Penn State wrestling roster: Meet the new guys, plus a starting lineup projection

Penn State wrestling released its roster for the 2023-2024 season on Monday. There were no major surprises in terms of additions or subtractions for head coach Cael Sanderson’s team. It starts completion this coming Sunday at the Journeyman Classic individual tournament in the Lehigh Valley. And, its first media availability is this coming Wednesday.

Before all of that, here’s everything you need to know about the Nittany Lions’ roster.

Meet the new guys (freshmen)

Penn State is welcoming numerous freshmen into the fold this year. We will break them down by weight class.

125 pounds: Braeden Davis joins the Lions from Belleville, Mich. There, he won four state and individual titles. He is joined here by classmate Brenden Wentzel. A Montoursville, Pa., native, he won a PIAA title and placed at states during all four of his high school seasons.

133 pounds: Kysion Jordan joins Penn State from South Jordan, Utah. He was a three-time Utah state champ at Mountain Ridge High School. At the prep level, he was 156-12.

141 pounds: Tyler Kasak is a new Nittany Lion in this weight class. He is from Doylestown, Pa., and wrestled at Bethlehem Catholic in high school. A U.S. Open champ, he is also a PIAA state champ, and has won numerous other prestigious prep-level events, as well.

165 pounds: Erik Gibson comes to Penn State from South Fork, Pa. He competed for Bishop McCort and is a two-time PIAA placer.

184 pounds: Josh Barr joins the Lions from Davidson, Mich. He had a legendary prep career that includes but is not limited to four Michigan state titles and a 125-1 high school record.

197 OR 285 pounds: AJ Fricchione rounds out the freshmen class. He is from Duryea, Pa. He won 108 high school matches and is a two-time runner-up at the New Jersey state tournament.

Meet the new guys (transfers)

Penn State landed a number of wrestlers from the transfer portal during the offseason.

125 pounds: Kurt McHenry comes to State College after wrestling for a number of seasons at Michigan. The Leesburg, Va., native only wrestled in a few dual meets over multiple seasons in Ann Arbor. He will compete with Robbie Howard and others for the starting job.

133 pounds: All-American Aaron Nagao joins the Lions after a stint at Minnesota. He is slated to start at this weight for the Lions. He lost last year’s Big Ten title bout to former Nittany Lion and multi-time national champion Roman Bravo-Young.

157 OR 165 pounds: Mitchell Mesenbrink comes to Penn State from Cal Baptist. He was 2-0 during his only year there and was a star in high school at Arrowhead High in Hartland, Wisc. The redshirt freshman could take an Olympic redshirt this year. Expect him to battle with incumbent Alex Facundo for the starting job at 165 pounds.

184 pounds: Bernie Truax IV is another All-American who came to Penn State this offseason. The Oceanside, Calif., native is a three-time All-American. He accomplished that feat at 174, 184, and 197 pounds. He is also a two-time PAC-12 champ for Cal-Poly. The grad student will slot in here with returning NCAA champ Aaron Brooks moving up to 197 pounds.

Penn State 2023-2024 projected starting lineup

125 pounds: Robbie Howard OR Gary Steen

133 pounds: Aaron Nagao

141 pounds: Beau Bartlett

149 pounds: Shayne Van Ness

157 pounds: Levi Haines

165 pounds: Alex Facundo OR Mitchell Mesenbrink

174 pounds: Carter Starocci

184 pounds: Bernie Truax IV

197 pounds: Aaron Brooks

285 pounds: Greg Kerkvliet