The Associated Press Penn State heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet once went 51-1 in his junior year of high school.

UNIVERSITY PARK — It was a long time coming last year for Penn State heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet in winning his first NCAA title. He always had the talent to get to the top, but was always beaten by a once-in-a-lifetime talent in Minnesota’s Gable Steveson.

Steveson was away from wrestling for the last two seasons as he spent time in the WWE, and also had a brief stint in the NFL as a defensive lineman with the Buffalo Bills. Neither professional wrestling or football worked out for Steveson, so he made the decision to return for his last year of eligibility in amateur wrestling for the Gophers in November.

Brackets won’t be released for this weekend’s Big Ten Tournament until later this week, but it’s presumed that Kerkvliet and Steveson will be on a collision course for the finals on Sunday as the top two seeds at 285 pounds.

“I think Greg just needs to be Greg and do what he does and compete freely,” PSU coach Cael Sanderson said. “(Gable) is really, really good. You just want to take your best self out there and see where you’re at.”

Both Kerkvliet and Steveson are from Minnesota, and they’re hardly strangers to each other. In Kerkvliet’s junior year of high school, he went 51-1 with the only loss to Steveson.

In college action, the two have met twice in the NCAA Tournament, but never in the Big Ten Tournament. Steveson won both by decision — 9-4 in the 2021 quarterfinals, and 8-3 in the 2022 semifinals.

The question now is a simple one: Has Kerkvliet improved enough to take over the top of the podium with Steveson absent for the last two seasons? Steveson is still 11-0 this season with eight technical falls to his credit.

“He beat good guys last year,” Sanderson said of Kerkvliet. “There’s always a lot of really good wrestlers. He’s wrestling good guys in here all the time. Greg is a student of the game and he’s always playing with different technique and improving. He’s gotten a lot better every year since he’s been here. He’s an NCAA champ, a Big Ten champ. He came back for the team, so we’re excited for him to compete for the team and see what he can do.”

Getting through Big Tens

The focus will always be on NCAAs for Penn State, but 141-pounder Beau Bartlett gave a reminder Monday about sticking with what’s important in the moment.

“The focus is on the NCAAs, but you have to get through this tournament first,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett remembered back to his freshman year when he was unsure if he would qualify for the NCAA Tournament after going 1-2 at the Big Ten Tournament.

“Big Tens, I went 1-2. I made it to NCAAs and went 0-2. That puts it all in perspective,” Bartlett said. “You see me wrestle now with a big smile on my face and that didn’t happen overnight.”

Happy and healthy

Sanderson said everyone is happy and healthy coming into this weekend, and that’s certainly a big deal for 133-pounder Braeden Davis.

“I think this will be the healthiest he’s been since the season started,” Sanderson said. “He’s had some time to recover. He made some adjustments. He’ll be ready to roll.”

Davis hasn’t been 100 percent ever since he suffered a leg injury in the first dual meet of the season in November. He never took time off then, but sat out for three dual meets in a row in early February.

“History kind of shows that sometimes being off the mat is a blessing,” Sanderson said. “You just don’t know. It’s up to the kids.”

Expectations?

In the outside world, the expectations can’t be any higher for Penn State wrestling. As far as inside the program, however, the perception is very different according to 165-pounder Mitchell Mesenbrink.

“Our coaches, and the men and women around this team, there aren’t expectations, as crazy as that sounds,” Mesenbrink said. “It’s just going out there and having fun. I feel like that is the expectation.”