143-140.5 in favor of the Wolverines. With only three possible points remaining for either team, the team title was firmly heading to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Olympic gold medalist Gable Stevenson of Minnesota received a forfeit to win his third consecutive Big Ten championships at 285 pounds. The final match of the tournament was won by Greg Kerkvliet from Penn State, as he defeated Michigan’s Mason Parris 5-3 to place third.

Awards:
2022 Big Ten Freshman of the Year – Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin, 165 pounds)
2022 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year – Gable Steveson (Minnesota, 285 pounds)
2022 Big Ten Coach of the Year – Sean Bormet (Michigan)
2022 Most Outstanding Wrestlers of the Championships – Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) and Myles Amine (Michigan)

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Lincoln, Neb., March 5-6

125 (10 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Nick Suriano (Michigan) 11-0, RS Sr. over Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 14-3, Jr. (MD 12-4)
3rd Place Match - Patrick McKee (Minnesota) 13-7, RS Jr. over Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) 10-4, Sr. (Dec 3-1)
5th Place Match - Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) 16-5, Sr. over Devin Schroder (Purdue) 19-6, RS Sr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match - Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) 18-7, Fr. over Drake Ayala (Iowa) 11-6, Fr. (M. For.)
Additional Qualifiers – Jack Cardani (Illinois), Drew Hildebrandt (Penn State)

133 (10 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) 17-0, Sr. over Austin DeSanto (Iowa) 12-3, RS Sr. (Dec 3-1)
3rd Place Match - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) 18-6, RS Fr. over Lucas Byrd (Illinois) 21-3, RS Fr. (SV-1 3-1)
5th Place Match - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) 15-5, RS So. over RayVon Foley (Michigan State) 28-5, RS Sr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match - Matt Ramos (Purdue) 18-8, RS Fr. over Jake Gliva (Minnesota) 8-13, RS Jr. (Dec 3-2)
Additional Qualifiers – Joe Olivieri (Rutgers), Brock Hudkins (Indiana)

141 (7 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Nick Lee (Penn State) 17-0, RS Sr. over Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) 14-2, RS Sr. (M. For.)
3rd Place Match - Jakob Bergeland (Minnesota) 12-6, RS Sr. over Stevan Micic (Michigan) 10-6, RS Sr. (Dec 4-0)
5th Place Match - Dylan D`Emilio (Ohio State) 17-9, RS So. over Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) 20-3, RS Sr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match - Frankie Tal Shahar (Northwestern) 11-7, So. over Parker Filius (Purdue) 21-11, RS Sr. (Dec 11-6)

149 (7 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) 18-2, RS Jr. over Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) 17-2, RS Jr. (Dec 8-5)
3rd Place Match - Max Murin (Iowa) 12-3, Sr. over Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 15-3, So. (M. For.)
5th Place Match - Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 9-12, RS Jr. over Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) 20-5, RS Sr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) 14-8, So. over Kanen Storr (Michigan) 6-5, RS Sr. (Dec 3-1)

157 (7 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) 13-0, RS Jr. over Will Lewan (Michigan) 13-3, RS Jr. (Dec 7-2)
3rd Place Match - Brady Berge (Penn State) 9-2, Sr. over Kaleb Young (Iowa) 3-2, RS Sr. (SV-1 3-1)
5th Place Match - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 11-7, So. over Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 14-8, RS Jr. (MD 8-0)
7th Place Match - Garrett Model (Wisconsin) 12-11, RS Sr. over Chase Saldate (Michigan State) 26-8, So. (Dec 7-0)

165 (7 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Alex Marinelli (Iowa) 17-1, RS Sr. over Cameron Amine (Michigan) 12-3, RS So. (Dec 2-1)
3rd Place Match - Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) 21-2, Fr. over Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) 17-3, RS So. (SV-1 4-2)
5th Place Match - David Ferrante (Northwestern) 10-11, So. over Clayton Wilson (Nebraska) 10-10, RS Fr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match - Cael Carlson (Minnesota) 12-13, RS So. over Caleb Fish (Michigan State) 22-12, So. (Fall 2:41)

174 (8 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Carter Starocci (Penn State) 18-0, So. over Logan Massa (Michigan) 16-2, RS Sr. (Dec 5-1)
3rd Place Match - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) 16-5, RS Sr. over Troy Fisher (Northwestern) 16-9, RS So. (M. For.)
5th Place Match - Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) 15-4, Jr. over Michael Kemerer (Iowa) 9-5, RS Sr. (M. For.)
7th Place Match - Dominic Solis (Maryland) 13-15, So. over Connor ONeill (Rutgers) 9-14, Fr. (Dec 10-4)

184 (12 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Myles Amine (Michigan) 16-1, RS Sr. over Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 16-1, Jr. (SV-1 6-4)
3rd Place Match - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) 15-7, RS Jr. over Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) 13-3, RS Sr. (SV-1 3-1)
5th Place Match - Taylor Venz (Nebraska) 13-7, Sr. over Kyle Cochran (Maryland) 23-9, RS Sr. (Dec 6-3)
7th Place Match - Abe Assad (Iowa) 11-7, So. over Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) 10-6, So. (M. For.)
Additional Qualifiers – John Pozanski (Rutgers), Layne Malczewski (Michigan State), Jack Jessen (Northwestern), Christopher Weiler (Wisconsin)

197 (11 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Max Dean (Penn State) 18-1, Jr. over Eric Schultz (Nebraska) 12-1, Sr. (Dec 4-2)
3rd Place Match - Patrick Brucki (Michigan) 17-5, RS Sr. over Jacob Warner (Iowa) 14-5, Sr. (Dec 3-1)
5th Place Match - Thomas Penola (Purdue) 22-7, RS Jr. over Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) 27-7, RS Sr. (Dec 3-2)
7th Place Match - Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) 18-6, RS Sr. over Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) 10-10, RS Jr. (Dec 6-1)
Additional Qualifiers – Andrew Davison (Northwestern), Braxton Amos (Wisconsin), Michial Foy (Minnesota)

285 (9 NCAA qualifiers)
1st Place Match - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 13-0, Sr. over Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) 15-3, Jr. (M. For.)
3rd Place Match - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) 18-2, So. over Mason Parris (Michigan) 15-4, Sr. (Dec 5-3)
5th Place Match - Lucas Davison (Northwestern) 21-6, RS Jr. over Luke Luffman (Illinois) 15-10, So. (Dec 3-1)
7th Place Match - Christian Lance (Nebraska) 12-7, Sr. over Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) 12-9, RS Sr. (Dec 3-2)
Additional Qualifier – Trent Hilger (Wisconsin)

Team Standings
1 Michigan 143.0
2 Penn State 141.5
3 Iowa 129.5
4 Ohio State 91.5
5 Northwestern 90.5
6 Minnesota 78.5
7 Nebraska 75.5
8 Wisconsin 68.0
9 Rutgers 41.0
10 Purdue 36.5
11 Illinois 34.5
12 Michigan State 33.0
13 Maryland 15.5
14 Indiana 4.0

Michigan, with two champions, wins Big Ten title, 1.5 points ahead of Penn State, which had four champions

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