Blue White Illustrated

October 2021

Penn State Sports Magazine

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O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 4 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M S ophomore Beau Bartlett added to the Penn State wrestling team's summer hardware haul when he secured third place in the 65-kilo- gram (143.3 pounds) weight class at the United World Wrestling Junior World Championships in Russia in August. A Tempe, Ariz., native who competed at Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pa., before beginning his college career with the Nittany Lions, Bartlett went 3-1 at the event. In the bronze medal match, he put together a late flurry of scor- ing action to beat Tajikistan's Mustafo Akhmedov, 7-4. "It was 20 years in the making, and a whole summer dedicated to this," Bartlett told FloWrestling. "To my fam- ily, the team and everyone involved, I'm thankful for them." Bartlett opened the tournament with technical superiority wins over Mar- cell Kovacs of Hungary (12-1) and Davit Margaryan of Armenia (11-0). But in the semifinal round, he fell 6-2 to Ziraddin Bayramov of Azerbaijan, setting up the match with Akhmedov for the bronze. To anyone who saw former Penn State wrestler David Taylor win Olym- pic gold in Tokyo by constantly push- ing the pace before scoring the decisive points with less than 30 seconds to go, Bartlett's win over Akhmedov had a fa- miliar feel. Needing a comeback, the Penn State wrestler got a late double- leg takedown to take a 5-4 lead then pulled off another two-point move near the buzzer to secure the victory. Bartlett said that the World Cham- pionships were a learning experience for him. He said they taught him to al- ways push the pace and to seek scor- ing opportunities whenever they pres- ent themselves. He also learned to be adaptable. At that level of competition, he may not always be able to wrestle to his preferred strengths, he said, but that's OK as long as he's able to pull out his best moves when opportunities present themselves. As he prepares for his second college season after wrestling at 141 and 149 pounds last year, a summer spent train- ing for international freestyle compe- tition offers lessons to take with him for folkstyle wrestling, and the Nittany Lion sophomore is ready for whatever that brings. "Obviously, no one prepares to get a bronze medal," he told FloWrestling. "That's not what people have in mind, but it's my first World Championships, first time being on the World Team, so I feel like it's a very good jumping-off point for the future. I'm very grateful, very appreciative, and I love what's happening right now." ■ PSU's Beau Bartlett Claims Bronze Medal At Junior Worlds G R E G P I C K E L | G P I C 9 2 @ G M A I L . C O M STAROCCI, RETHERFORD THIRD AT U.S. WORLD TEAM TRIALS Defending NCAA champ Carter Starocci was one of two Nittany Lion Wrestling Club (NLWC) mem- bers to finish third at the U.S. Senior World Team Trials Sept. 11-12 in Lincoln, Neb. Starocci, who will be a redshirt sophomore this coming season, topped NLWC teammate and former three-time NCAA champion Jason Nolf 4-3 in the third-place match at 79 kilograms after topping four other opponents (one was by forfeit) for the right to wrestle in that bout. In addition to Starocci, former Penn State standout Zain Retherford earned a third-place finish. Retherford, who won three NCAA titles with the Lions, wrestled at 70 kg and beat former Nebraska grappler Tyler Berger by technical superiority, 11-0, in the match for bronze. Penn State will be represented at the Senior World Championships, Oct. 2-10, in Oslo, Norway, by Olympic champion and alum David Taylor, and fellow NLWC members Kyle Snyder and Thomas Gilman. — Greg Pickel Wrestling at 141 and 149 pounds, Bartlett compiled an 8-3 record as a freshman at Penn State last season. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS WRESTLING

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