3 Penn State wrestling takeaways from the Army Black Knight Invitational

Penn State wrestling competed in its second event of the 2023-2024 season on Sunday. The No. 1 Nittany Lions took 17 competitors to the Army Black Knight Invitational individual tournament in New York. As expected, head coach Cael Sanderson’s team thrived. That was true even if starters Shayne Van Ness (149), Levi Haines (157), Carter Starocci (174), Bernie Truax (184), Aaron Brooks (197) and Greg Kerkvliet (285) did not compete. That’s because all but Haines are in Tuesday’s NWCA All-Star Classic in State College. Haines was supposed to be, too, but his opponent backed out due to injury.

We will preview the NWCA exhibition on Tuesday. First, though, here’s a closer look at our three Penn State wrestling takeaways from Sunday’s event after the Nittany Lions crowned five champs while placing 12 of 17 competitors overall.

1. Aaron Nagao made his Penn State debut

After a brief injury scare earlier this year, first-year Penn State wrestler and 2022-2023 All-American Aaron Nagao is ready to roll. The Nittany Lions starter at 133 pounds did not compete two weekends ago in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. He made his debut in a blue and white singlet this past weekend, however. And, he stormed through the field as expected. Nagao finished first with a pin, two technical falls, and a major decision victory. He decked No. 33 Braden Basile of Army in the final. It took just 52 seconds.

“He’s worked really hard,” Sanderson told PennLive before the Black Knight Invitational. Nagao did not compete last week.

“He’s continuing to try to get better and work on technique and does everything you ask. He’s very disciplined and humble but very grateful. Wants to be good. He’ll be ready to roll this weekend.”

2. Other Nittany Lions relish chance to flourish

With some of the starters out, other Penn State wrestlers who do not usually get to compete were able to do so. Some did not waste their opportunity to stand on the podium at the end of the event, either.

Freshman Braedan Davis took first at 125 pounds (more on that below) and was hardly threatened along the way. Freshman Tyler Kasak looked good and finished second at 141 pounds behind starter Beau Bartlett, who beat him 4-1 in the title bout. Stater Mitchell Mesenbrink beat backup Terrell Barraclough 8-5 in the 165-pound final. But, it was a nice tournament for both. Last but not least, freshman Josh Barr took first at 184 pounds. He beat No. 13 Jacob Nolan of Binghamtom 3-2 in the semifinals before scoring a 6-1 sudden victory triumph over Chase Kranitz of Buffalo in the finals.

Penn State scored a total of 108 points and had the most top-two finishers with seven. In other words, not having a handful of starters was no problem for the Lions at this event.

3. Checking back in at 125

As we wrote in a space similar to this one last week, we weren’t ready to give up on the idea of Robbie Howard being the starter at 125 pounds this winter despite his 1-2 performance at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. Are we changing our minds now?

The answer is probably.

Davis has looked great during his first two tournaments with the Nittany Lions. Howard, who was 2-1 on the mat this past weekend with a win over Gary Steen, medically forfeited out of the third place match. What we don’t know is this: Did Howard do so because his long-injured shoulder is bothering him again? Or, was it just typical bumps and bruises that sometimes cause medical forfeits to happen? We’ll want to gather more information before making any definitive statements. But, Davis has done all he can so far in terms of building a case for winning the job and taking the 125-pound starting spot against Lehigh next weekend.