By: Pat Donghia
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team (0-0, 0-0 B1G), under the direction of veteran head coach Cael Sanderson, opened up the 2023-24 season at the round-robin portion of the Journeymen Collegiate Classic in Bethlehem, Pa. Twenty Nittany Lions at the event, which took place at Freedom High School.
With 20 wrestlers competing, Penn State had 11 competitors go unbeaten. The Nittany Lions won 75 percent of their matches. Penn State went 45-15 on the day with 10 pins, 11 technical falls and nine majors.
Sophomore Robert Howard, ranked No. 20 at 125, went 1-2 in his first action in over a year. He pinned Purdue’s Ashton Jackson in his first bout. True freshman Braeden Davis went 3-0 at 125. He opened up his tournament with two tech falls and then posted an 11-3 major over teammate Gary Steen in the final bout for both Lions. Sophomore Steen went 2-1, picking up two tech falls of his own before the loss to Davis.
With No. 3 Aaron Nagao not competing at 133, senior Baylor Shunk and sophomore Sean Wang took to the mats for Penn State. Wang posted a 1-2 mark with a 16-7 major over Army’s Colt Schrader in his final bout. Shunk went 0-3 on the day.
Senior Beau Bartlett, ranked No. 2 at 141, rolled to a 3-0 mark on the day. Bartlett pinned Harvard’s Dante Frinzi in his first bout, then posted a tough 4-1 (sv) win over No. 13 Vince Cornella of Cornell. He wrapped up the day with a dominant 15-3 major over No. 12 Malyke Hines of Lehigh. Junior David Evans went 2-1 at 141 and started the day off with a thrilling 4-1 (sv) win over No. 6 CJ Composto of Penn. He lost a hard-fought 6-4 decision to No. 12 Hines of Lehigh and then picked up a medical forfeit win over No. 13 Cornella of Cornell.
Sophomore Shayne Van Ness, ranked No. 2 at 149, was dominant at 149. Van Ness rolled to a 3-0 record, all by fall, all in the first period. He pinned Army’s Eddie Hummel at 2:06 and then Cade Balestrini of Bloomsburg at 2:58. Van Ness capped off his day by pinning Lehigh’s Kelvin Griffin at the 1:30 mark. Redshirt freshman Connor Pierce went 2-1 at at 149. He majored Lehigh’s Owen Reinsel and then capped off his day with an 8-1 win over Cornell’s Cole Handlovic.
Sophomore Levi Haines, ranked No. 1 at 157, rolled to a 3-0 record with a pin, a tech and a major. After an 18-0 tech fall in his first match, he pinned Harvard’s Cael Berg at the 4:22 mark. Haines ended his day by rolling to a 10-2 major over No. 27 Max Brignola of Lehigh.
Redshirt freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink was outstanding in his first appearance at 165 for Penn State. He rolled to a 3-0 record with two technical falls, including a 20-5 victory over Purdue’s Cooper Noehre in his final bout. Senior Terrell Barraclough also went 3-0 at 165. Barraclough opened his day with a 9-0 major over Penn’s Kaya Sement and capped it off with a hard-fought 4-0 victory over teammate Matt Lee. Lee, a junior, went 2-1 on the day. He had a major to start action and then pinned Sacred Heart’s Nicholas Franzen (4:19) before the match with Barraclough.
Senior Carter Starocci, ranked No. 1 at 174, rolled to a 3-0 record with a tech and a pin. After receiving a medical forfeit victory in his first match. Starocci pinned Harvard’s Luke Rada and then rolled to a 21-5 tech fall (6:52) over No. 14 Nick Contrera of Penn in his final match of the day. Junior Aurelius Dunbar posted a 1-2 mark at 174. He picked up a 7-3 win over Penn’s Lance Urbas.
Graduate Bernie Truax, ranked No. 2 at 184, had an outstanding first day as a Nittany Lion. He downed No. 33 James Rowley of Purdue 7-4 in his first match. Truax majored Arizona State’s Cael Valencia 17-4 and F&M’s James Conway 13-4 to go 3-0 with two techs.
True freshman Josh Barr rolled to a 3-0 mark at 184. He posted two majors and a technical fall, outscoring his opponents 51-18. Senior Donovon Ball went 1-2 at 184, winning by injury default and dropping two close matches.
Senior+ Aaron Brooks, ranked No. 1 at 197, had an outstanding first day up at 197 for the Nittany Lions. Brooks rolled to a 3-0 mark. He pinned Arizona State’s Jacob Meissner and then posted a 19-3 tech fall (6:11) over No. 33 John Crawford of F&M. He wrapped up his day by pinning Penn’s Martin Cosgrove.
Senior Greg Kerkvliet, ranked No. 1 at 285, rolled to a 3-0 mark at 285. Kerkvliet started his day with a tech fall and then posted strong decisions over No. 19 Nathan Taylor of Lehigh (6-1) and No. 8 Owen Trephan of North Carolina State (7-2).
Penn State is 0-0 in dual meets overall, 0-0 B1G. The Nittany Lions will return to action at the Black Knight Invite, hosted by Army West Point, on Sunday, Nov. 19. In addition to the team travelling to West Point, N.Y., six Nittany Lions will take part in the NWCA All-Star Classic Exhibition on Tuesday, Nov. 21, in Rec Hall. The event is not a collegiate event, does not count on wrestlers’ records or RPI and is not part of Penn State’s season ticket package. The all-star meet begins at 7 p.m. and Penn Staters Shayne Van Ness (149), Levi Haines (157), Carter Starocci (174), Bernie Truax (184), Aaron Brooks (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) are set to compete.
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/twitter 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.
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT AGATE
125: #20 Robert Howard, So.
Rd. 1: Ashton Jackson, Purdue – WBF (4:45)
Rd. 2: Dylan Ryder, Hofstra – L, 3-13 maj. dec.
Rd. 3: Max Gallagher, Penn – L, 5-8 dec.
125: Gary Steen, So.
Rd. 1: Noah Tonsor, Army West Point – W, 16-1 (TF; 3:18)
Rd. 2: Bronson Garber, Bloomsburg – W, 17-2 (TF; 6:15)
Rd. 3: Braeden Davis, Penn State – L, 3-11 maj. dec.
125: Braeden Davis, Fr.
Rd. 1: Ariel Waldman, LIU – W, 15-0 (TF; 2:15)
Rd. 2: Eric Howe, F&M – W, 20-5 (TF; 4:00)
Rd. 3: Gary Steen, Penn State – W, 11-3 maj. dec.
133: Baylor Shunk, Sr.
Rd. 1: Jake Staud, Army West Point – L, 1-3 dec.
Rd. 2: Jameson Garcia, Harvard – L, 8-16 maj. dec.
Rd. 3: Daniel Uhorchuck, Army West Point – L, 7-9 dec.
133: Sean Wang, So.
Rd. 1: Daniel Miranda, Arizona State – LBF (0:55)
Rd. 2: Conor Collins, Army West Point – L, 1-8 dec.
Rd. 3: Colt Schrader, Army West Point – W, 16-7 maj. dec.
141: #2 Beau Bartlett, Sr.
Rd. 1: Dante Frinzi, Harvard – WBF (1:29)
Rd. 2: #13 Vince Cornella, Cornell – W, 4-1 (sv)
Rd. 3: #12 Malyke Hines, Lehigh – W, 15-3 maj. dec.
141: David Evans, Jr.
Rd. 1: #6 CJ Composto, Penn – W, 4-1 (sv)
Rd. 2: #12 Malyke Hines, Lehigh – L, 4-6 dec.
Rd. 3: #13 Vince Cornella, Cornell – W, med. forf.
149: #2 Shayne Van Ness, So.
Rd. 1: Eddie Hummel, Army West Point – WBF (2:06)
Rd. 2: Cade Balestrini, Bloomsburg – WBF (2:58)
Rd. 3: Kelvin Griffin, Lehigh – WBF (1:30)
149: Connor Pierce, Fr.
Rd. 1: Owen Reinsel, Lehigh – W, 13-3 maj. dec.
Rd. 2: Ethan Fernandez, Cornell – L, 2-8 dec.
Rd. 3: Cole Handlovic, Cornell – W, 8-1 dec.
157: #1 Levi Haines, So.
Rd. 1: Luca Frinzi, Lehigh – W, 18-0 (TF; 4:35)
Rd. 2: Cael Berg, Harvard – WBF (4:22)
Rd. 3: #27 Max Brignola, Lehigh – W, 10-2 maj. dec.
165: Mitchell Mesenbrink, Fr.
Rd. 1: Nicco Ruiz, Arizona State – W, 14-10 dec.
Rd. 2: Eric Shindel, Hofstra – W, 19-3 (TF; 4:34)
Rd. 3: Cooper Noehre, Purdue – W, 20-5 (TF; 5:37)
165: Matt Lee, Jr.
Rd. 1: James Johnston, LIU – W, 16-5 maj. dec.
Rd. 2: Nicholas Franzen, Sacred Heart – WBF (4:19)
Rd. 3: Terrell Barraclough, Penn State – L, 0-4 dec.
165: Terrell Barraclough, Sr.
Rd. 1: Kaya Sement, Penn – W, 9-0 maj. dec.
Rd. 2: Cole Spencer, Penn – W, 5-0 dec.
Rd. 3: Matt Lee, Penn State – W, 4-0 dec.
174: #1 Carter Starocci, Sr.
Rd. 1: Max Wilner, Arizona State – W, med. forf.
Rd. 2: Luke Rada, Harvard – WBF (2:15)
Rd. 3: #14 Nick Incontrera, Penn – W, 21-5 (TF; 6:52)
174: Aurelius Dunbar, Jr.
Rd. 1: Benny Baker, Cornell – L, 0-8 maj. dec.
Rd. 2: Lance Urbas, Penn – W, 7-3 dec.
Rd. 3: Blake Bahna, LIU – L, 1-4 (sv) dec.
184: #2 Bernie Truax, Gr.
Rd. 1: #33 James Rowley, Purdue – W, 7-4 dec.
Rd. 2: Cael Valencia, Arizona State – W, 17-4 maj. dec.
Rd. 3: James Conway, F&M – W, 13-4 maj. dec.
184: Donovon Ball, Sr.
Rd. 1: Caden Rogers, Lehigh – L, 0-2 dec.
Rd. 2: Brock Delsignore, North Carolina St. – W, inj. def. (4:34)
Rd. 3: Tony Negron, Arizona State – L, 1-5 dec.
184: Josh Barr, Fr.
Rd. 1: Jake Stefanowicz, Penn – W, 24-9 (TF; 7:00)
Rd. 2: Anthony D’Alesio, LIU – W, 13-5 maj. dec.
Rd. 3: Jack Wilt, Lehigh – W, 14-4 maj. dec.
197: #1 Aaron Brooks, Sr.
Rd. 1: Jacob Meissner, Arizona State – WBF (4:43)
Rd. 2: #33 John Crawford, F&M – W, 19-3 (TF; 6:11)
Rd. 3: Martin Cosgrove, Penn – WBF (2:33)
285: #1 Greg Kerkvliet, Sr.
Rd. 1: Tristan Ruhlman, Purdue – W, 17-5 (TF; 6:44)
Rd. 2: #19 Nathan Taylor, Lehigh – W, 6-1 dec.
Rd. 3: #8 Owen Trephan, North Carolina St. – W, 7-2 dec.
