Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528325
4 6 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M L ooking to defend its Big Ten and NCAA titles, Penn State returns three national cham- pions, three additional 2024 All-Americans and a wrestler who didn't reach the podium at nation- als last season but did win a Big Ten title. That's a pretty good starting point. There are many familiar faces re- turning to the lineup, though not all of them will be in the same places they were a year ago. Some starters will be new, but for the most part, head coach Cael Sanderson's team will be familiar to longtime fans of the greatest current dynasty in col- lege athletics. We take a look at all 10 weight classes below. 125 POUNDS: This spot was manned by freshman Braeden Da- vis in 2023-24. He won the Big Ten championship and earned the No. 1 seed at NCAAs but was knocked out of the championship bracket in the quarterfinals, then lost his first match in the consolation bracket and fell short of a spot on the All-Amer- ica podium. Davis is moving up this year, which means a new wrestler will man the 125-pound spot, most likely freshman Luke Lilledahl. The 2024 U20 world cham- pion was the No. 1 recruit on MatScouts' Class of 2024 Big Board coming out of Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pa. InterMat does not yet rank a Nittany Lion at 125. Arizona State junior Richard Figueroa, the returning national cham- pion, is No. 1 in InterMat's rankings, while Anthony Noto of Lock Haven and Jore Volk of Wyoming round out the top three. 133 POUNDS: Coming off an All- America finish in 2023, Aaron Nagao struggled to stay healthy and never fully reached his potential last year, missing the podium at nationals and finishing 17-7. With Davis bump- ing up to 133, the two will battle for this job. Nagao, now a redshirt ju- nior, is not guaranteed to win it. In fact, we'd make Davis the favorite, though the competition could take a while to play out. InterMat ranks Davis No. 11 at 133. Ryan Crookham of Lehigh leads the way in InterMat's rankings, followed by Nasir Bailey of Little Rock and Lucas Byrd of Illinois. 141 POUNDS: Beau Bartlett is returning for a final chance at win- ning an NCAA championship. The graduate student from Arizona is a two-time All-American who fin- ished third two years ago and second in 2024. Is this the year he finally cracks the top spot? Possibly, but he'll need to be more consistent on offense to have a chance. Bartlett is ranked No. 3 at 141 by InterMat. Ahead of him are Ohio State's Jesse Mendoza, who is No. 2 and beat Bartlett last year in the NCAA finals, and Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado. Alirez, the 2023 na- tional champ at the weight, is return- ing to the mat after an Olympic redshirt season. 149 P OU N DS : We l co m e ba c k , Shayne Van Ness. The 2023 All-Ameri- can appeared headed for championship contention last season but suffered a leg THE MORE THINGS THE MORE THINGS CHANGE … CHANGE … Their lineup is evolving, but the Nittany Lions appear poised for another title run G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Redshirt sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink impressed in his first season with the Lions, finishing second at nationals in the 165-pound class. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS