Penn State Wrestling: Anticipated Bout Will Not Happen

Philadelphia— Penn State wrestling fans aren’t known for having bad luck but it seems the program has fallen short in getting anticipated postseason matchups.

At Big Tens, a lot of people wanted to see Carter Starocci take on Iowa’s Gabe Arnold at 184 pounds.

It didn’t happen since Arnold lost in the quarterfinals. He would have met Starocci in the semis.

Fast forward to the National Championships, and many wanted to see Mitchell Mesenbrink take on Utah Valley’s Terrell Barraclough at 165.

Again, no dice.

Barraclough, the former Penn State wrestling grinder who is now the No. 4 seed, was upset by No. 12 Christopher Minto of Nebraska 8-7.

Now, Mesenbrink will be facing Minto, not his former teammate, in Friday night’s semifinals.

Whereas fans wanted to see Starocci take on Arnold due to previous beef, Mesenbrink-Barraclough would have been interesting mainly since Barraclough was Mesenbrink’s teammate at Penn State last season.

Barraclough’s ideal weight was 165 but he wrestled as low as 157 and as high as 174.

It was at 174 where Barraclough wrestled each of his three dual meets last season at Penn State, his fourth and final at the school. With regular starter and future four-time national champ Carter Starocci battling illness, coach Cael Sanderson called upon Barraclough to wrestle up at 174 in dual meets at Michigan and Michigan State and at home against Rutgers in last season’s Bryce Jordan Center dual.

In his first dual meet, Barraclough had a solid showing against Michigan’s Shane Griffith, who came in ranked No. 4.

Barraclough fell just 2-1 against the former national champion.

Less than 48 hours later, Barraclough beat Michigan State’s DJ Shannon 8-1.

Barraclough’s finest hour came several weeks later at the BJC. He took on Rutgers’ Jackson Turley, ranked No. 13, and won 4-3. Barraclough’s effort earned him Performance of the Night.

At Sanderson’s weekly media availability the next day, he said he felt Barraclough “just keeps getting better.”

“He’s been in and out of the lineup since he was a freshman… He’s still been in big matches, and he’s always competed really well,” Sanderson said. “He’s very consistent. He prepares for every match the same as if he is going to wrestle for every match. That’s a pretty rare thing.”