This years college wrestling season has come and gone and was, once again, unfortunately overshadowed by March Madness. Personally, I prefer March Mat-ness over March Madness, but to each their own. This year’s tournament was a wild one. We saw past finalists who lost in the finals claim glory like Nino Bonaccorsi. We witnessed one of the biggest upsets of all time with Spencer Lee losing and Penn State once again proved that they are king.
No One Is Safe
Year after year in college wrestling, we come to the realization that no one is safe. No matter how good you are, there is a possibility you lose. In a 2018 dual meet, Adam Coon beat Kyle Snyder. This was a feat that no one deemed possible. Granted, Snyder would go onto beat Coon in the NCAA Finals, but he was beaten. Gable Steveson lost to Anthony Cassar in 2019 and this year we saw one of the all-time Iowa legends not only lose, but get pinned.
Spencer Lee came into his semifinal matchup with Matt Ramos with a record of 98-3. He was seeking out his fourth career National Title, but Ramos had other ideas. In the third period with the score notched at 7-7 and Lee securing a riding time point, Ramos caught Lee in an over-hook chin whip and was able to stick him to his back. Ramos, who was the tournament’s fifth seed, did what felt impossible and pinned Lee.
Lee would go onto medically forfeit from the tournament following the loss and capped off his collegiate wrestling career with another All-American award and a sixth place finish. Lee’s career is nothing short of amazing, but Matt Ramos has solidified himself in history as the guy who beat the guy.
Roman Bravo-Young Ran Into A Hot Vito Arujau
At 133 pounds, Roman Bravo-Young out of Penn State was the clear cut one seed. He had dominated everyone in his path the whole season, but he ran into a scorching hot Vito Arujau. Arujau was the tournaments three seed, but caught fire at just the right time. In the quarterfinals, Vito battled with the very talented Sam Latona from Virginia Tech and absolutely went to work. He beat the two time All- American 8-5 and in the semifinals, he had a date with Daton Fix. Fix is a hammer on top and the strongest wrestler at this weight. Arujau made quick work of Fix beating him 11-3.
In the finals match between Arujau and Roman Bravo-Young, Arujau put his offensive firepower on full display. He did a fantastic job using a duck under and going opposite leg single for his second takedown. By crossing Bravo-Young’s body on the shot and having him try to dodge, Vito took away Bravo-Young’s scramble ability. Vito wrestled his style the whole tournament and halted every opponent from being able to use their style. Just an absolute masterclass from Vito Arujau. He had such a good tournament that he even won the Outstanding Wrestler award which is given to the tournaments best wrestler.
This wasn’t the first time Vito Arujau and Roman Bravo-Young had wrestled. On the freestyle circuit, Arujau has RBYs number. At the 2018 US U23 Nationals & World Team Trials in Akron, Ohio, Arujau beat RBY twice. Both times were by tech fall with a 15-4 and 10-0 win.
The Wrestling Community Needs To R-E-L-A-X
One of the biggest moments of the tournament was when three-time National Champion Spencer Lee was pinned by Purdue’s Matt Ramos. It shocked the wrestling community to its core. Bigger than Ramos’ pin was the reaction from Lee’s mother, Cathy.
Cathy was an alternate on the U.S. Olympic judo team, but bigger than that, she’s a devoted wrestling mom. Having wrestled in high school (two time All-Conference, no big deal), I’ve witnessed first hand the crazy nature of wrestling parents who have stormed the mat over bad calls, berated sixteen year olds who beat their son or daughter, or have been escorted from tournaments for losing their mind all tournament long. Wrestling parents are a different breed, but Cathy Lee acted like a child. She snapped her glasses into a million pieces and stomped her feet around like a five year old who didn’t get their way. I do comprehend her frustration because her son felt like an unbeatable grappler, but this isn’t how you should react.
Her breakdown in the stands felt like watching Marlon Brando after Sonny Corleone was killed in an ambush by Don Barzini’s men.
Was Posting This Video Bad For The Sport? Some In The Wrestling Community Think So
The video went viral as Barstool Sports, ESPN, and Jomboy Media posted it. This led to serious discourse in the wrestling community amongst high minded reporters. These stiffs made the argument that the posting of this video was unprofessional and shouldn’t have been posted. Are we serious? Time after time at sporting events we see videos and pictures of athletes and coaches family members.
Leave her alone? Her son didn’t get shot or run over by a car. He was pinned in a wrestling match. Does anyone in the wrestling community have any perspective?
I found two other tweets on the matter and they really made me laugh. One came from a woman named Lyndsey Beasely and the other from an account covering WPIAL wrestling. They hold similar gripes to Jaclyn DeAugustino. I think that they’re equally as disconnected from reality as Jaclyn DeAugustino. Again, let’s have some levity. In the moment of sports and a tough loss, people act irrational. But when your son is trying to punch his ticket possibly win his fourth National Title, you should expect to have some camera presence on you. If Lee had beaten Ramos to move onto the finals, a video of Lee’s mother celebrating would have been everywhere and all wrestling fans are aware of this.
Why Don’t We Just Take The Camera Off The Crowd At Every Sport
If we’re going to take this same stance for all sports and not just wrestling, why wasn’t there a massive outcry to get Katherine Webb, A.J. McCarron’s girlfriend off the camera? Wasn’t she being sexualized by Brent Musburger? She also didn’t throw a tantrum like Cathy Lee.
What about LaVar Ball? Yeah, people were annoyed with him and even thought he was a humorous character, but why did no one come to his defense when he was put on camera? If we want to be extreme about not showing a grown woman throw a temper tantrum then don’t be a hypocrite when it comes to every other parent or relative being on camera.
I mentioned it prior, but I think showing Lee’s mom was funny. It’s also good for the sport of wrestling because it shows the passion that fans and families of the sport have. While I think Lees mom acted like a child, let’s just all relax and appreciate the growth of the sport.
Penn State Is Still King
Since 2011, Penn State has won ten of the last twelve team titles at the National Tournament. In the 80s and 90s, Iowa was the Mecca of college wrestling, but the tides have certainly turned the past 20 years in favor of the Nittany Lions. This year, Penn State really stepped on the throats of their opponents. They posted a final team score of 137.5. The Iowa Hawkeyes took second with 82.5 points. Penn State won this year’s National Tournament with a 55 point margin between them and the next closest team.
Of the ten weight classes, Penn State had eight All-Americans. This was two more than Iowa who sported six All-American wrestlers. Both Carter Starocci at 174 and Aaron Brooks at 184 took home individual titles.
Penn State had three additional finalists who took second with Levi Haines at 157, Greg Kerkvliet at heavyweight, and Roman Bravo-Young at 133. At 141, Beau Bartlett took third place, Max Dean at 197 took seventh place, and Shayne Van Ness at 149 took third.
It doesn’t seem like Cael Sanderson plans to slow down. Next season, Sanderson has Haines, Van Ness, Starocci, Bartlett, and Kerkvliet returning. The country has been on notice for over a decade now, but Penn State is going to be hunting for another National Title in 2024.
Princeton Celebrates Their First National Champ In 72 Years
Saturday was an unreal day for the Princeton Tigers. The fifteen seed Princeton hoops team beat Missouri 78-63 to advance to the Sweet 16 and a few hours later, Patrick Glory took home the National Title at 125 pounds. This was the Tigers first National Champion in 72 years.
Glory was the tournament’s one seed and ripped through his opponents. In the first round, he made light work of Reece Witcraft from Oklahoma State pinning him in thirty two seconds. In the following round, we saw an Ivy League matchup between Glory and Brett Ungar from Cornell. Glory majored Ungar 10-0 and established his dominance on top and from neutral.
In the quarterfinals, Glory had a matchup with the dynamic Brandon Courtney from Arizona State. Courtney, a three time All-American, proved to be no match for Glory as he beat him 8-4 and advanced to the semifinals. Glory had a match with Liam Cronin from Nebraska and wrestled probably his best match of the tournament. It was against a very technical opponent and he beat him 8-2.
When Glory reached the finals, his appearance was overshadowed due to his opponent being Matt Ramos who had just successfully knocked off three time National Champion Spencer Lee. The hype was all built up around Ramos, but Glory didn’t allow that to fluster him. He beat Ramos 4-1 and did so by going on the offensive immediately taking his first shot in the first ten seconds of the match and scrambling with Ramos. Glory winning solidified himself as a Princeton legend.
