UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –The Penn State Nittany Lions (6-0, 6-0 B1G), ranked No. 2 in the latest InterMat Tournament Power Index, now know their official seeds and first round match-ups for the 2021 Big Ten Wrestling Championships. The brackets have been finalized as the conference's 14 wrestling teams prepare for the two-day event, hosted by Penn State in the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday and Sunday.
Penn State will have three first-round byes on Saturday thanks to its three top-two seeds.
True freshman Robert Howard (Cranford, N.J.) will be the No. 11 seed at 125 and will face sixth-seed Eric Barnett of Wisconsin in the opening round. Howard went 2-1 this season and is making his first appearance at the Big Ten Championship.
Junior Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.) will be the top-seed at 133 pounds and will receive a first-round bye. Bravo-Young is ranked No. 3 nationally by InterMat and is 6-0 on the year. He is 6-3 all-time at the Big Ten Championship.
Senior Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.) is the No. 2 seed at 141 and also receives a first-round bye. Lee is ranked No. 2 nationally by InterMat and is 6-0 this season. He is 8-2 all-time at the Big Ten Championship.
True freshman Beau Bartlett (Tempe, Ariz.) is the No. 11 seed at 149 and will battle sixth-seed Michael Blockhus of Minnesota in the opening round. Bartlett is ranked No. 10 by InterMat and is 7-1 on the year. He is making his first trip to the Big Ten tournament.
Junior Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn.) is the No. 5 seed at 157 and will take on Illinois' Johnny Mologousis in the opening round. Berge is ranked No. 8 in the nation by InterMat and is 5-0 this year. The Lion junior owns a 2-1 career mark in the Big Ten Championship.
Freshman Joe Lee (Evansville, Ind.) is the No. 6 seed at 165 and will face Jonathan Spadafora of Maryland in the first round. Lee is ranked No. 15 nationally by InterMat and is 4-2 this year. He is making his first-ever appearance in the post-season for Penn State.
Freshman Carter Starocci (Erie, Pa.) is the No. 3 seed at 174 and will battle Phillip Spadafora of Maryland in the first round. Starocci is ranked No. 4 at 174 by InterMat and is 6-1 this year. He is making his Big Ten Championship debut.
Sophomore Aaron Brooks (Hagerstown, Md.) is the top-seed at 184 and will receive a first-round bye. Brooks, last year's Big Ten Champion, is ranked No. 1 in the country by InterMat with a 6-0 record. He is 3-0 all-time at the Big Ten tournament.
Freshman Michael Beard (Pottstown, Pa.) is the No. 7 seed at 197 and will face Billy Janzer of Rutgers in round one. Beard is ranked No. 15 by InterMat and is 3-1 on the year. He is making his Big Ten Championship debut this season.
Freshman Greg Kerkvliet (Grove Heights, Minn.) is the No. 7 seed at 285 and will meet Jack Heyob of Northwestern in the opening round. Kerkvliet is ranked No. 6 by InterMat and is 2-0 this season. He is one of six Nittany Lions competing in their first-ever Big Ten Championship events.
The Big Ten received a total of 76 qualifying spots for the 2021 NCAA Championships, set for St. Louis on March 18-20. The Big Ten will qualify eight wrestlers (seven pre-allocations and one automatic spot for the weight class champion) at seven different weights (125, 133, 141, 157, 165, 174, 184), seven at 149 and 285 and six at 197.
Penn State finished its dual meet schedule with a perfect 6-0 mark, 6-0 in the Big Ten, and earned a share of its seventh Big Ten Regular Season Championship with 5-0 Iowa. The 2021 Big Ten Championships begin on Saturday, March 6, at 10 a.m.
The Big Ten Network recently announced an increase of its linear coverage of the event, giving fans around the country the chance to see the nation's best wrestlers throughout the weekend. The network will air whip-around coverage of all four mats during Saturday's 10 a.m. first session and air Saturday night's Big Ten semifinals at 7:30 p.m. All four individual mats for both Saturday sessions will have mat cams available on the Big Ten Network+. Big Ten Network+ will feature the consolation action occurring before the finals starting Sunday at 12 p.m., as well as placing bouts during the title tilts. Sunday afternoon's Big Ten Championship finals will air live on the Big Ten Network at 4 p.m.
Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
