Penn State Wrestling: Grades, Match of the Day, and MVP from the Nittany Lions’ 35-3 win over Rutgers
Following Penn State Wrestling’s second straight B1G road win, we hand out grades, re-live the match of the evening, and name our MVP of the dual meet.
In the days leading up to last Friday’s dual in Piscataway, there appeared to be some confidence both inside the No. 13 Scarlet Knights’ wrestling room and amongst their fans. Which isn’t exactly much of surprise considering that Big Ten Powerhouse Rutgers has a history of overconfidence.
Now, was there any question as to whether or not the Nittany Lions would improve to 9-0 on the year and extend their winning streak to 65 straight duals? Not really.
However, there were certainly a handful of intriguing matchups. And I could see a scenario in which Rutgers could make it interesting.
But in the end, Penn State Wrestling continued to do what Penn State Wrestling usually does. And that was to stem the tide in the first couple of matches before turning over the dual meet to the hammers in the middle and the back end of the lineup.
Ultimately the Nittany Lions won nine of the 10 matches of the night that included five decisions and four technical falls. Additionally, the Scarlet Knights were able to secure a lone takedown in the dual meet.
*Cue Bob Uecker (RIP)* “That’s all we got? One g@#$&*n takedown?”
So with all of this said, let’s hand out some match grades and culminate the article with the match of the night and the team MVP.
Match Grades vs. Rutgers
125
No. 19 Dean Peterson (RU) dec. over No. 6 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) 4-1
Grade: B-
Look, not much really happened in this match. By either guy.
Would I have liked to see Luke be more aggressive and assert his will like he does in freestyle? Well, sure. But when there’s not a shot clock and stalling is called at an erratic clip, sometimes that just isn’t in the cards. When the guy you are wrestling against doesn’t engage, it’s sometimes hard to get to your offense.
And that’s exactly what happened in this match.
Lilledahl tried to force the action late in the third period. But he got unlucky when Peterson pulled through on top after a brief scramble to hand Luke his first loss of the season.
True freshmen lose matches. That’s just a fact. And I’m guessing Luke Lilledahl learned something from this match.
133
No. 7 Braeden Davis (PSU) dec. over No. 9 Dylan Shawver (RU) 2-1
Grade: B+
Not a whole lot to say about this match either.
Davis demonstrated strength in his top game but neither guy did much when they were on their feet.
I know the match wasn’t a high scoring takedown-fest, but in the end Braeden got a win against a top 10 guy and an All-American from last season. And I’ll take those wins every single day.
141
No. 3 Beau Bartlett (PSU) dec. over No. 14 Joseph Olivieri (RU) 7-3
Grade: B+
I know I’m being a little stingy with my grades. But hear me out on this one.
From midway through the first period to halfway through the second, Beau’s offense was cookin’. After connecting on his first-period takedown, it looked like Bartlett was going to hit home on another before the whistle blew. Unfortunately, Olivieri was able to fend him off before going into the second period.
After giving up a quick escape to start the second, Beau then picked up his second takedown with another perfectly executed low single. This match had “Major Decision” written all over it with how BB was able to stalk his prey.
But following an escape early in the third to make the score 7-3 in favor of Bartlett, he appeared to completely shut down everything on offense. And this is where I’m dinging him slightly in my grade.
He had his guy right where he wanted. Beau could have gone back to his bread-and-butter low-single or he could have countered from the other side. But instead, he basically stalled the majority of the third period.
I’ll also say this: who am I to judge a two-time All-American and NCAA runner-up?
149
No. 4 Shayne Van Ness (PSU) tech. fall over Alex Nini (RU) 17-2
Grade: A+
This was exactly the match SVN needed after dropping a 10-2 major decision to Ridge Lovett last week.
Shayne looked quick, he looked strong, and he looked incredibly confident. Enough said.
157
No. 3 Tyler Kasak (PSU) dec. over No. 31 Conner Harer (RU) 4-0
Grade: A
I’m sure most of the Penn State faithful were expecting a blowout in this match after what happened in the opening period.
Kasak went to work halfway through the first to snag an opening takedown. He then went on to ride Harer out for the remainder of the period and build up over a minute of riding time.
Given the option to start the second period, Tyler chose neutral. Which was probably a bit surprising for most folks. However, what some people probably don’t know is that Harer is a beast in top position. And rather dealing with that, it was a smart choice for Kasak to try to pick up some more points on his feet.
And even though another takedown wasn’t it the cards, Kasak displayed his strength from top by keeping Harer flat on the mat for pretty much the entire third period.
Yeah it was a low scoring match, but it was still a great win.
Penn State Hiring Jim Knowles as Defensive Coordinator is Big Win for James Franklin
165
No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) tech. fall over No. 26 Anthony White (RU) 19-3
Grade: A+
Death, taxes, and Mitchell Mesenbrink making another insanely talented athlete look like a fool on the mat.
Lather, rinse, and repeat.
174
No. 2 Levi Haines (PSU) dec. over No. 22 Jackson Turley (RU) 5-2
Grade: A
When Jackson Turley is healthy, he is a damn good wrestler. But unfortunately for him, he hasn’t been healthy in the past two and a half years.
From what we’ve seen of him so far this year, Turley is about as close to the same guy who was an All-American in 2021 than at any other time in the past three years.
Just last week he took No. 6 Carson Kharchla (OSU) to the wire when he was on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision loss. And in the Midlands Championship Jackson almost nipped No. 9 Alex Cramer (CMU) in a 14-13 barn burner of a match.
So even for a guy as good as Levi Haines, it should be no surprise that this match was close too. When Turley is on, he can frustrate anyone. And Levi is no exception to this.
To Levi’s credit, he stayed laser-focused throughout the match and never let anything really get to him. And given how Jackson is currently wrestling, I would say 5-2 is a fairly large blowout win for Haines.
184
No. 1 Carter Starocci (PSU) tech. fall over No. 18 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU) 17-2
Grade: A+
Speaking of “laser-focused”, that can easily describe how Starocci looked in his match Friday night. From the opening whistle Carter was all over SCW.
Carter piled up four takedowns in the match to go along with a staggering four stall calls against Cartagena-Walsh. And honestly, he probably should have gotten the third and fourth calls earlier. However, the referee swallowed his whistle. Which is just par for the course.
But with how relentless Starocci was in that final period, the ref had no choice whatsoever.
285
No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) dec. over No. 7 Yaraslau Slavikouski (RU) 2-0
Grade: A
Here are some things we knew going into this match:
-Although he didn’t really show it, Kerk was under the weather last week.
-Yaraslau Slavikouski was an All-American in 2024.
-While giving up well over 50 pounds, Penn State’s Lucas Cochran beat Slavikouski 8-3 last year in the BJC. Also Greg blanked him 9-0 in the B1G’s.
And after watching this match, it was obvious Kerkvliet wasn’t back to 100% following his illness from last week. Far from it.
But hey, he gutted out a really tough match and pitched the second Nittany Lion shutout to cap off a lopsided win over Rutgers.
Match of the Dual Meet
No. 4 Josh Barr (PSU) vs. No. 16 John Poznanski (RU)
Both guy were circling the mat in the first period trying to get a feel for each other. Although Barr appeared to be the aggressor in the opening three minutes, none of his shots were able to get in deep on Poznanski.
Knotted at 0-0 going into the second, Barr was on top position as Poznanski chose down.
Josh went to work as he put together a very strong ride for the majority of the period. And even though he was slapped with a stall warning, Barr finished the second period on top with the two minute riding time advantage.
Going into the final period it was easy to tell that Barr completely sapped all of Poznanski’s energy with his ride in the second.
Because following an immediate escape, he spun a nice low single into his first takedown of the match. And after the restart, Barr chose the optional start to give Poznanski the free escape.
Exactly six seconds later he powered through a low double to grab his second takedown.
From that point on, the route was on!
-Barr cut Poz loose
-Eight seconds later, Barr takedown
-Barr cut Poz loose
-Six seconds later, Barr takedown
-Barr cut Poz loose
-Seven seconds later, Barr takedown
-Barr cut Poz loose
-One second after a restart, Barr takedown
-Barr cut Poz loose
-Eight seconds later, Barr takedown
-Match over
It was shocking.
I can’t remember a time where I saw two highly competitive guys go at it and that was the end result.
John Poznanski is a fifth-year junior and has a total of 87 collegiate wrestling matches under his belt. Josh Barr is a redshirt freshman with a total of 26.
And in those 87 career matches, do you know how many times Poznanski lost by major decision?
Only three times.
Prior to their match last Friday, do you know how many times John Poznanski lost by technical fall?
Never. And none of his losses were even close to that.
The performance that Josh Barr put on was simply otherworldly. He made a three-time national qualifier and All-American (2021) look like a tackling dummy in front of his home fans.
Result: No. 4 Josh Barr (PSU) tech. fall over No. 16 John Poznanski (RU) 22-6
MVP of the Dual Meet
Josh Barr
I mean how could I not pick him?
This was perhaps easier than answering the question, “Another pint, sir?”.
After what Barr did at the 2024 Black Knight Invite, I hinted that the future for Penn State Wrestling at 197 pounds is now.
But after what I’ve seen from Josh the last eight times he’s been out on the mat, I’m completely sold.
The dude is strong, he’s tough, he has a motor that seemingly never quits, and he’s smart. And when you combine this with the coaching staff and the training partners he has inside the Nittany Lion Wrestling room, it’s easy to imagine what the future has in store for this talented wrestler.
There have been a handful of wrestlers in Happy Valley the past decade plus where it was “must watch wrestling”.
Ed Ruth.
David Taylor.
Zain Retherford.
Bo Nickal.
Mitchell Mesenbrink.
It might be high time to add Josh Barr’s name to that list.
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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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