Panther going to the final again
Franklin Regional’s Lee upset in semis
Pitt’s Nino Bonaccorsi advanced to the 197-pound final for the second time in three years with a 10-4 win Friday night in his semifinal match at the NCAA Division I wrestling championship tournament at Tulsa, Okla., and Penn State took a huge step toward claiming its 10th title in 12 years.
But the shock of the evening came when Purdue’s Matt Ramos pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history by putting Iowa’s Spencer Lee on his back twice and pinned him with 1 second remaining, thus ending Lee’s quest to become a four-time champion.
“It’s unreal. It hasn’t really hit me,” said Ramos in an ESPN interview. “I worked really hard and believed in my training. I really thought I could beat him.”
The upset sent the capacity crowd of 15,694 into a frenzy.
Ramos, the No. 4 seed, used an upper-body throw to put Lee on his back 20 seconds into the bout and picked up two near-fall points to take a 4-1 lead. Lee rode Ramos in the second period and picked up a four-point near-fall to take a 5-4 lead, plus riding time advantage, into the third period.
Lee, a Franklin Regional graduate, increased his lead to 7-4 with a takedown with 50 seconds left, but Ramos used a reverse half to put Lee on his back with less than 20 seconds left and rode him until registering the pin before the final buzzer.
“We had a game plan. Spencer has been in my head every single day,” said Ramos, who put Lee on his back earlier in the season, but Lee rallied to pin Ramos. “I stuck to my game plan and let it fly. The crowd was incredible. This is what I live for. I’m living the moment.”
It was reminiscent of Lee’s final high school match at Franklin Regional when he lost in the
final second in the PIAA Class 3A finals, thus ending his bid to be an undefeated four-time champion. The only difference is that Lee was wrestling with a torn ligament in his knee in that match.
He was healthy in Friday’s match.
Ramos will face Princeton’s Pat Glory in Saturday night’s finals, while Lee has a chance to battle back through the consolation bracket and earn a bronze medal.
There was almost a repeat of Lee’s loss in the 149pound semifinals, as Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis had to rally from a 3-1 deficit with 1 minute remaining to record an 8-3 win against Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness.
Diakomihalis is a threetime NCAA champion and will now have a chance to join the NCAA’s most elite club when he faces Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso in the title match. Only four wrestlers have won four NCAA Division I titles in the history of the tournament.
Pitt’s Bonaccorsi advanced to the 197-pound final for the second time in three years with a 10-4 win against Rider’s Ethan Laird. Bonaccorsi was a runner-up in 2021, but fell one win short of placing last year. Bonaccorsi will face South Dakota State’s Tanner Sloan in the title match.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for two years,” Bonaccorsi said. “It means everything for me to win this match. I have another chance to win a national title.”
Penn State had seven wrestlers advance to the quarterfinals. Five of those seven earned berths in the finals, including three twotime defending champions: Roman Bravo- Young, Carter Starocci and Aaron Brooks.
Bravo-Roman earned a return trip to the finals with a 6-4 overtime win against Arizona State’s Michael McGee at 125 pounds. Bravo-Roman scored the deciding takedown 21 seconds into overtime. BravoYoung will face Cornell’s Vito Arujua in the title match.
Starocci claimed his third trip to the finals at 174 pounds with a 6- 0 win against Cornell’s Chris Foca. It was Starocci’s 51st consecutive win. He will face Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola in the title match.
Brooks advanced to the 184-pound final for the third time with a 6-3 win against North Carolina State’s Trent Hidlay. Brooks will face top seed Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa in the title match.
Also advancing to the finals for Penn State were Levi Haines and Greg Kerkvliet.
Levi Haines, a true freshman, advanced to the 157pound final with a 5-3 win against Nebraska’s Peyton Robb. Kerkvliet, the No. 3 seed earned a berth in the heavyweight final with a 4-2 win against Air Force’s secondseeded Wyatt Hendrickson.