Unfortunately one of the biggest stories of the Day 1 of the US Olympic Wrestling Trials was what happened after a whistle had blown, involving Penn State Wrestling star Mitchell Mesenbrink.
And look, I’ll be the first to say that I think this was a bit overblown.
Because in the end all of these athletes are the ultimate competitors and sometimes the heat of the moment gets to them.
Late in his quarterfinals match against Jordan Burroughs, Mitchell Mesenbrink was trailing 8-3.
And if Nittany Lions fans know anything about Mesenbrink, it’s that he’s always going to fight until the very end and give it everything he has. However the following unfolded.
Burroughs really frustrated with Mesenbrink, pushed his head into the ground after stoppage.
Straight Boos for Burroughs from the crowd after that move pic.twitter.com/Pu3l2YvGUc
— Zavier Gussett (@CallTheHuddle) April 19, 2024
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What Led to Cheap Shot
As you can see in the first video, Burroughs was taking his sweet time getting back to several resets.
Clearly, he was trying to use every second to his advantage to catch his breath in between wrestling. But that’s exactly what Mesenbrink was doing in the second video. He was using every second in the match to try and score. Plain and simple.
Is it possible Mitchell didn’t hear the whistle? Sure. There’s no way he heard the final whistle and kept on trying. That’s just not who he is.
Well obviously Burroughs took exception to this and he did what no other Penn State or Nittany Lion Wrestling Club wrestler would do.
These things happen, however, the Bryce Jordan Center crowd didn’t let Jordan’s slip-in judge go. Not at all.
The boos rained down from the packed house for what seemed like several minutes. And I can’t really blame them. But whether or not you like it, these things happen. Mitchell, always being the consummate decent human being, was quick to say he was fine with it and let’s move on. Good on him and it’s a true testament to what the Nittany Lions really have with him in the wrestling room.
As for Jordan Burroughs, well let’s just say Jason Nolf wasn’t going to let him get off easy.
Jason Nolf with the 3-0 win over Jordan Burroughs!
Nolf will take on RTC teammate Kyle Dake tomorrow in the best-of-three final series starting tomorrow morning! #PSUwr— Penn State WRESTLING (@pennstateWREST) April 20, 2024
But the drama in the BJC didn’t end there. As Burroughs was walking off the floor this happened.
A fan harassed Jordan Burroughs as he walked into the tunnel after losing to Jason Nolf.
Fan was repeatedly screaming that Jordan’s career was over. Mark Manning and Jordan responded before continuing their walk to the team area.
Really surprised that is the fan reaction…
— Christian Pyles (@CPyles8) April 20, 2024
Penn State Wrestling Star Carter Starocci Sounds Off on Jordan Burroughs
It didn’t take long for Nittany Lions standout Carter Starocci to come to the defense of his Penn State Wrestling teammate.
Starrocci didn’t hold back, on Burroughs, with scathing comments in the event’s aftermath.
“I’d like to see him do something like that to me or (Aaron) Brooks,” Starrocci told reporters. And see how tough he is.”
Brooks later went on to take down Penn State legend David Taylor to punch his ticket to Paris and earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.
Even if events unfold on the mat that wrestling fans sometimes don’t like, this is something that should never happen. Period.
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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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