ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After walking away from the 2022 Big Ten Championships a year ago with the best team but the second-best placing, Penn State wasn’t about to let that happen again in 2023.

Penn State crowned four champions, had two runners-up and added third-, fourth- and seventh-place finishes to total nine NCAA qualifiers Sunday at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

That combination of overwhelming talent and high placement allowed the Nittany Lions to accumulate 147 points and win the team title going away. It was the Nittany Lions’ seventh Big Ten title under Cael Sanderson and first since 2019.

Sanderson was named the conference’s Coach of the Year, while Levi Haines was named Freshman of the Year. Iowa’s Spencer Lee was named Wrestler of the Championship as well as Wrestler of the Year.

Iowa, which only counted two champions among its 10 NCAA qualifiers, was 12.5 points behind in second with 134.5. Nebraska, which advanced a surprising five wrestlers to the finals, could only claim one champ, but the Huskers’ 104.5 points was good enough for third place.

“We’re super happy to win a team Big Ten championship. As a coach or as a team your heart’s always with the guys that didn’t reach their goals and unfortunately, that happens. Pretty much every event somebody doesn’t quite have the tournament that they want, but we still just celebrate and be happy and move on to the next one. You’re ready to go.”

Roman Bravo-Young (133 pounds) and Aaron Brooks (184) each won their third individual title, becoming the eighth and ninth, respectively, in program history. Carter Starocci (174) won his second. Haines (157) also won.

Max Dean (197) lost his bid to repeat as champion. Greg Kerkvliet lost in his first trip to the finals. Beau Bartlett wrestled back for a third-place finish at 141, Van Ness was fourth at 149 and Alex Facundo was seventh at 165.

Bravo-Young used his years of experience and quickness to get past a sophomore upstart from Minnesota, Aaron Nagao. The Nittany Lion hit a low single into a double at the first-period buzzer and another low double in the second to secure his 52nd straight victory, 5-2. Bravo-Young, a four-time B1G finalist, has qualified for the NCAA Championships for a fifth time.

“Just another win and move on. Just another match and move on; it’s March. I’m just doing what I love,” Bravo-Young said in a flat, emotionless voice. “No matter how you win, you’ve got to move on. Nothing (feels different). Just another year older, wiser and smarter, healthier, stronger.”

Brooks met Ohio State’s Kaleb Romero in the 184-pound final and turned what was a 3-2 win in the regular season into a 12-2 rout. Romero had slowed the pace of the first meeting, but Brooks from the opening whistle wrestled at an accelerated pace.

“He stepped things up a little bit,” Sanderson said. “He put a little more pressure forward and he just wrestled really well. He’s obviously really good.”

Starocci just missed a takedown at the end of the first period against Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola, but he converted once each in the second and third in a 6-1 win.

“It’s always good to win the team title, too. It is special to get this team title because I really believe this is a special team with a lot of killers on it. I’d hop in a foxhole with every one of these guys,” Starocci said.

Starocci won his second title in three trips to the Big Ten finals.

Penn State’s fourth champ, Haines, was perhaps its least expected.

Haines met undefeated Peyton Robb of Nebraska, the nation’s No. 1 157-pounder, in the finals. Neither wrestler could score more than an escape through regulation although each nearly converted. So, the match went to the sudden victory period.

Nearly halfway through the period, Haines shot in on a high crotch and hiked Robb in the air. As he was trying to return him to the mat, Robb tried to counter but Haines finished with authority for a 3-1 win.

“It’s pretty cool,” Haines said with a smile. He then detailed his winning takedown. “I was just staying focused. I knew going into it it was going to be a dogfight. I just stayed persistent, pulling on his head. I found an opening and let it rip.”

Dean was paired with Nebraska’s long, lanky Silas Allred. The Husker junior used that reach to convert singles on Dean in each period in a 6-3 win.

Kerkvliet earned a rematch with Michigan’s Mason Parris, who used a late takedown to nip him in the dual meet. On this night, Parris once again got the first takedown but Kerkvilet escaped twice and then coaxed a stall call in the third to send the match into the sudden victory period tied 3-3. Much like the dual meet, Kerkvliet shot in on a double but Parris countered and eventually came around for the winning takedown in a 5-3 win.

Sanderson didn’t seem discouraged by either Dean’s or Kerkvliet’s finals loss.

“It’s life, man. You know, you either go and you score more points than your opponent or you don’t, and if you don’t, we’ll figure out what we can do differently next time and make small adjustments, whatever it might be,” he said.

“Maybe it’s our focus or perspective. Maybe it’s technique. Maybe it’s both. But we have a good amount of time here to prep for the nationals. So, we’ll be good to go.”

Now all eyes shift toward the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 16-18 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“Sometimes it’s tough to wrestle great two weekends in a row like this. So, we’ve always kind of focused on nationals,” Sanderson said. “That’s been our focus this year also. So, we’ll be ready to roll in Tulsa.”