A slightly belated report from the Black Knight Invitational.
At 125, Gary Steen went 3-1 and finished third. He lost the semi-final 4-2 to Ethan Berginc of Army, another former PIAA champion. Berginc is really good and Steen looked better than I anticipated, though he is unlikely to be a point-scorer if he qualifiies for the NCAA tournament, as Robbie Howard likely would have been. By coincidence we sat next to Berginc's aunt, uncle, and grandfather, so my cheering for Steen was a little muted.
No entry at 133.
141 was the first of three all-PSU finals, with Beau Bartlett and David Evans meeting. Bartlett looks much more aggressive at this lower and more natural weight and ran away with his first two matches with a tech fall and a major decision. But Evans, who I was previously unfamiliar with, really impressed me. He had the fastest fall of the tournament (36 seconds) and his match with Bartlett, which I expected Bartlett to dominate, was one of the most exciting I have seen recently with wild scrambles from both. Despite all the action, the score was tied 1-1 after the third period and Bartlett won with a takedown in sudden victory.
At 149 Shayne Van Ness looked vulnerable at times, and a little unbalanced at others, but he was absolutely relentless in all three matches (he had a first-round bye), at least two of which he trailed in. I can guarantee he will never be called for stalling, even if Angel Rivera is the ref. Very exciting but struck me as still a little bit raw.
157 had Terrell Barraclough and still-under-redshirt freshman Levi Haines meeting in the final (they were seeded 4th and 6th, by the way). Barraclough is much improved, much more confident than last year. He started with a tech fall and then two decisions. Levi went decision, major, decision. Their match did not go to SV, but if anything was closer than Bartlett-Evans. Barraclough was leading 1-0 after escaping early in the second and was had over a minute of riding time built up in the third (he's an excellent rider). He could have cut Levi and then carefully stalled out the match to win 2-1, but instead he gave up a reversal with just enough time left for Levi to negate the riding time point.
At 165 Alex Facundo looked steadier than Van Ness. He beat teammate Matt Lee in the finals, 10-2. Lee, younger brother of Nick and Joe (who seems to have disappeared) was impressive in three bouts before the final.
174: Carter Starocci wrestles tomorrow in the National Wrestling Coaches Association all-star meet, so he was not there. Backup Jack Kelly went 1-2 and did not place.
184: Aaron Brooks also in the NWCA event; backup Donovan Ball looked sharp in taking third.
197: Max Dean was the outstanding wrestler of the tournament with two first-period falls, a tech fall, and an unfortunate injury default. He looked brutal with the bow and arrow. Backup Lucas Cochran went 4-1 and took fifth, looking pretty good along the way.
Heavyweight: Greg Kerkvliet also in the NWCA. Penn State had no entry at this weight. I don't know why Seth Nevills wasn't there; he is still on the roster and no longer on the football roster.
The depth of the team and quality of the nonstarters was very impressive.
