Here’s which Penn State-affiliated wrestlers are just two wins away from making Olympic squad

As the dust settled inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday night, Penn State wrestling fans were sent home with big smiles on their faces.

Over the course of two sessions, fans watched five wrestlers associated with the Nittany Lions work their way through the U.S. Olympics Team Trials challenge tournament to put themselves within two wins of making the U.S. Olympics team.

Thomas Gilman (57 kg), Nick Lee (65kg), Zain Retherford (65kg), Jason Nolf (74 kg) and Aaron Brooks (86 kg) were those wrestlers reaching the best-of-three finals series of their respective weight classes, which take place on Saturday. They were joined by Kyle Dake (74 kg), David Taylor (86 kg) and Kyle Snyder (97 kg), who were already in those series finales, making eight wrestlers connected to Penn State nearing the Paris Games in July.

Nolf, Dake, Lee, Retherford, Brooks and Taylor make up what is an all-Nittany Lions-affiliated finals pairings.

Nolf opened his tournament by taking care of Alex Marinelli, 7-2. He followed that up by breezing past Jarrett Jacques, 9-2, in the semifinals.

In the challenge tournament finals, Nolf faced off with decorated wrestler Jordan Burroughs. Nolf was awarded the first points of the match when Burroughs gave up a passivity point.

Nolf had a takedown before the first period ended waived off after a challenge. The crowd’s “Let’s go Nolf” chant seemed to spark the former Nittany Lion into a slick double-leg takedown of Burroughs to open the second period.

Nolf had solid defense the rest of the way, flexing to the crowd late in a 3-0 victory. He faces Dake in the best-of-three finals.

“I’m ready to go. I got a good teammate to compete against, so I’m looking forward to it,” Nolf said after the win over Burroughs.

Lee and Retherford had different paths to their best-of-three matchup.

Lee, who was the top seed in the challenge tournament, topped Alec Pantaleo, 9-2, to make the semifinals. He faced Andrew Alirez in that semifinals bout, and trailed early, but stayed calm and rallied for an 11-9 victory.

Retherford was automatically in the semifinals, where he faced reigning 141 pound NCAA champion in Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez. Mendez topped Yianni Diakomihalis, 12-7, to face Retherford.

The Buckeyes wrestler took Retherford down early, but that was all his points. The former Nittany Lion got a takedown of his own before the first period ended.

Retherford added a passivity point in his 3-2 win.

Brooks, who was the top seed, grinded his way to meeting Taylor.

He handled future Nittany Lion Connor Mirasola, 11-5, in the quarterfinals. Trailing 4-0 early in his semifinals bout with Alex Dieringer, Brooks rallied for an 8-4 victory.

The challenge tournament finals match against Zahid Valencia had some controversy. Valencia led 1-0 after one period due to Brooks giving up a passivity point.

Brooks received a passivity point to open the second, then got a step out point and fleeing point to lead 3-1. Valencia was able to get a four-point throw that was challenged by Brooks’ corner.

The challenge failed, giving Valencia a 6-3 lead with 1:42 remaining.

Brooks got to within one with a takedown at 21 seconds left. He picked up a step out point 11 seconds later to tie it, 6-6, but Valencia held criteria advantage with that four-point throw.

After the step out restart, Valencia was called for a singlet pull, which gave Brooks the 7-6 win.

Gilman noted that six months ago he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to wrestle, but now he’s just two more wins away from making his second straight trip to the Olympic Games. He finished with a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Games.

“The last four months were extremely tough with my family going through a lot of adversity — nothing serious, just when it rains, it pours kind of thing. It means a lot to be here,” Gilman said. “Something I’ve been thinking about a lot is, if I try to do this tournament on my own, I’m not going to be able to do it. I’ve been getting on my knees and praying to God to help fill me with his Holy Spirit to take care of me through this tournament.”

The Nittany Lion Wrestling Club athlete began his day by using his experience to top Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest, 5-4, in the quarterfinals. Forrest had a pair of takedowns, but Gilman used the step out points to his advantage in the win.

Gilman then used a pair of takedowns and a pair of passivity points to shut out Daton Fix, 6-0, in the semifinals. He faces fellow former Iowa Hawkeyes wrestler in Spencer Lee in the best-of-three finals Saturday.

“I mean it’s not done yet. It’s been a long night. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to see what I got (tomorrow),” Gilman said.

Five are still alive for a bronze medal finish in the team trials in Luke Lilledahl (57 kg), Mitchell Mesenbrink (74 kg), Mark Hall (86 kg), Max Dean (86 kg) and Greg Kerkvliet (125 kg).

Mesenbrink opened his tournament with a 13-3 technical superiority in 4:28 over Ladarion Lockett before suffering an 8-3 loss to Burroughs, who seemed aggravated by Mesenbrink’s persistence in their semifinals match. After the match, Burroughs shoved Mesenbrink and was jawing with him coming off the mat.

Mesenbrink faces the winner of Alex Marinelli and Quincy Monday Saturday morning.

Kerkvliet opened his day with a 10-0 technical superiority over Christian Lance in 4:48. He was kicked to the consolation bracket with a 5-1 loss to Nick Gwiazdowski.

Kerkvliet will face the winner of Wyatt Hendrickson and Gary Traub Saturday morning.

Hall and Dean each suffered losses to open their tournaments. Dean rebounded by collecting a 12-2 technical superiority over Mirasola, another future Penn State wrestler, in 5:23.

Hall received a forfeit from Pat Downey. Hall and Dean square off to stay alive in tournament on Saturday morning.

Lilledahl opened his tournament by edging Daniel DeShazer, 3-2. He suffered a 5-3 loss to the top seed in Zane Richards in the quarterfinals.

The future Nittany Lion stayed alive by topping Liam Cronin, 2-2, on criteria. Lilledahl faces fellow high school wrestler, Marcus Blaze, in the consolation quarterfinals.

Seven wrestlers found their tournaments come to a halt during the first session in Nico Megaludis (57 kg), Beau Bartlett (65kg), Levi Haines (74 kg), Vincenzo Joseph (74 kg), Alex Facundo (74 kg), Carter Starocci (86 kg) and Mirasola.

Bartlett, Facundo, Starocci and Mirasola all were able to earn at least one win though.

Bartlett topped Nahshon Garrett, 10-6, in the first round. Facundo shut out Haines, 6-0, in their openers.

Mirasola shut out David McFadden, 4-0, in his Olympic Team Trials debut. Starocci dominated Downey in one of the most anticipated bouts, 12-4.

Starocci later withdrew with an injury default.

Megaludis, Haines and Joseph went 0-2 on the day. Joseph withdrew with an injury default.

Women’s Freestyle

Jennifer Page had just two matches to take part in as she was automatically in the semifinals of the 62 kilograms weight class.

She took on Mallory Velte in a pair of world medalists. Page was able to come away with an 8-7 victory.

Page faced another world medalist in Macey Kilty for a chance to take on the fourth world medalist of the weight class in Kayla Miracle on Saturday. Page and Kilty traded points in a bout that Kilty came out on top of 9-8.

U.S. Olympic Team Trials

Friday at University Park

Men’s Freestyle

Finals

74: Jason Nolf dec. Jordan Burroughs, 3-0; 86: Aaron Brooks dec. Zahid Valencia, 7-6

Semifinals

57: Thomas Gilman dec. Daton Fix, 6-0; 65: Nick Lee dec. Andrew Alirez, 11-9; Zain Retherford dec. Jesse Mendez, 3-2; 74: Burroughs dec. Mitchell Mesenbrink, 8-3; Nolf dec. Jarett Jacques, 9-2; 86: Brooks dec. Alex Dieringer, 8-4; 125: Nick Gwiazdowski dec. Greg Kerkvliet, 5-1

Consolation First Round

57: Marcus Blaze dec. Nico Megaludis, 2-2 (criteria); Luke Lilledahl dec. Liam Cronin, 2-2 (criteria); 65: Joseph McKenna dec. Beau Bartlett, 3-2; 74: Alex Marinelli dec. Levi Haines, 11-7; Ladarion Lockett forfeit Vincenzo Joseph; Tyler Berger dec. Alex Facundo, 5-5 (criteria); 86: Mark Hall forfeit Pat Downey; Max Dean tech. superiority Connor Mirasola, 12-2 (5:23)

Quarterfinals

57: Zane Richards dec. Lilledahl, 5-3; Spencer Lee dec. Megaludis, 8-0; Gilman dec. Jax Forrest, 5-4; 65: Lee dec. Alec Pantaleo, 9-2; Andrew Alirez dec. Bartlett, 6-2; 74: Burroughs dec. Facundo, 5-3; Mesenbrink tech. superiority Lockett, 13-3 (4:28); Nolf dec. Marinelli, 7-2; 86: Brooks dec. Mirasola, 11-5; Dieringer dec. Hall, 5-2; Trent Hidlay dec. Carter Starocci, 6-4; 125: Kerkvliet tech. superiority Christian Lance, 10-0 (4:48)

First Round

57: Lilledahl dec. Daniel DeShazer, 3-2; 65: Bartlett dec. Nahshon Garrett, 10-6; 74: Facundo dec. Haines, 6-0; Jarrett Jacques, dec. Joseph, 6-6 (criteria); 86: Mirasola dec. David McFadden, 4-0; Starocci dec. Downey, 12-4; Evan Wick tech. superiority Dean, 13-1 (2:59)

Women’s Freestyle

Finals

62: Macey Kilty dec. Jennifer Page, 9-8

Semifinals

62: Page dec. Mallory Velte, 8-7