Penn State Wrestling Demonstrates Its Dominance in Milestone Win
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | On a night when Penn State wrestling made more history, coach Cael Sanderson didn't stray from his usual reserve or expend unnecessary energy. The Nittany Lions are still at basecamp, preparing their ascent toward Kansas City and the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in March. They're still acclimatizing, even though no team in the country is at their altitude.
But as one of Sanderson's wrestlers said Monday night at the Bryce Jordan Center, where the program's 1,000th victory barely tapped a pulse, the No. 1 Penn State wrestling team knows where it's going and how to get there.
"Full faith," Penn State's Terrell Barraclough said. "We'll be ready to rock come March."
Penn State on Monday delivered a 35-3 victory over 14th-ranked Rutgers that underscored just how dominant the program is and just how standard winning has become. Penn State (10-0) became just the sixth Division I wrestling program to reach the 1,000-win threshold, a mark of longevity and sustainability. Penn State has sponsored wrestling since 1908, so the milestone certainly represents a lifetime achievement. But the wrestling program barely acknowledged it.
The evening's historic context went unmentioned in Penn State's official recap or on its social channels, merited no attention in the lone Bryce Jordan Center match this season and wasn't even an afterthought for Sanderson. When asked about it afterward, the 15th-year head coach (who won his 200th match with Penn State at Iowa on Friday) politely underplayed its significance.
"I think we’re very proud to be part of this program and the tradition, moreso just the people that have been involved in the program. The former coaches, the alumni are just the best-of-the-best kind of people," Sanderson said. "We’re happy to carry this flag here for a short time but proud to be at Penn State, happy to be at Penn State."
This win, though, perfectly captured Sanderson's success at Penn State. The Nittany Lions have a lineup loaded with national champs and contenders (five were ranked No. 1), yet their second roster might be among the Big Ten's best as well. For example, consider what happened at 174 and 285 pounds.
Carter Starocci, Penn State's three-time defending champ who has the nation's longest active Division I win streak, did not wrestle Monday (Sanderson cited illnesses across the roster). In his place, Barraclough, who normally wrestles at 165, stepped up a weight class to face Rutgers' 13th-ranked Jackson Turley (9-3). Barraclough reversed Turley in the second period, tying the score at 3-3, and then rode him for the entire third period to claim a 4-3 decision. Barraclough finished with 2:49 of riding time against a ranked wrestler while competing up a weight class.
Technically it was an upset, but consider that Barraclough is 12-2 this season with losses to Michigan's Shane Griffith, ranked third at 174, and his own teammate, undefeated 165-pounder Mitchell Mesenbrink. Barraclough likely won't compete at nationals this season and yet he's perfectly content scrimmaging in Penn State's room, competing against two of the nation's top wrestlers and their weight classes and taking advantage of his opportunities when presented.
"You don’t want to be thinking about, 'Oh, I’m not going to be wrestling.' There’s, like, a more excellent way," he said. "If you choose to be a Debbie Downer about it, you're just not going to get any better in my opinion if you go into practice thinking every day, 'What’s this for?'"
Likewise redshirt junior Lucas Cochran, who wrestled up from 197 to fill in for Greg Kerkvliet, Penn State's top-ranked heavyweight. Cochran (11-2) completely controlled his bout against Yaraslau Slavikouski, the nation's eighth-ranked heavyweight, winning 8-3. Slavikouski, a member of the Belarus national team, was a two-time NCAA qualifier at Harvard who won 30 bouts last season. Yet Cochran, who weighed in at 197, aggressively scored two takedowns. And he's now 2-0 against heavyweights this season.
How many teams can fill spots for No. 1 wrestlers with such talent? That's a primary reason Penn State has won 54 consecutive matches and shows no signs of ending that streak. It's also something Sanderson discusses only reluctantly. Asked whether this could be his best team at Penn State, Sanderson wouldn't bite.
"I don’t know the answer to that," the coach said. "We’re just trying to be the best we can be this year. We have just a lot of really good people who are a lot of fun to work with every day, like these two right here [Barraclough and Cochran]. They’re in there pushing and filling in and being great wrestlers. So yeah we’re just going to try to keep getting better as we progress along here."
Not everything went perfectly, however, which means there's always something to improve. The Monday-night scheduling, and impending weather issues, meant that the Bryce Jordan Center wasn't sold out (attendance was 12,049). And video review wasn't working for the match, so coaches could not challenge calls. That came into play in the 125-pound bout, which Penn State's Braeden Davis won in sudden victory. Rutgers coach Scott Goodale threw the challenge brick at the end of the third period, seeking a potential takedown, but was told video was unavailable.
"We just didn’t have it available," Sanderson said. "That was just an error. It happens every once in a while, unfortunately. It’s not good."
At 141, top-ranked Beau Bartlett needed a late takedown to beat Rutgers' Max Hermes, who normally wrestles at 133. And at 133, Penn State's sixth-ranked Aaron Nagao lost for the third time in his last four bouts, giving up a sudden-victory takedown to Rutgers' No. 10 Dylan Shawver. Two of those losses have come in sudden victory, including a pin against Michigan's Dylan Ragusin.
But Sanderson remained behind Nagao, saying, "He'll be at his best when it counts the most." As will the Nittany Lions, who now begin the climb toward winning their 11th national championship under Sanderson.
"His track record proves itself," Cochran said of his head coach.
Penn State 35, Rutgers 3
125: Braeden Davis (PS) dec. Dean Peterson 4-1 SV
133: Dylan Shawver (R) dec. Aaron Nagao 9-6 SV
141: Beau Bartlett (PS) dec. Max Hermes 4-1
149: Tyler Kasak (PS) dec. Michael Cetta 7-5
157: Levi Haines (PS) pin Dylan Weaver 1:31
165: Mitchell Mesenbrink (PS) tech. fall Anthony White 18-3 in 6:55
174: Terrell Barraclough (PS) dec. Jackson Turley 4-3
184: Bernie Truax (PS) dec. Shane Cartagena-Walsh 7-0
197: Aaron Brooks (PS) pin Michael Toranzo 1:45
285: Lucas Cochran (PS) dec. Yaraslau Slavikouski 8-3
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