Penn State wrestling’s Beau Bartlett misses out on at-large bid into NCAA Championships
Beau Bartlett has learned his postseason fate. The Penn State 149-pound wrestler did not receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Wrestling Championships. The NCAA announced the at-large qualifiers Thursday afternoon in a press release.
Bartlett was the only starting wrestler not to automatically qualify for NCAAs from Penn State after he went 1-2 at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships over the weekend, wrestling up a weight class.
Had Bartlett made it, it would have been the first time since 2014 that Penn State would’ve sent all 10 wrestlers to NCAAs.
The true freshman finishes his inaugural season at Penn State with an 8-3 combined record at both 141 and 149 pounds. All three of his losses came to Big Ten wrestlers who qualified for NCAAs, including a 5-3 loss to Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso, the Big Ten champ at 149 pounds. While his three losses came against some of the best in the nation, none of his wins came against top-level talent.
None of his eight victories were against wrestlers who qualified for NCAAs. The freshman took part in eight regular season bouts, but only two of them came in duals. The other six came in extra bouts following the conclusion of each dual and were generally against lesser competition than he would have faced in the dual meet.
The Nittany Lions will send wrestlers to NCAAs at the other nine weight classes, with all nine automatically qualifying at Big Tens over the weekend, where the team finished second behind Iowa.
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 4:43 PM.
