Penns Valley grad Baylor Shunk in mix to start off Penn State wrestling’s lineup as season gets underway

The 125-pound weight class has been a weak spot in Penn State’s wrestling lineup ever since Nick Suriano transferred out at the end of the 2016-17 season, after an injury kept him out of the postseason.

It seemed that when sophomore Robert Howard joined the Nittany Lions last year, there was reason for optimism at the weight. Howard went 7-6 in last year’s shortened season, and 2-2 at the NCAA championships, scoring Penn State’s first points at 125 pounds at NCAAs since 2016. Well, Howard is out again to start the year as he recovers from offseason surgery.

So, who is the next man up?

“That’s a weight that’ll kind of work itself out as we move along here. We have more guys competing in that weight probably than any other weight,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “We have several kids that are working hard and are competitors, that are going to try to make that their weight class. We got Baylor Shunk, (Jake) Campbell, (who is a) transfer from Bucknell, (Brandon) Meredith has been working his way back to 125; obviously, Robert Howard, Marco Vespa, who is a freshman, and Gary Steen.”

When the Nittany Lions released their upcoming dual notes, Shunk and Meredith were the only two wrestlers listed at 125 pounds. Sources close to the program have said that Shunk, who is a Penns Valley graduate, is expected to make his dual debut on Saturday, when Penn State faces Sacred Heart and Oregon State in the Journeymen Duals at the Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Manheim.

Shunk is in his sophomore season for the Nittany Lions, since last season didn’t count toward eligibility. He didn’t compete at all last season, so, the wrestler who’s been called an “encyclopedia of the sport” by Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker is likely itching to get back on the mat.

In his redshirt freshman campaign in 2019-20, Shunk was 12-9, while competing unattached.

As Sanderson mentioned, Meredith is trying to get down to the weight, as he is listed at 125 and 133 on the team’s roster. It is unknown what Meredith’s true weight is, but he has donned the Blue and White singlet before at 125.

Meredith went 13-16 as the starter two seasons ago. His Rec Hall debut that season saw him pull off an 8-5 upset win over then-No. 10 Michael Colaicco of Penn. Meredith’s season came to an end in the Big Ten Championships, where again he picked up an upset win, this time over Minnesota’s Patrick McKee.

But 125 isn’t the lone weight class that is open for discussion.

“(1)57 is a weight that’s a little bit more competitive, and (1)65 also,” Sanderson said. “(We have) kind of the usual suspects at the rest of the weights, but some of those weights we’ll kind of play with that as we go along. It’s still November, obviously, so we got a long, but exciting season ahead.”

Let’s start at 157 pounds.

This was a spot that was held down last season by Brady Berge, who ultimately medically retired from the sport and is now an assistant coach at South Dakota State. In Penn State’s dual notes, there are two wrestlers listed, who are both familiar with the starting lineup.

Joe Lee, who was the 165-pound starter last season, and Terrell Barraclough are battling it out for the starting spot.

Lee is ranked No. 24 in the country by Intermat after going 6-7 last year. He won his first three collegiate dual matches, and was ranked as high as sixth in the country. He suffered back-to-back losses to Michigan’s Cameron Amine and Ohio State’s Ethan Smith, but got a fall to finish off the regular season.

Lee placed eighth in his first Big Ten Championship to qualify for the NCAA Championships. However, he went 0-2 in the NCAA Championships, and watched his older brother Nick capture his first NCAA title.

Barraclough, who was 18-3 in his redshirt year while competing unattached in 2019-20, went 2-2 last year at 149 pounds in the shortened season. His two wins came in the extra bouts that occurred last year. His losses came in dual starts, but his losses were competitive.

Barraclough made his Penn State dual debut with a 3-2 loss to Northwestern’s Yahya Thomas, who went on to finish third at the NCAA Championships. Barraclough’s other loss was 4-3 to Michigan’s Kanen Storr, who was an NCAA qualifier.

At 165 pounds, fans again could see a familiar face, with Creighton Edsell potentially manning the spot. However, he’s got some stiff competition in true freshman Alex Facundo looking to crack the lineup.

“Alex is a phenomenal young wrestler. One thing I’ve really noticed about him, if you do something to him once, it’s gonna be hard to do it again,” reigning 184-pound NCAA champion Aaron Brooks said. “He catches on and evolves quick. His wrestling IQ is what makes the biggest difference. Whenever you’re coming from high school to college, and you have that IQ already, it puts you ahead, so it’s a great advantage for him. It’ll be exciting to see how far he takes it. In my opinion, he can be a four-time NCAA champion.”

Reigning 174-pound NCAA champion Carter Starocci added: “I think really highly of Alex. He has a lot of potential. I see a lot of me in him. When I say that, I haven’t met too many kids that walk the walk. You can tell by his aura and his energy that he brings to the room, that he really wants to achieve all of his goals. I know that he didn’t win the Clarion Open this past weekend, but I know that’s not going to faze him. His mindset is still going to be sharp. I believe he’ll be a national champ.”

As Starocci mentioned, Facundo got his first taste of college wrestling in last weekend’s Clarion Open. He finished fifth with a 6-1 record and had five bonus-point victories — three major decisions and two pins.

Facundo joins the Nittany Lions after claiming four straight Michigan state titles. He had a 132-2 career record for Davison High School, where he went undefeated as a freshman and a senior.

Facundo was the top rated recruit, and ranked as the No. 1 wrestler in the country for three straight years. He also competed on the US Cadet World teams, where he captured bronze medals in 2018 and 2019 at the World Championships.

Edsell went 5-0 last season in those extra bouts at 174 pounds as a redshirt sophomore. He managed just one bonus-point victory, which was a 12-2 major decision over Wisconsin’s Seth Vosters.

During his redshirt freshman season in 2019-20, Edsell started in three duals and was 3-0 at 184 pounds. He went a combined 13-5 on the year, wrestling between 174 and 184. Again, he managed only one bonus-point win, which was a pin in the Wilkes Open.

Edsell ended up finishing second in the Wilkes Open, falling to then-teammate Mark Hall in the finals.

One weight class that Sanderson didn’t mention was 197 pounds. That’s another weight where Penn State has a bit of a problem. This time, it’s a good problem.

The Nittany Lions have returning All-American Michael Beard back, but they also picked up a transfer in Max Dean, who is a two-time All-American and NCAA runnerup.

Beard made the most of his first official collegiate season. After redshirting in 2019-20, he became the team’s starter last year at 197 pounds and went 10-6. Five of his six losses came in the postseason, all against ranked opponents.

Half of Beard’s victories came with bonus points — three major decisions, one technical fall and one pin. He had some thrillers with Michigan’s Myles Amine, who’s now a four-time All-American and Olympic bronze medalist for San Marino. While Amine won both matches, Beard battled both times, falling 8-5 (dual) and 8-6 in sudden victory (Big Ten Championships).

Beard finished seventh in the NCAA Championships and sixth in his first Big Ten Championships. He reached the NCAA quarterfinals, where he suffered his first loss of the championships.

Dean is a junior this year after competing for Cornell during his freshman and sophomore campaigns. He finished seventh as a true freshman in the 2018 NCAA Championships. As a sophomore, Dean made the NCAA finals, but suffered a 6-4 loss to Northern Iowa’s Drew Foster. He finished 25-6 and had eight major decisions, four technical falls and three pins.

The Michigan native was unable to wrestle last year as the Ivy League canceled the season due to the COVID pandemic. However, he’s already making an impact on his new teammates.

“Max is an interesting character. He’s known right now for hosting team barbecues,” Brooks said. “I really enjoy having Max in the room. He’s made a lot of us better. He comes from the Cornell wrestling room, so he brings a whole different mind and views to wrestling. He’s a NCAA runner up, so having him in the room, as a friend and teammate has been huge for a lot of our guys. I think you’ll be able to see the fruits of those labors as the season goes on.”

No. 2 Penn State (0-0) vs. Sacred Heart (1-0)

When: 5:30 p.m., Saturday

Where: Spooky Nook Sports Complex, Manheim

Radio: WRSC (93.3 FM) or WQWK (103.7 FM)

Online: Radio, Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com, Video, Rokfin.com/journeymenwrestling (paid subscription)

Twitter: @byncobler, @pennstatewrest

No. 2 Penn State (0-0) vs. Oregon State (1-1)

When: 7 p.m. (approx.), Saturday

Where: Spooky Nook Sports Complex, Manheim

Radio: WRSC (93.3 FM) or WQWK (103.7 FM)

Online: Radio, Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com, Video, Rokfin.com/journeymenwrestling (paid subscription)

Twitter: @byncobler, @pennstatewrest

Nate Cobler

Centre Daily Times

814-231-4609

Nate Cobler is a part-time reporter covering all things wrestling, either Penn State or Centre County’s high schools, for the Centre Daily Times. He’ll also cover other sports too. When he isn’t writing about sports, he is working for a local mortgage broker, Providence Mortgage Group.