Penn State wrestling ties school record for All-Americans, could win 11th title on Saturday

TULSA, OK — On Friday night, the Penn State Nittany Lions competed in day two of the NCAA wrestling tournament. There, the Penn State wrestling team went 5-2 in the national semifinals and will have five wrestlers competing for individual national titles on Saturday. Additionally, the Nittany Lions are incredibly close to securing the program’s 11th national title (10th of the Cael Sanderson era).

Thus far in Penn State’s impressive tournament run, the Nittany Lions have secured eight All-Americans, which ties the school record for most in a single season (1987, 2018).

Penn State wrestling will have a shot at five individual national titles and the team title on Saturday

During the final session of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, the Penn State wrestling team will have a shot at claiming its 11th-ever team national championship. The Nittany Lions currently lead the tournament with 116.5 points — the next-closest team to Penn State is the second place Iowa Hawkeyes, who have 77.0 points thus far.

Penn State wrestling also crowned eight of its wrestlers as All-Americans, which ties the program record for most in a season and gives the Nittany Lions 246 All-Americans in the program’s history. Around one third of these All-Americans (83) have come during the Cael Sanderson era (since 2011). On Saturday, the Nittany Lions could claim a few more individual titles as well as Penn State’s 10th national championship over the past 12 seasons, an incredible feat to say the least.

Who will compete for national championships on Saturday?

Here are the five Penn State wrestling stars that will be competing in Saturday’s NCAA finals:

• 133 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) vs Vito Arujau (Cornell)
• 157 Austin O`Connor (North Carolina) vs Levi Haines (Penn State)
• 174 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs Mikey Labriola (Nebraska)
• 184 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs Aaron Brooks (Penn State)
• 285 Mason Parris (Michigan) vs Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)

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