Where did Penn State wrestlers end up in the latest rankings? One Nittany Lion is a new No.1: Newsstand
Story by Greg Pickel
Penn State news and notes for Feb. 19 include new wrestling rankings, which feature a new Nittany Lion at No. 1 in his weight class, headlines of the day, and more. Let’s review Wednesday’s top tweets and stories around college athletics.
Penn State tweets of the day
InterMat has put out its latest college wrestling rankings. There was more movement for the Nittany Lions than usual this week. Senior Beau Bartlett catapulted from No. 3 to No. 1 at 141 pounds after beating former No. 1 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State last Friday. The Buckeye fell to No. 2, while Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado fell from two to three.
“I think there were some differences, obviously,” Lions coach Cael Sanderson said when asked about Bartlett beating Mendez. The Nittany Lion lost to the Buckeye in both last year’s NCAA finals and this year’s NWCA All-Star Classic before getting the win last weekend.
“But you know, within a match like that, we’re looking at like, ‘Hey, we’re going to meet again here in two weeks [at Big Tens], and again at the nationals, potentially. So, we got to just keep getting better and figure out what Beau can do. They’re going to be small adjustments, obviously. Aand they’re going to make adjustments. And, that’s what makes it fun.”
At 125, freshman Luke Lilledahl fell from No. 7 to No. 9 after a 1-1 weekend that saw him lose by pin on Friday before earning a technical fall triumph on Sunday. And, Josh Barr bumped up to No. 2 at 197 and Braeden Davis is now No 7 at 133. Here’s the full rundown. The number in paratheses indicates where the wrestler was in last week’s rankings:
125 pounds: Luke Lilledahl, No. 9 (7)
133 pounds: Braeden Davis, No. 7 (8)
141 pounds: Beau Bartlett, No. 1 (3)
149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness, No. 2 (2)
157 pounds: Tyler Kasak, No. 1 (1)
165 pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink, No. 1 (1)
174 pounds: Levi Haines, No. 2 (2)
184 pounds: Carter Starocci, No. 1 (1)
197 pounds: Josh Barr, No. 2 (3)
285 pounds: Greg Kerkvliet, No. 2 (2)
