Terrell Barraclough details process of transferring from Penn State to Utah Valley

Terrell Barraclough is one of college wrestling’s breakout stars this season. It just took him a little longer to get to this point.

At 15-1 this season, Barraclough is ranked No. 4 in the country, per InterMat, and the star of Utah Valley’s wrestling team. But he spent five years molding and developing at Penn State.

So, he took his chance at entering the NCAA transfer portal as a graduate and went back closer to home to try and pull off something special.

“I just love wrestling. And life is so short,” Barraclough said on Baschamania. “We only get so many years to like, be cool, right? And then after it’s just right, college is done. And so for me, I just, like, wanted my one shot because I knew I could be that guy? I’d always worked my butt off, and, like, knew in my heart that I could be a national champ and I’ve had the capability of doing it for a long time.

“But as you know, like those Penn State wrestlers are just all those guys are tough, every single one of them I just want to make it clear too, that, like, I still love my coaches out there as well, the Penn State coaches and I’m so grateful for them, because I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.” 

Barraclough, including his redshirt season, had a 42-19 record for the Nittany Lions, but was never the full time starter at 149, 157, 165 or even 174 pounds.

“There’s no bad blood at all,” Barraclough said. “Those guys are still some of my best friends. Just for me, (this was) my one shot to just see what Terrell was capable of (and getting) to fully experience competing in the Cliff Keen tournament, and being able to, you know, just really find out what I want … (how I want) people to remember me and how I competed, you know … 

“I just wanted to test myself, but also, it was hard. That process was not fun. I mean, it’s just like, you’re having to leave a place that you’ve been for the last four years, and you have a little family out there, you know? But when I did make the decision, you know, I had some talks with Coach Cael (Sanderson) and, you know, I love the guy. He’s one of the coolest dudes on planet Earth. And that’s just like, I think this is just what I need to do.”

Barraclough and Utah Valley are back in action Friday at home against Oregon State at 7:00 p.m. MT.