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Penn State Wrestling: 5 reasons Nittany Lions are National Championship favorites

By Chris Snyder

ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 20: Cater Starocci of Penn State celebrates after beating Michael Kemerer of Iowa in the 174lb weight class in the first-place match during the NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championship at the Enterprise Center on March 20, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 20: Cater Starocci of Penn State celebrates after beating Michael Kemerer of Iowa in the 174lb weight class in the first-place match during the NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championship at the Enterprise Center on March 20, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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Penn State Wrestling
Beau Bartlett of the Penn State Nittany Lions (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

No. 3 – Beau Bartlett and the return of Brady Berge

If you followed Penn State Wrestling last season then you will know two things about Bartlett and Berge regarding the NCAA Championships.

Firstly, Beau had a difficult draw in the preceding Big Ten Championships and was unable to snag a seat at the table of wrestlers in the 149 NCAA Championships.

And Secondly, Berge’s NCAA Championship run was halted when he suffered an injury against Rider’s Jesse Dellavecchia. Following the NCAA’s, Berge subsequently announced his retirement from collegiate wrestling.

But then in early 2022 Berge unretired.

Now if we take a step back and look at these two and the impact they can potentially have on the team race come March, if might be significant. Especially when stacked up against their performances from last year’s NCAA Championship.

In Bartlett’s case, he’s rounded into a competitive grappler capable of beating some top wrestlers in the nation. On the year Beau has faced four top 25 wrestlers and he’s put together a respectable 2-2 record against them.

If he continues to wrestle tough, tight matches, he’s certain to pick up other ranked wins on the season. Which gives him an excellent chance to qualify for this year’s NCAA’s and earn some team points for the Nittany Lions.

As for Berge, I believe he came back because he has something to prove. As I’ve written on many occasions, Brady is as talented as anyone in the Penn State Wrestling room. And I mean anyone.

However the guy just can’t catch a break when it comes to injuries. Whether it was in high school, or competing on the world stage, or in the NCAA Championships. Freak injuries have sought him out at every turn.

But wouldn’t it be an awesome story if Berge came back for one final ride at Penn State and got crowned an All-American? I think so too.

So if the Nittany Lions can get more production from these two in this year’s NCAA Championships, then you can start to see how their path to the team title is becoming more and more clear.

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