Penn State Wrestling Hosts Indiana Sunday at Rec Hall

UNIVERSITY PARK- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers (3-0, 0-0 B1G) open up Big Ten action by hosting Indiana (*3-0, 0-0 B1G) on Sunday, Jan. 14. The dual begins at 1 p.m. in Rec Hall. All rankings are InterMat/InterMat TPI. *Indiana is at Rutgers on Friday, Jan. 12, post-press.

Penn State is coming off a dominant 36-3 road win at No. 18 Oregon State last Friday night. The Nittany Lions used three freshmen wins, four tech falls and won nine of ten bouts to roll to the victory in Corvallis. The dual was wrestled in front of an Oregon State wrestling record crowd of 8,540.

The Nittany Lion line-up last weekend started with true freshman Braeden Davis at 125, who is 9-0. Sophomore Aaron Nagao is ranked No. 4 at 133 and is 6-1 while senior Beau Bartlett is ranked No. 2 at 141 and sports a 9-0 record. True freshman Tyler Kasak is at 149 and is 5-1 overall this season and sophomore Levi Haines, ranked No. 1 at 157, is 6-0. Freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink is 10-0 on the year and ranked No. 10 at 165 and senior Carter Starocci is 6-0 and ranked No. 1 at 174. Graduate student Bernie Truax sports a 5-1 mark at 184 and is ranked No. 5. Senior+ Aaron Brooks is 5-0 at 197 and ranked No. 1 and senior Greg Kerkvliet is 5-0 at 285 and ranked No. 1 as well.

Indiana enters the weekend with a *3-0 mark (IU is at Rutgers on Friday, Jan. 12, post-press). The Hoosiers recently took third at the Southern Scuffle and own wins over Rider, Central Michigan and Princeton. Indiana has a veteran line-up and features five potential ranked wrestlers. Grad student Dan Fongaro is 15-1 at 141 and ranked No. 23. Grad Graham Rooks is 11-4 and ranked No. 14 at 149 and senior+ Brayton Lee is 1-0 and No. 21 at 157. Freshman Tyler Lillard is 13-4 at 165 and ranked No. 23 and senior Donnell Washington is 11-1 overall and No. 9 at 174. Penn State leads the all-times series with the Hoosiers 23-0-1. The Nittany Lions have won the last 10, including a 35-8 win last year at Indiana on Feb. 5, 2023.

Penn State will venture forth on a two dual road swing next weekend. The Nittany Lions visit Michigan on Friday, Jan. 19, for a 6 p.m. dual on the Big Ten Network. Penn State then visits Michigan State on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m.

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 (3-0, 0-0 B1G)
125 Braeden Davis Fr. Belleville, Mich./Dundee 9-0
133 #4 Aaron Nagao So. La Habra, Calif./Esperanza 6-1
141 #2 Beau Bartlett Sr. Tempe, Ariz./Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) 9-0
149 Tyler Kasak Fr. Doylestown, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic 5-1
Davis Evans Jr. Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock 7-2
157 #1 Levi Haines So. Arendtsville, Pa./Biglerville 6-0
165 #10 Mitchell Mesenbrink Fr. Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead 10-0
174 #1 Carter Starocci Sr. Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep 6-0
184 #5 Bernie Truax Gr. Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista 5-1
197 #1 Aaron Brooks Sr.+ Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown 5-0
285 #1 Greg Kerkvliet Sr. Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley 5-0

INDIANA HOOSIERS (*3-0, 0-0 B1G)
125 Blaine Frazier Fr. Mt. Pleasant, Iowa/Burlington Notre Dame 6-10
Michael Spangler Sr. Wichita, Kan./Haysville-Campus 8-5
133 Cayden Rooks Gr. Columbus, Ind./Columbus East 7-5
141 #23 Dan Fongaro Gr. Lincoln Park, N.J./Boonton 15-1
149 #14 Graham Rooks Gr. Columbus, Ind./Columbus East 11-4
157 Nico Bolivar Sr. Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park 10-9
165 #23 Tyler Lillard Fr. Aurora, Ohio/Aurora 13-4
174 Robert Major So. Carmel, Ind./Carmel 2-6
Magnus Kuokkanen Fr. Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West 4-8
184 Roman Rogotzke So. Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater 16-7
197 Gabe Sollars Fr. Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei 17-6
285 Nick Willham Gr. Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood 4-4

Individual Rankings listed are InterMat and Team Rankings are
Intermat Tournament Power Index (as of 1/9/24)
* Indiana is at Rutgers on Friday, 1/12/24, post-press

THIS WEEK
#1 Penn State (3-0, 0-0 B1G) hosts Indiana (*3-0, 0-0 B1G) in the Big Ten dual opener for both teams. The dual meet is set for Sunday, Jan.14, at 1 p.m. in Rec Hall. *Indiana is at Rutgers on Friday, Jan. 12, post-press.

UP NEXT
Penn State has a two dual road trip next weekend, visiting Michigan on Friday, Jan. 19, for a 6 p.m. B1G Network national telecast; and Michigan State on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m.

ON THE AIR
TV – B1G+
Radio online – Free all year via Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com
Live Web Video – B1G+

PENN STATE DOWNS #18 OREGON STATE IN FRONT OF RECORD CROWD IN CORVALLIS
The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team took down #18 Oregon State in front of a record crowd in Corvallis on Jan. 1, 2004. The Nittany Lions won nine of ten bouts in the rousing win, with 8,540 fans packing OSU’s Gill Coliseum. Three Penn State freshmen got ranked wins. Braeden Davis downed #15 Brandon Kaylor 11-6 at 125, Tyler Kasak took down #12 Nash Singleton 4-1 at 149 and Mitchell Mesenbrink rolled to a 17-2 tech fall (3:44) over #10 Matthew Olguin at 165. The Nittany Lions tallied four total tech falls in the win.

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 PEN 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.