Josh Barr’s victory highlights Penn State wrestling’s shutout of No. 19 Michigan
“It was kind of like desperation mode.”
Those were the words Penn State’s Josh Barr used when asked about trailing in his bout against Jacob Cardenas.
The 197-pound bout was the one that everyone wanted to see. Not only was it to see how Barr would respond from last week’s loss — his first — but because of the matchup with the No. 2 wrestler in the country.
The Nittany Lions, who won 39-0 over No. 19 Michigan, had the dual in hand when Barr stepped to the mat, so it was just a matter of whether they could get another shutout. They held a 20-0 takedown advantage, too.
Barr and Cardenas traded escapes in regulation, and neither scored in sudden victory, so the bout went into rideout periods.
Barr had a choice, but deferred his option to the second period. Cardenas was able to escape to make it 2-1.
In the second rideout period, Cardenas had a strong ride going. However, with four seconds remaining, Barr flipped around on Cardenas and took him to his back for a reversal, and a 3-2 victory in ultimate tiebreaker.
“Honestly, I thought I could wrestle a lot better tonight. It’s just another opportunity to get better,” Barr said of his win. “(I’m) grateful for the opportunities, obviously, the Big Ten brings. I’m taking it, getting better from it and moving on.”
Greg Kerkvliet closed out the dual by getting a shutout of his own, 6-0, over No. 8 Josh Heindselman.
Luke Lilledahl got the crowd into the dual early by wowing them with a fall in 5:38 at 125 pounds.
The true freshman looked like he was going to give Christian Tanefeu an escape after tallying a takedown, but he had other plans. Lilledahl locked up a quick cradle and rocked Tanefeu to his back.
Kyison Garcia made his Nittany Lions’ debut at 133 pounds in place of Braeden Davis, and rode the wave that Lilledahl created. He used a nice shrug by to throw Nolan Wertanen by with nine seconds left in the second period for a 4-1 victory.
“I thought Garcia did a really good job. He hasn’t wrestled since November, so that’s a big match to be your first match, and the first time in dual meet,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “He went and scored his points. I think he probably learned a lot, that matches are all the same. Hopefully, he can continue to build off of that.”
Beau Bartlett needed a riding time point to edge No. 12 Sergio Lemley, 3-2, at 141 pounds. It was a bout where Bartlett’s reversal in the third period were the winning points.
Shayne Van Ness and Tyler Kasak had back-to-back decisions to give the Nittany Lions an 18-0 lead at the break.
Mitchell Mesenbrink got things kicked off for the second half of the dual by earning another bonus-point victory. However, it wasn’t a technical fall.
Mesenbrink recorded five takedowns and came up one point shy of a technical fall in an 18-4 major decision over No. 10 Beau Mantanona.
Levi Haines and Carter Starocci kept the bonus points coming after Mesenbrink.
Haines took No. 29 Joseph Walker down and cranked him to his back with a deep half nelson for a pin in 2:36.
“I think learning to be patient on top has been a big learning curve. A lot of times, I get excited when I start getting a guy toward his back,” Haines said. “I go to run him over, and he kind of flips out of it. It’s been part of the learning process, and I’m committed to trying to get some turns on top.”
Starocci had five takedowns for his team, with his last one giving him just enough to secure a 19-4 technical fall in 7:00 on No. 24 Jaden Bullock, before Barr came up.
With the victory over the Wolverines, this marked Penn State’s fifth shutout of the year. There is the potential for a couple of other shutouts with four duals left.
“I think we have a really good team this year. They’re very solid. We have 10 good guys, and 10 good weight classes,” Sanderson said. “We have guys that are ready to jump in there, if the opportunity arises, as we saw with Kyison today. We love our team. We’re just going to keep getting better. I know that’s been said a few times, but that’s always the plan.”
No. 1 Penn State 39, No. 19 Michigan 0
Friday at University Park
125: No. 7 Luke Lilledahl, PSU, pinned Christian Tanefeu, 5:38
133: Kyison Garcia, PSU, dec. Nolan Wertanen, 4-1
141: No. 3 Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. No. 12 Sergio Lemley, 3-2
149: No. 3 Shayne Van Ness, PSU, dec. Dylan Gilcher, 7-1
157: No. 1 Tyler Kasak, PSU, dec. Zack Mattin, 7-2
165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, major dec. No. 10 Beau Mantanona, 18-4
174: No. 2 Levi Haines, PSU, pinned No. 29 Joseph Walker, 2:36
184: No. 1 Carter Starocci, PSU, tech. fall No. 24 Jaden Bullock, 19-4 (7:00)
197: No. 4 Josh Barr, PSU, dec. No. 2 Jacob Cardenas, 3-2 (UTB2)
285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet, PSU, dec. No. 8 Josh Heindselman, 6-0
Takedowns: M 0, PSU 20
Records: Michigan (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten), Penn State (11-0, 5-0 Big Ten)
Next match: Maryland at Penn State, 1 p.m. Sunday
