Finals will have strong local flavor
Two Franklin Regional graduates win
The semifinals Friday night of the NCAA Division I Wrestling tournament at Enterprise Center in St. Louis featured seven wrestlers from the WPIAL.
Four of the seven posted victories, including two Franklin Regional graduates and two currently attending Pitt, to earn a berth Saturday night in the finals.
It was no surprise that Iowa’s duo of Spencer Lee and Michael Kemerer advanced to the finals, as the former Franklin Regional teammates each were seeded No. 1.
Lee (11-0), a twotime NCAA champion, earned his third trip to the 125 -pound final with two dominating victories Friday, a 10-2 win over Purdue’s Devin Shroder in the quarterfinals and an 11-0 shutout of Central Michigan’s Drew Hildebrandt in the semifinals.
Lee’s opponent in the final is Arizona State’s Brandon Courtney (15-0), the No. 3 seed.
Kemerer (11-0), a two-time NCAA placewinner, earned his first title berth with two wins at 174. He beat North Carolina State’s Daniel Bullard, 13-4, in the quarterfinals and Cal Poly’s Bernie Truax, 10-1, in the semifinals.
“It feels good to finally get in the finals,” Kemerer said. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of for so long. It’s super exciting.”
Kemerer will face Penn State’s Carter Starocci (12-2) in the final. Starocci, the No. 3 seed, earned his title berth with a 2-0 win over No. 2-seeded Demetrius Romero of Utah Valley in the semifinals.
The 165-pound semifinals featured three WPIAL wrestlers — Pitt’s Jake Wentzel, Ohio State’s Ethan Smith, and Bucknell’s Zach Hartman.
Wentzel (13-1), a South Park grad and
No. 3 seed, faced Smith (14-3), a Latrobe grad and No. 7 seed, in one semifinal, and Wentzel posted a 4-2 victory. Wentzel advanced to the semifinals with a 9-6 win over Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole.
“Words can’t even describe the feeling,” Wentzel said. “It’s something you dream of so long and then that moment when the last whistle blows in the third period and you look up at your mom, your dad, your family, who put so much into this for you. It’s unreal.”
In the other semifinal match, Hartman (13-1), a Belle Vernon grad and No. 5 seed, dropped a 9-3 decision to No. 8 Shane Griffith of Stanford. Hartman advanced to the semifinals when defending champion Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech pulled out with a rotator cuff injury.
Two WPIAL wrestlers also met in the
197-pound semifinals, as Pitt’s Nino Bonaccorsi and Oklahoma’s Jake Woodley squared off in an unexpected matchup. Bonaccorsi, a Bethel Park grad, was the No. 7 seed. Woodley, a North Allegheny grad, was seeded No. 26.
Bonaccorsi posted a 4-1 win in the bout to give Pitt two finalists for the first time since 1973. His opponent in the final is Oklahoma State’s A.J. Ferrari (19-1), the No. 4 seed.
Starocci was one of four Penn State wrestlers who advanced to the finals. The others were Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee and Aaron Brooks.
Bravo-Young (13-0), the No. 2 seed at 133 pounds, earned his first title berth with a 5-3 win over Virginia Tech’s Korbin Myers in the semifinals. His
opponent in the final is Oklahoma State’s Dayton Fix (13-0), the top seed.
“Making it to the national finals is something I’ve dreamed of,” BravoYoung said. “I’m going to go out there and let it fly in the finals.”
Lee (12-1), the No. 2 seed at 141 pounds, advanced to the final for the first time with a 9-3 win over Rutgers’ Sebastian Rivera in the semifinals. He will face Iowa’s Jaydin Eierman (12-0), the top seed, in the final.
Brooks (13-0), the No. 1 seed at 184, earned his title berth with a 6-4 semifinal win over No. 4 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa. Brooks will face North Carolina State’s Trent Hidlay (10-1), the No. 2 seed, in the title match.
The finals are 7 p.m. Saturday and will be televised on ESPN.