Former Penn State wrestling star Beau Bartlett wrote a lengthy, cryptic message board post.
Positing to Happy Valley Insider, part of the Rivals network, Bartlett made it clear that his experience at Penn State was mostly positive.
But not all of it was.
“I want to start this message off by acknowledging how appreciative I am of my college experience here at Penn State. I have made so many positive memories and been surrounded by overwhelmingly incredible people, incredible wrestling and incredible fans. Above all I will always be grateful for my time here and the opportunity to do what I love.”
In the second paragraph, Bartlett talked about the mental health of athletes and how there are times when what fans say on places such as forums can be detrimental to that.
“As much as I love seeing people who are passionate about wrestling, one thing that never ceases to surprise me is how quickly some of the users on this message board are to make unwarranted personal attacks about people they know little to nothing about. You love this program because of the gratitude we display, and you admire the characters of the overwhelming majority of my teammates and I, but the same character seems to be lacking on these message boards after we don’t perform the way you expect, or when someone says something you disagree with.”
Bartlett than mentioned “a significant piece of my experience as an athlete at Penn State that I have kept quiet on for a long time.”
“One that as hard as I’ve tried to suppress, hindered my mental health and day-to-day life here in a big way.”
That brings us to Syd Bartlett.
Pat Mineo of the Wrestling Room wrote on Facebook that “the rumors of why Carter (Starocci) is being investigated is that he was stealing from other PSU teammates. Which sounds really odd if true, because he’s the highest paid ncaa wrestling athlete.. why would he need to seal?”
Carter, of course, is five-time national champ and Penn State wrestling legend Carter Starocci.
Syd, who married Beau Bartlett in late April, wrote that Starocci “was being investigated for theft.”
“Aside from that investigation, he violated several of his teammates in ways that are absolutely not appropriate in any way and too my knowledge faced no repercussions for that behavior.”
“I do not care how talented an individual is, how beneficial they may be for a team’s optics or results. If they are causing discomfort of ANY DEGREE in the locker room or outside of it, IN MY PERSONAL OPINION, action should be taken. End of story.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Syd Bartlett’s comments apparently made their way to the Rivals forum, and Beau Bartlett addressed the reaction to them.
“Whatever my wife has said to cause a stir in this forum, just know that she could absolutely say so much more, but she hasn’t out of respect for me and my inability to feel comfortable sharing my experience in full due to the fear of how it will be perceived. My wife is someone who will do anything to defend the people she loves. She has had to listen to the things I’ve gone through while here, she’s had to listen to the even worse things her friends and other women have personally gone through over the years due to this same individual, she’s had to listen to the stories of my teammates and what they’ve experienced at the hands of this person, and she’s remained quiet through all of it despite being the most outspoken person I know, because there is a certain sense of intimidation that looms throughout the room and outside of it, and so many people, myself included, will more than likely never feel safe coming forward with their full stories.”
Bartlett than acknowledged that some will wonder why these incidents went unreported.
“The short answer is that they were,” he wrote. I tried to go to the right people, and like many others, was told that there wasn’t really anything that could be done.”
Bartlett didn’t blame the people who were informed.
“The fault lies in the unfortunate fact that oftentimes justice is difficult to obtain, even with evidence. I know that I’m being vague here, I understand that by sharing what I am choosing to share here, I could cause people to view me differently. But as much courage as this takes to say, I know there are other people in the sport and outside of it that go through similar situations and I want them to know that they are not alone.”
Despite being a three-time All-American and 2024 national runner-up, Bartlett never won a national title at Penn State, and, fairly or not, this brought on criticism.
Beau Bartlett wrote that he could handle criticism of his performance.
“But when you involve my wife and choose to use our wedding (which by the way was a 20 minute ceremony that we did in our pajamas the day after the (U.S.) Open), or a “crazy honeymoon” (that didn’t even happen until last week), as things to blame for my losses, I cannot allow that to happen without speaking up.”
Toward the end of Bartlett’s post, he wrote that he doesn’t “yet have the confidence to share my entire story, and I applaud and admire those who are willing to come forward with there’s, in spite of the all too often scenarios whose experiences are immediately minimized, overlooked or just all together not believed.”
“I look to incorporate the themes and values you hear in association with Penn State wrestling in my day to day because I truly believe that they are the keys to living a fruitful life, and I encourage others to do the same. Any one person does not make an entire program, and I can’t emphasize enough how many good people I’ve had the privilege of being surround by here every day. With this in mind I just want to encourage people to keep the focus on us as athletes while remembering that we are also humans who go through so many different situations off the mat that you don’t see. If you have any criticisms or comments, keep them about me. If you have anything you’d like to say to me directly, feel free to message me on any platform, preferably with your name attached to your account. Thank you.”
This is a developing story and Nittany Sports Now will have updates when more information becomes available.
