UNIVERSITY PARK — With the start of another Penn State wrestling season just around the corner, head coach Cael Sanderson repeated Monday his usual mantra of improvement for the defending NCAA champion Nittany Lions.
But at the team’s Media Day in Rec Hall, one of Sanderson’s starters wasn’t shy about sharing an aspiration he holds for him and his teammates.
“I’m very excited for the team. There’s 10 weight classes and I think we have 32 guys on the roster. At the end of the day, you know you want a team national championship. We’ve been able to do that. People want to be a national champion. You know, I haven’t been able to do that yet,” projected 141-pound starter Beau Bartlett.
“But another big goal is 10 All-Americans. It’s been done one time in history — 2001 Minnesota. To get 10 All-Americans, that would be something. It’s a lofty goal, right? To have 10 All-Americans, have 10 guys who are the top eight in the country.”
For the team to grant Bartlett’s wish, it would surely have to follow Sanderson’s message of working to improve every day and reach a peak at the NCAA championships in March.
That philosophy has led to nine NCAA championships, 75 All-Americans and 32 national champions, including a record-tying five in both 2017 and 2022, in the first 13 years of his tenure.
While he would undoubtedly pass on sharing Bartlett’s vision in public, Sanderson would assuredly revel in the success if it would come to pass in his 14th year at the helm. The first step on the road to March comes at 7 p.m. Friday in Rec Hall when Lock Haven visits for the season opener.
“I think you’re always looking ahead. You want to do your best at the time and then get ready for the next thing,” he said. “It’s just a fun group to train. I mean, they’re competitors. We’ve seen this in the past: The bigger the match, the better they wrestle, so we just keep doing our thing.”
Penn State will send out a lineup that features four reigning NCAA champions — Roman Bravo-Young (133), Carter Starocci (174), Aaron Brooks (184) and Max Dean (197) — and another returning All-American, Greg Kerkvliet (285). The other half of the lineup will include two previous starters and three first-time starters.
The biggest news of the day came with Sanderson revealing that Robbie Howard, expected to start at 125 after missing last season with an injury, probably won’t wrestle this year. Transfer Will Betancourt, who was expected to push Howard for the spot, isn’t on the team, Sanderson said. That leaves redshirt-freshman Gary Steen as the starter.
“Gary Steen’s done a nice job and he’ll probably kick things off and hopefully get things rolling there,” Sanderson said.
For his part, Steen sounds like he’s prepared to not only be the starter but also contribute to team success.
“I’ve improved pretty much everywhere. I’m learning from top and bottom from all the guys in there. I’ve worked with the best every day. I’ve got Thomas Gilman in there who mentored me and helps me a lot,” he said. “So, just always coming in here every day just having a purpose of getting better in any position, in every position.”
Bartlett, who sacrificed for the team the past two years by moving up a weight to 149, will finally be able to wrestle at his more natural weight of 141.
“That was exciting, no regrets for that. I’m happy I went up instead of redshirting. Redshirting, I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity. I would have had to sit, sit behind the scenes and watch everyone else wrestle. I’m really hungry for the opportunity to wrestle in front of those crowds, wrestle against those big names. And now, going down a weight, I feel more prepared than ever.”
Sanderson seemed to indicate that Terrell Barraclough, a part-time starter last year at 157, has held off a blue-chip recruit for the weight.
“I would just say that we’ve just changed a couple of things mentally and I’m ready to go. I was kind of like a little kid last year and finally grown myself a little bit,” Barraclough said. “I grew a couple inches over the last summer but again, I refocused on the things that I want and just been training, just believing in myself. I think they’ll put me on the right track.”
Two former blue-chip recruits are ready to make their debuts at 149 and 165, respectively — redshirt freshmen Shayne Van Ness and Alex Facundo.
“They’re both great. They’re both looking really good. I think Van Ness is a goer and he just had some nagging injuries that he needed to kind of take care of. So, he didn’t get a chance to wrestle as much but he’s really good and he’s just a tough kid. He’s going to compete hard and he’s healthy and excited to go,” Sanderson said.
“Facundo got a lot more experience, more matches, but same thing, great kid, quality student athletes all across the board and they’re very good wrestlers, so we’re excited to watch them compete.”
In Lock Haven, coached by former Nittany Lion All-American Scott Moore, Penn State expects a hard-fought dual.
“We know they have a really good team. They’ve had a very successful dual team, especially recently, very tough,” Sanderson said. “So, we’re expecting a great match and looking forward to competing. We know they’re going to come in and compete hard and they always do. So, we’ve got to be ready to roll.”
