Penn State Wrestling had a highly successful trip to the Mitten State over the weekend as they rolled Michigan 27-9 and destroyed Michigan State 35-0.
Now that the dust has finally settled on the action, let’s take a look back and hand out some match grades, detail the best match, and the MVP for the Nittany Lions‘ stellar weekend.
However, I would like to make something perfectly clear, if I don’t include a match in the “Match Grades” section, just assume it was an “A”. Because this grade would be handed out quite a few times in the 20 matches from other the weekend.
Penn State Wrestling Match Grades from Michigan Duals
David Evans
David Evans (PSU) dec. over Fidel Mayora (MICH) 5-2
David Evans (PSU) dec. over Braden Stauffenberg (MSU) 4-2
Evans appears to be the third string wrestler for the Nittany Lions at 149 pounds. But, I think it’s safe to say that he would be a DI starter at 141 pounds for a LOT of programs.
The Penn State coaching staff has called upon David to start in three dual meets so far this season. And Evans has answered the call in each of them with a technical fall (141 pounds) against Hofstra and then his two decision wins from this past weekend.
And even though both scores were relatively low, Evans was in full control in each match. David took out a Michigan backup and then rolled past a starting Big Ten grappler at 149 pounds.
To say that a team’s third string guy would start on many D1 teams is yet another reason why Penn State Wrestling has the best coaching staff and wrestling room in the country.
Grade: A+
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Levi Haines
No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) dec. over No. 9 Will Lewan (MICH) 2-1
*Nitpick warning*
As you can see I prefaced this section with a warning.
Now before you start yelling at the screen, I do completely understand that Will Lewan did not intend to actually wrestle in this match. And by that, I mean he had no intention of taking even a half-hearted shot at any point.
I understand that if your opponent does this then it’s very difficult to score and do anything.
So, with the above caveats, my only issue with this match was the fact Haines wasn’t able to hit home with any of his attacks.
Did he take a lot of good shots? Yes, he definitely did.
But he wasn’t able to corral any of them into a takedown. And along with some other areas, this has been a slight issue so far on the year.
Teams have already had plenty of tape on Levi and it’s possible they’re starting to come up with game plans to frustrate him. So Haines will need to figure out a counter for his opponent’s counter as the season progresses.
And obviously I’m not concerned one bit with Levi. Because it’s January. The only things that matter happen in March.
In the end, Haines’ match against Lewan was still a good bout and a win is a win. But don’t get me started with the officiating in his Chase Saldate match. That was so atrocious I’m not even going to talk about it.
Grade: A-
Braeden Davis
No. 14 Braeden Davis (PSU) dec. over No. 5 Michael DeAugustino (MICH) 5-1
The result of this match also produced the official “Social Media Comment of the Week”. And this week’s recipient is Scott Pilutik when he rattled off this hilarious comment:
“Davis looked like a teenager wrestling his father who just returned home from the Civil War.”
I mean it did look like a 14 year old squaring off against someone well into their late 30’s. But I digress.
The match itself further proves how good the true freshman is.
The first period began and ended with both guys squared up and on the feet. Both Davis and DeAugustino took some good shots but none of them could secure a takedown.
Then DeAugustino chose bottom for the second period and Braeden Davis proceeded to ride him for one minute and 46 seconds.
Wow.
It’s almost insane how strong Davis is on top. You don’t see true freshmen with the ability to do that.
In the third period Braeden was able to free himself of DeAugustino’s fatherly-clutches to preserve his riding time bonus. The true freshman then countered a sloppy shot and took the All-American to the mat for a takedown and he strolled to the 5-1 win.
Grade: A+
Beau Bartlett
No. 2 Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec. over No. 25 Sergio Lemley (MICH) 7-5
But things weren’t all puppies and rainbows this past weekend.
And maybe I’m being overly critical but Beau Bartlett did not look great in this match.
The match started out great for Bartlett when he got the initial takedown and subsequent ride-out in the first period. Then he quickly escaped in the second period and held a 4-0 lead with 1:09 in riding time.
Rather than getting back to his offense, Beau looked hesitant at times and he couldn’t push his advantage further going into the final period.
In the third, Beau was on top position, however Lemley quickly kicked out and he got right to work. Bartlett took a lazy shot and Lemley countered with a single. He then pulled through and finished the takedown to tie the match at 4-4.
In the process, Sergio was dinged for locked hands and Beau was able to pull the reversal and hang onto the 7-5 win.
The biggest issue I see with Beau is that he’s looking way more like the wrestler from two years ago rather than the guy from the end of last season and early this season.
I know just earlier I talked about stuff in January not mattering. But to me it looks like Beau is maybe in his head too much and not fully confident. Which led to a close match even though he should have walked through the guy.
Grade: C+
Aaron Nagao
No. 6 Dylan Ragusin (MICH) fall over No. 4 Aaron Nagao (PSU) 7:28
“Wait, you’re giving a guy who got pinned an A-?”
Yep. I mean did you even watch the match, fictional question-asker?
First off, something has absolutely clicked with Dylan Ragusin.
Roman Bravo-Young was 5-0 in his career against Ragusin, but if you were someone able to transport this version of Dylan Ragusin back to 2021, then I think he could have taken the all-time Nittany Lion great to the brink.
Secondly, Ragusin was about the only Wolverine who actually looked like they wanted to wrestle Friday evening. And he brought it right to Nagao. But Nagao was ready.
And I would say that Aaron out-wrestled Ragusin for the majority of the match. Well, outside of being ridden for the majority of the second period.
Nagao was the aggressor when both guys were on their feet and he almost got deep penetration several times. And this played out exactly the same in sudden victory. Nagao took a good shot and got in deep. Unfortunately, Ragusin countered very quickly to try to maintain control.
In the ensuing scramble, Ragusin worked Aaron’s shoulders to the mat for a split second. Which was good enough for the referee as he awarded the fall.
Was I fine with the danger count? Yes, of course. But the fall was a little quick for me considering the circumstances.
I don’t know for a fact that Ragusin was in control, but it seemed pretty evident that Nagao was not in control.
Sometimes this happens to even some of the best wrestlers.
Grade: A-
Beau Bartlett
No. 2 Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec. over No. 33 Jordan Hamdan (MSU) 8-2
In this match the Penn State Wrestling faithful say a little glimpse of “Good Beau”.
Granted, Bartlett couldn’t drive through and finish a shot he took towards the end of the first period, so he was still blanked for the first period.
But Beau looked way more confident and he tried to get his offense going in the second period. The only problem was that Hamdan didn’t want to actually engage him.
Then early in the third period when Jordan decided he wanted to do something, Beau countered and nearly pinned him. Bartlett then looked strong on top and he rode his Spartan opponent to get his riding time above a minute.
At this point Beau cut Hamdan loose and looked to try to get the major decision. He continued shooting, however none hit home.
And that’s fine. This is the version of Beau Bartlett Nittany Lion fans haven’t seen in a little bit and I hope he sticks around.
Grade A-
Lucas Cochran
Lucas Cochran (PSU) dec. over Josh Terrill (MSU) 5-0
Was this David vs. Goliath?
Not quite.
But as I stated in the Michigan State recap, Cochran was certainly giving up a lot of pounds to his heavyweight counterpart.
And I also realize the Spartans don’t have much of a wrestling team this year to write home about. But in the end a sophomore was asked to move up from 197 to 285 (by far this biggest difference in weight classes) and face a starting heavyweight on a Big Ten squad.
Lucas more than answered the call and one could even say he was on the verge of dominance in the match.
Cochran snagged a takedown following a shot to Terrill’s legs. He then went onto to ride out the big man for the remainder of the first period and the second period.
For those of you scoring at home, a 197-pounder stayed on top position of a heavyweight for a full two minutes and 32 seconds. That’s incredible!
In the third period Lucas was able to quickly free himself and both wrestlers finished the match on their feet. At no point was Terrill even in this bout and Cochran went on to shutout the heavyweight and win the 5-0 decision.
Impressive, most impressive.
Grade: A++
Penn State Wrestling Best Match of Weekend
Terrell Baraclough (PSU) vs. No. 4 Shane Griffith (MICH)
If anyone watched the action over the weekend then I’ve have to believe this category wasn’t even close.
Of Barraclough’s 54 career matches at Penn State, 41% were at 149 pounds, 46% were at 157 pounds, and 13% were at 165 pounds. Prior to this matchup, Terrell had wrestled exactly ZERO matches at 174 pounds.
And with Carter Starocci a little under the weather, Cael Sanderson and the coaching staff turned to Barraclough to see if he could go in place of Starocci. Of course he accepted.
For all purposes this was almost a one and a half bump up in weight classes as Barraclough has wrestled the vast majority of his time between 149 and 157. And even for the most gifted of wrestlers, a match like this would be very difficult when facing a decent or slightly competitive guy.
However Terrell was facing NCAA Champion and three-time All-American, Shane Griffith.
So based on this the ESPN Win % was probably somewhere around -28%.
But man did Terrell Barraclough wrestle a brilliant match. He matched Griffith in almost every aspect of the match. He had good energy, he displayed good defense, he took committed shots, and he was very tough on top.
Following a scoreless opening period, Barraclough was on top position and he rode one of the best NCAA wrestlers in the country for a full minute and 40 seconds. Unfortunately for him though, Griffith was able to maneuver himself and flip the reversal.
Terrell and Shane started the final period in neutral and Barraclough almost landed an ankle pick, however Griffith worked the action out of bounds.
And when the final horn sounded, the NCAA Champion and three-time All-American had bested his Nittany Lion opponent by the narrow score of 2-1. It was truly an amazing match.
When was the last time a wrestler bumped up to a weight they had never wrestled at and took the riding time point against a wrestler as decorated as Shane Griffith? My guess is that this is rare.
Result: No. 4 Shane Griffith (MICH) dec. over Terrell Baraclough (PSU) 2-1
Penn State Wrestling MVP of the Weekend
Mitchell Mesenbrink
No. 9 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) major dec. over No. 7 Cam Amine (MICH) 12-1
No. 9 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) major dec. over No. 10 Caleb Fish (MSU) 18-9
Seriously, was there a Nittany Lion more impressive than Mitchell Mesenbrink this weekend?
His endless energy pushed a three-time All-American to the brink of giving up more stall warnings (3) than his entire team had takedowns (2) in the dual meet. And Mesenbrink had Amine so frazzled that he actually bit him several times during a cross-face ride.
Mitchell was so in control of Amine that he tried to show Angel Rivera the bit marks twice. During this brief exchange, Mitchell was only holding Cam with one arm, yet the Wolverine couldn’t go anywhere.
Mitchell handed Cam Amine the single most lopsided loss of his collegiate wrestling career.
Then as an encore, Mesenbrink brought the heat in the final two periods against his second top 10 foe of the weekend.
Mitchell went from down 6-3 early in the second period to winning the match 18-9. And it happened in the blink of an eye as the talented freshman was able to get Fish to the mat three times in the final two minutes and 10 seconds.
Mesenbrink has been overwhelming with his energy, he takes ground away from every opponent he faces, and the guy can get to his offense as well as anyone in the nation.
Nittany Lion nation have seen it so far this year, they definitely saw it this past weekend, and this is why I have him as the Michigan MVP.
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
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