The 4 Biggest Takeaways For Penn State Fans After The US Open

A breakdown of the biggest storylines for all things Penn State Wrestling after the 2023 US Open.

May 5, 2023 by Jon Kozak

The 4 Biggest Takeaways For Penn State Fans After The US Open

After the 2023 US Open, there are a number of different storylines that should excite Penn State wrestling fans. The Nittany Lions’ incoming recruits, current athletes, and senior-level athletes training in State College put on an incredible performance in Vegas. Check out the article below for an in-depth breakdown of the biggest takeaways for Penn State wrestling fans after the US Open.

Penn State Still Knows How To Recruit

Penn State had 8 different recruits compete at the US Open across the U17 and U20 age divisions. There were numerous bright spots for this group with all 8 placing and three coming away with titles. Zack Ryder, the only U17 age-group wrestler of the bunch, made the U17 world team for the second straight year after dominating his way through the bracket by going 6-0 with 4 tech falls. Ryder will graduate high school in 2024 and notably won a bronze medal at the 2022 U17 World Championships. He’ll look to upgrade to gold this year in Turkey at U17 Worlds (July 31-August 6)

Zack Ryder's win to make the U17 World Team:

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Luke Lilledahl and Tyler Kasak were the other two champs for Nittany Lion recruits. Lilledahl, a class of 2024 graduate, was a late entry to 57kg at the U20 division and impressively defeated 2022 U20 World Champ Jore Volk in the finals, 10-4. Kasak won a loaded 65kg bracket in the U20 division that included All-American Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) and national qualifier Vince Cornella (Cornell). Kasak projects as a 149-pounder in college and will graduate from high school this year. Both Kasak and Lilledahl will now sit in the finals of the U20 world team trials where they will wrestle in a best-of-three series on June 2 in Geneva, Ohio.

Luke Lilledah's win over Jore Volk:

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Beyond the champs, 5 future Nittany Lions placed in the U20 divisions of their respective weight classes. Those wrestlers were Cael Nasdeo (6th at 57kg), Joe Sealey (3rd at 70kg), Josh Barr (5th at 79kg), Connor Mirasola (5th at 86kg), and Cole Mirasola (5th at 92kg). Nasdeo and Barr will be joining Penn State this fall, while Sealey and the Mirasola twins won’t make their way to State College until the Fall of 2024.

Mitchell Mesenbrink Deserves ALL The Hype

I’m giving Mitchell Mesenbrink his own category here because he’s worth highlighting for Penn State fans. Mesenbrink, a 2022 U20 world silver medalist, recently announced his transfer to Penn State and brings high expectations with him to State College. In Vegas, Mesenbrink lived up to the hype winning the U20 74kg bracket by going 7-0 with 6 tech falls and 1 injury default, outscoring his opponents by a combined score of 74-7. Mesenbrink’s gold medal match was a 16-6 tech fall win over Stanford’s Hunter Garvin who was ranked #15 on the Class of 2022 big board (3 spots ahead of Mesenbrink). Mesenbrink will now sit in the finals of the U20 World Team Trials (held June 2-4) and have the chance to once again represent Team USA at the U20 World Championships in August.

Mesenbrink's win over Hunter Garvin:

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Bartlett, Starocci, And Brooks Are Contenders

The Nittany Lions also had some impressive performances from their college wrestlers. Starters Beau Bartlett, Carter Starocci, and Aaron Brooks were all in action at the senior level with notable results from each. Bartlett at 65kg proved he’ll be a force on the senior level for as long as he wants and will definitely contend for the Olympic spot next year. Though he was only the #10 seed, Bartlett took out #7 Ian Parker (5-3) before defeating the #2 seed Evan Henderson (11-6). That set up a showdown in the semis with Penn State alum (who we’ll get to later), Nick Lee. In a wild, back-and-forth bout, Bartlett’s hand was raised at the end with the match tied at 10. However, because of an error by the scorekeeper, Nick Lee actually held criteria and was ultimately declared the winner. Though he lost that match, Bartlett then went on to defeat 2019 NCAA champion Anthony Ashnault before dropping his third-place bout to Matt Kolodzik.

Beau Bartlett's win over Final X runner-up Evan Henderson:

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Carter Starocci was one of the favorites in a loaded 79kg bracket that included the likes of Chance Marsteller, Alex Dieringer, David McFadden, Alex Marinelli, Michael Kemerer, Mikey Labriola, and a host of other past and current NCAA stars. Starocci’s tournament started out dominant with 2 straight tech fall wins before a 9-0 decision of Michael Kemerer in the quarters. However, Starocci dealt with some adversity in the semi-finals against Alex Dieringer. After a hard double-leg from Dieringer 80 seconds into the bout, Starocci writhed in pain and it appeared he may forfeit out of the match. 90 seconds later, Starocci was up and wrestled the remainder of the bout - though he was noticeably hindered by the knee injury. Starocci dropped the bout, 7-1, and forfeited out of the remainder of the tournament for 6th. While it’s not the US Open Starocci wanted, the injury doesn’t appear to be too severe and Starocci should be ready to roll this fall on his quest for his 4th straight NCAA title.

Starocci's win over Michael Kemerer:

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Aaron Brooks had the best performance of his young freestyle career at the US Open. After taking out former Penn State teammate Mark Hall in the semi-finals (6-1), Brooks had a showdown in the finals against rival Zahid Valencia. Prior to their match in Vegas this year, Valencia held a 2-0 series lead against Brooks winning 6-0 back in December 2019 and 6-3 at the Olympic Trials in April of 2021. In their finals match, it look as though Valencia would once again have the upper hand and got out to a 6-0 lead with a 4-point move in the first and takedown early in the second. However, Brooks stormed back with 10 unanswered points with a statement win over Valencia! That victory has vaulted Brooks up to the #10 ranked wrestler in the world and earned him a spot in Final X against teammate and world/Olympic champion David Taylor.

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Final X = Nittany Lion Wrestling Club

The NLWC had 5 senior-level athletes take the mat in Vegas - Josh Rodriguez (61kg), Nick Lee (65kg), Jason Nolf (74kg), Morgan McIntosh (92kg), and Ceron Francisco (125kg). Before we get to the other athletes, Jason Nolf and Nick Lee are the wrestlers to highlight here. Nolf had an incredibly impressive tournament coming away with gold with 3 straight wins over Julian Ramirez (10-0), Keegan O’Toole (9-2), and Vincenzo Joseph (10-5). Nolf has been making steady progress in freestyle over the past few years and it’s showing on the freestyle mats. On top of his Vegas performance, Nolf has wins over 2 different world medalists in the past 18 months and pushed Kyle Dake to the brink in 2 matches last year at Final X. Nolf will once again wrestle Dake at Final X in June in what should be an outstanding best of 3 series!

Nolf's win over Keegan O'Toole:

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The "odd" ending of the Nick Lee vs Beau Bartlett match shouldn't take away from Lee's incredible tournament. Lee started his tournament with 3 straight techs to reach the semifinals - including a 12-1 first-period tech over eventual third-place finisher Matt Kolodzik. In the finals, Lee was behind 5-0 at the break against Joey McKenna before mounting one of the most impressive comebacks of the tournament. Lee showed off his brutal pace, leg-attacks, and parterre offense on his way to scoring 10 straight points and a 10-5 win for the US Open Title. Lee will now move on to wrestle Yianni Diakomihalis at Final X for a spot on the world team at 65kg. Surprisingly, Lee holds one victory over Yianni in freestyle - a wild 16-8 decision back at the Olympic Trials in April of 2021.

Lee's win over McKenna:

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Francisco and Rodriguez failed to reach the podium but McIntosh experienced success in his bracket at 92kg. After about 6 years off the competitive mats, McIntosh has been active on the senior level this year and came away with 6th place at the Open. He lost only to Eric Schultz and Nathan Jackson and will now go to the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament (May 20-21) to compete for the last spot at 92kg in Final X.

As it currently sits, 8 of the 17 wrestlers sitting in Final X (men's freestyle) are currently training in State College. Beyond that, 6 of the 10 weights will feature at least 1 NLWC wrestler with 74kg and 86kg an NLWC vs NLWC showdown.