Returning champion Penn State takes early lead at NCAA Championships; 11 past NCAA champions advance

Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) battles Ethen Miller (Maryland) at 149 pounds. Photo by Sam Janicki.


TULSA, Okla. – The first session of the 2023 NCAA Div. I Championships included its share of upsets, as happens often, but the nation’s big name college stars advanced on Thursday morning at BOK Arena.


There are six returning NCAA champions still in the mix for the crown, all who moved on to the next round: Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State (133), Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell (149), Keegan O’Toole of Missouri (165), Carter Starocci of Penn State (174), Aaron Brooks of Penn State (184) and Max Dean of Penn State (197). Other past NCAA champions in the hunt are Spencer Lee of Iowa (125), Austin O’Connor of North Carolina (157), David Carr of Iowa State (165), Shane Griffith of Stanford (165) and Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech (174).


Lee and Diakomihalis are hunting for a fourth NCAA title, while Bravo-Young, Starocci and Brooks are seeking their third NCAA crown.


Lee got a 36 second pin over No. 33 seed Tucker Owens of Air Force in his opening bout. Diakomihalis had a competitive first match, contolling past All-American and No. 33 seed Dom Demas of Cal Poly, 6-1.


The highest seed to lose in session one was No. 4 Julian Ramirez of Cornell, who dropped an 8-4 match to No. 29 Caleb Fish of Michigan State at 165 pounds. There were six wrestlers seeded in the top eight of their weight class who were defeated in their opening bout.

The “upsets” in the Thursday morning in included:

165 – No. 29 Caleb Fish (Michigan State) dec. No. 4 Julian Ramirez (Cornell), 8-4

125 – No. 28 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) dec. No. 5 Caleb Smith (Appalachian State), 3-2

125 - No. 27 Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 6 Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado), 4-2 SV

125 – No. 26 Jack Wagner (North Carolina) dec. No. 7 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State), 3-1

165 – No. 25 Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) dec. No. 8 Matthew Olguin (Oregon State), 3-1 SV

184 – No. 25 Brian Bonino (Drexel) dec. No. 8 Matt Finesilver (Michigan), 3-2

174 – No. 23 Mickey O’Malley (Drexel) dec. No. 19 Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga), 8-7

125 – No. 22 Cody Phippen (Air Force) pin No. 11 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan), 2:02

149 – No. 22 Chance Lamer (Michigan) dec. No. 11 Doug Zapf (Penn), 4-3

157 – No. 22 Derek Holschlag (UNI) dec. No. 11 Chase Saldate (MSU), 4-3

184 – No. 22 Colton Hawks (Missouri) dec. No. 11 Gavin Kane (North Carolina), 6-2

125 – No. 21 Jore Volk (Wyoming) dec. No. 12 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern), 3-1 SV

133 – No. 21 Chance Rich (Bakersfield) dec. No. 12 Chris Cannon (Northwestern), 6-5

125 – No. 20 Jarrett Trombley (NC State) dec. No. 13 Dean Peterson (Rutgers), 4-3

141 – No. 20 Jakob Bergeland (Minnesota) dec. No. 13 Carter Young (Oklahoma State), 5-0

149 – No. 20 Graham Rooks (Indiana) dec. No. 13 Kellyn March (North Dakota State), 4-3

165 – No. 20 Holden Heller (Pitt) dec. No. 13 Alex Facundo (Penn State), 5-3

184 – No. 20 Neil Antrassian (Virginia) dec. No. 13 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska), 11-6

157 – No. 19 Garrett Model (Wisconsin) dec. No. 14 Cobe Siebrecht (Iowa), 10-5

165 – No. 19 Dan Braunagel (Illinois) maj. dec. Peyton Hall (West Virginia), 16-5

174 – No. 19 Troy Fisher (Northwestern) dec. No. 14 Benjamin Pasiuk (Army), 10-8 SV

141 – No. 18 Frankie Tal Shahar (Northwestern) dec. No. 15 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech), 3-1 SV

184 - No. 18 Brian Soldano (Rutgers) pin No. 15 Layne Malczewski (Michigan State), 1:40

133 – No. 17 Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) dec. No. 16 Joe Heilmann (Rutgers), 4-2

141 – No. 17 Dylan D’Emillio (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 16 Josh Koderhandt (Navy), 10-1

157 - No. 17 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) dec. No. 16 Anthony Artalona (Penn), 5-4

165 – No. 17 Austin Yant (UNI) dec. No. 16 Joshua Oganzanya (Columbia), 8-1

174 – No. 17 Donnell Washington (Indiana) tech. fall No. 16 Sam Wolf (Air Force), 17-2

184 – No. 17 Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) pin No. 16 Reece Heller (Pitt), 5:45

285 – NO. 17 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) dec. No. 16 Tate Orndorff (Ohio State), 3-1 SV

Pigtails

125 - No. 33 Tucker Owens (Air Force) dec. No. 32 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State), 2-1

133 – No. 33 Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) dec. No. 32 McGwire Midkiff (North Dakota State), 5-3

149 – No. 33 Dom Demas (Cal Poly) tech. fall No. 32 Isaiah Delgado (Utah Valley), 18-3

165 – No. 33 Josh Kim (Harvard) dec. No. 32 Cole Moody (Wyoming), 7-4

174 – No. 33 John Worthing (Clarion) dec. No. 32 Will Miller (Appalachian State), 8-4

184 – No. 33 Anthony Carman (West Virginia) dec. Jha`Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb), 5-3, SV


In the team race, returning champion Penn State took a lead over the field with 16 points, ahead of NC State with 12.5 points, Iowa with 12 points, and Northern Iowa and Ohio State with 10 points.


Among the bonus point wins for No. 1 Penn State was Shayne Van Ness (149), who trailed 9-1 to Ethen Miller of Maryland, but came back with a fall in 6:26. Other bonus points came from pins by Carter Starocci (174) and Greg Kerkvliet (285), and major decisions by Roman Bravo Young (133) and Aaron Brooks (184).


Penn State did suffer a loss at 165, when No. 20 Holden Heller of Pitt beat No. 13 Alex Facundo, 5-3.


Iowa, ranked No. 2 coming in, got bonus points with the pin by Lee, plus major decisions by Real Woods (141) and Tony Cassioppi (285). Iowa took a hit at 157, when No. 19 Garrett Model of Wisconsin defeated No. 14 Cobe Siebrecht, 10-5.


The next session begins at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN and ESPN+ , featuring the round of 16 on the championship side.

Team standings after session one

1 Penn State 16.0

2 NC State 12.5

3 Iowa 12.0

4 Northern Iowa 10.0

4 Ohio State 10.0

6 Minnesota 9.0

6 Missouri 9.0

6 Wisconsin 9.0

9 Nebraska 8.5

10 Cornell 8.0

10 Illinois 8.0

10 Iowa State 8.0

10 Michigan 8.0