THIS WEEK'S ACTION:
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Jan 3, 2024 -- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers (2-0, 0-0 B1G) trek to the West Coast for a battle with the Oregon State Beavers (4-1) on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. The dual begins at 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. local). All rankings listed are InterMat/InterMat TPI as of 12/19/23.
Penn State is coming off a 43-10 win over Hofstra on Dec. 10 in Rec Hall. The Lions tallied four pins, three technical falls and a major in the win. Levi Haines, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Bernie Truax and Aaron Brooks picked up the pins for Penn State. The Lions are 2-0 heading into the second semester.
The Nittany Lion line-up features a number of ranked wrestlers. Braeden Davis is 8-0 and got the call at 125 against Hofstra. Aaron Nagao is 5-1 and ranked No. 4 at 133 while Beau Bartlett is 8-0 and No. 2 at 141. With Shayne Van Ness out for the year at 149, Tyler Kasak and David Evans, who have competed at 141 and/or 149, could get the call. Kasak is 4-1 and Evans is 7-2. Levi Haines is 5-0 and ranked No. 1 at 157 while Mitchell Mesenbrink is 9-0 and No. 14 at 165. Carter Starocci is 5-0 and No. 1 at 174, Bernie Truax is 5-0 and No. 2 at 184, Aaron Brooks is 4-0 and No. 1 at 197 and Greg Kerkvliet is 4-0 and No. 1 at 285.
Oregon State enters the dual meet with a 4-1 overall record. The Beavers last wrestled on Dec. 17, shutting out Cal-Bakersfield 48-0, and also own wins over North Carolina, Greensboro College and Queens-Charlotte. Oregon State has a line-up featuring nine ranked wrestlers. Brandon Kaylor is No. 13 at 125, Gabe Whisenhunt is No. 25 at 133, Cleveland Belton is No. 23 at 141, Nash Singleton is No. 11 at 149, Matthew Olguin is No. 12 at 165, Travis Wittlake is No. 8 at 174, Trey Munoz is No. 6 at 184, Justin Rademacher is No. 31 at 197 and Boone McDermott is No. 12 at 285. The Nittany Lions own a 3-0 lead in the all-time series, including a 31-3 victory on Dec. 11, 2022, last year in Rec Hall.
Penn State returns to the mat when it opens up Big Ten action on Sunday, Jan. 14, by hosting Indiana. The dual meet is a 1 p.m. start in Rec Hall.
All rankings listed are InterMat individual/InterMat TPI. The 2023-24 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by the Family Clothesline. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via X at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.
#1 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (2-0, 0-0 B1G)
125 Braeden Davis Fr. Belleville, Mich./Dundee 8-0
133 #4 Aaron Nagao So. La Habra, Calif./Esperanza 5-1
141 #2 Beau Bartlett Sr. Tempe, Ariz./Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) 8-0
149 David Evans Jr. Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock 7-2
Tyler Kasak Fr. Doylestown, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic 4-1
157 #1 Levi Haines So. Arendtsville, Pa./Biglerville 5-0
165 #14 Mitchell Mesenbrink Fr. Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead 9-0
174 #1 Carter Starocci Sr. Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep 5-0
184 #2 Bernie Truax Gr. Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista 5-0
197 #1 Aaron Brooks Sr.+ Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown 4-0
285 #1 Greg Kerkvliet Sr. Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley 4-0
#18 OREGON STATE BEAVERS (4-1)
125 #13 Brandon Kaylor Sr. Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake 11-4
133 #25 Gabe Whisenhunt So. Corvallis, Ore./Crescent Valley 7-4
141 #23 Cleveland Belton Sr. Corona, Calif./St. John Bosco 9-5
149 #11 Nash Singleton So. Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg 6-4
157 Isaiah Crosby Gr. Miami, Fla./South Date 2-2
Murphy Menke So. Parker, Colo./Ponderosa 3-1
165 #12 Matthew Olguin Jr. Fresno, Calif./Buchanan 10-2
174 #8 Travis Wittlake Gr. Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield 4-2
184 #6 Trey Munoz Jr. Mission Viejo, Calif./Trabuco Hills 11-2
197 #31 Justin Rademacher Fr. West Linn, Ore./West Linn 8-4
285 #12 Boone McDermott Sr. Dubuque, Iowa/Dubuque Wahlert 12-3
Individual Rankings listed are InterMat and Team Rankings are
Intermat Tournament Power Index (as of 12/19/23)
THIS WEEK
#1 Penn State (2-0, 0-0 B1G) visits #18 Oregon State (4-1) on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. The dual is an 8 p.m. Eastern start (5 p.m. local).
UP NEXT
Penn State opens up Big Ten action by hosting Indiana on Sunday, Jan. 14, at 1 p.m. in Rec Hall.
ON THE AIR
TV - None
Radio online - Free all year via Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com
Live Web Video - Pac-12.com
NOTES
NITTANY LIONS TALLY 4 FALLS IN 43-10 WIN OVER HOFSTRA
Penn State tallied four falls, three tech falls and a major in a lopsided 43-10 win over visiting Hofstra on Dec. 10, 2023, in sold out Rec Hall. With four freshmen starting as well, Nittany Lions Levi Haines, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Bernie Truax and Aaron Brooks got pins. Aaron Nagao, David Evans and Carter Starocci notched tech falls and Braeden Davis picked up a major at 125 in his Lion dual debut.
BARTLETT AND FACUNDO QUALIFY FOR APRIL'S OLYMPIC TRIALS
Nittany Lions Beau Bartlett and Alex Facundo each finished in the top five of their weight classes at the 2023 Senior Nationals/U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier in Ft. Worth, Texas, on Dec. 15-17. Bartlett won three straight to advance to the finals at 65 kg. He finished as runner-up with a 3-1 record. Facundo went 5-1 with a pin and a tech to take third place at 74 kg. Terrell Barraclough also competed, going 4-3 for sixth at 74 kg.. Gary Steen went 3-2 and took seventh at 57 kg. Timothy Levine (2-2 at 65), Donovon Ball (1-1 at 86) and Josh Barr (3-2 at 86) also competed.
FIVE NITTANY LIONS MAKE REC HALL DUAL DEBUTS IN 30-10 WIN OVER #20 LEHIGH TO OPEN DUAL SEASON
Penn State won seven of ten bouts in the dual meet opener for the Nittany Lions and downed #20 Lehigh 30-10 in Rec Hall on Dec. 3. Five Nittany Lions made their Penn State dual meet debuts in the match (Aaron Nagao, Tyler Kasak, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Bernie Truax, Lucas Cochran). Carter Starocci picked up a pin at 174 to lead Penn State, Greg Kerkvliet majored #12 Nathan Taylor at 285, Levi Haines downed #24 Max Brignola at 157, Mitchell Mesenbrink notched a tech fall over #32 Jake Logan at 165, Bernie Truax picked up a tech fall at 184, Beau Bartlett notched a major at 141 and Tyler Kasak moved up to 149 and downed Drew Munch 7-5 at 149.
LUCAS COCHRAN TAKES THIRD AT MAT TOWN OPEN
Sophomore Lucas Cochran posted a 2-1 record, plus a win over a non-collegiate wrestler, to take third place at the Mat Town Open at Lock Haven on Nov. 26. Cochran majored Virginia's Krystian Kinsey and then dropped a tough 13-6 decision to #6 Jacob Cardenas of Cornell. He pinned Cayden Bevis of Binghamton (2:57) and beat a non-collegiate wrestler in the third place bout. Kurt McHenry went 1-2 at 125 and both Sean Wang (133) and Timothy Levine (149) competed as well.
FIVE NITTANY LIONS WIN TITLES AT BLACK KNIGHT INVITE; BARTLETT'S THREE PINS EARN HIM B1G W.o.W.
Five Nittany Lion wrestlers won titles at the Black Knight Invite at West Point on Nov. 19. True freshman Braeden Davis went 4-0 at 125 to win the title, including victories over No. 31 Tristan Lujan of Michigan State and No. 30 Ethan Berginc of Army West Point. Aaron Nagao went 4-0 in his Penn State debut at 133, including a pin over No. 33 Braden Basile of Army West Point in the title bout. Beau Bartlett went 4-0 with three pins to reign supreme at 141. Mitchell Mesenbrink went 4-0 at 165, including a 25-6 tech over No. 21 Brevin Cassella of Binghamton and a pin of No. 22 Anthony White of Rutgers, to win his title. True freshman Josh Barr went 4-0 at 184, including a win over No. 13 Jacob Nolan, to win the crown as well. Bartlett's three pins earned the Lion senior a share of the Nov. 21 Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honor.
12 OF PENN STATE'S 17 ENTRIES PLACE AT BLACK KNIGHT
Including the five champions listed above (Davis, Nagao, Bartlett, Mesenbrink, Barr), 12 of Penn State's 17 competitors placed at the Black Knight Invite on Nov. 19. Robert Howard went 2-2 for 4th at 125; Gary Steen went 4-1 for 5th at 125; Tyler Kasak went 3-1, losing to Bartlett in the finals, for 2nd at 141; David Evans went 4-1 for 5th at 141; Terrell Barraclough went 3-1, including a pin of No. 9 Caleb Fish of Michigan State, for 2nd at 165 (losing to Mesenbrink in the finals); Matt Lee went 3-2 for 6th at 165; and Brian Borden went 3-2 for 6th at 174.
FIVE NITTANY LIONS COMPETE AT NWCA ALL-STAR EXHIBITION, HOSTED IN REC HALL ON NOV. 21
Five Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers competed in the 2023 National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Exhibition. The event took place on Tuesday, Nov. 21, in Penn State's very own Rec Hall. The exhibition was not an official NCAA event and does not count towards any competitor's win/loss record or RPI. Shayne Van Ness rolled to a 5-1 win over Arizona State's Kyle Parco at 149, Carter Starocci majored Mekhi Lewis 11-0 at 174, Aaron Brooks majored Tanner Sloan 11-2 at 197 and Greg Kerkvliet notched an 18-2 tech fall over Wyatt Hendrickson at 285.
SHAYNE VAN NESS RULES THE JOURNEYMEN; 3 WINS, 3 PINS, ALL IN THE FIRST PERIOD, EARNS B1G W.O.W.
Sophomore Shayne Van Ness rolled to a 3-0 record at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic on Nov. 12 in Bethlehem, Pa. All three of his wins were by fall and all three came in the first period. He pinned Army West Point's Eddie Hummel at 2:06, Bloomsburg's Cade Balestrini at 2:58 and Lehigh's Kelvin Griffin at 1:30. In all, Van Ness wrestled 6:34 minutes of a possible 21:00. He was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (11/14) for his efforts, sharing the honor with Wisconsin's Dean Hamiti.
NITTANY LIONS ROLL AT JOURNEYMEN COLLEGIATE
Penn State rolled to a 45-15 overall record at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic on Nov. 12 in Bethlehem, Pa. Eleven of Penn State's 20 wrestlers went unbeaten at the event (3-0). The Nittany Lions rolled up 10 pins, 11 tech falls and nine majors as well.
DAVID EVANS DOWNS #6 CJ COMPOSTO OF PENN TO TOP LIST OF NITTANY LION RANKED WINS AT JOURNEYMEN
Junior David Evans took down #6 CJ Composto of Penn in sudden victory to a 4-1 (sv) win at 141 to top the list of Penn State ranked wins at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic on Nov. 12 in Bethlehem, Pa. Evans lost a close 6-4 match to #12 Malyke Hines of Lehigh and got a medical forfeit win over #13 Vince Cornella of Cornell to go 2-1. Beau Bartlett rolled to a 15-3 major over #12 Hines as well, Carter Starocci teched #14 Nick Incontrera of Penn at 174, 21-5 (6:52), and Greg Kerkvliet rolled to a 7-2 win over #8 Owen Trephan of North Carolina State in Penn State's other top ranked wins.
