Is Beau Bartlett key piece to Penn State Wrestling’s championship run?

Looking at Penn State Wrestling’s Beau Bartlett and how he impacts the Nittany Lions championship chances this season

If you have had the chance to read any of our dual meet previews this season, you will know Penn State Wrestling’s Beau Bartlett has been a recurring contestant in my “Key Matches” segment.

Almost to the point it has become a running joke and people question when he is NOT included.

But make no mistake about it, even though Bartlett only sports a 10-6 record and has struggled against ranked foes this season, he is absolutely an integral part of Penn State Wrestling’s run to the ‘ship this season.

When the Nittany Lion faithful watched Iowa hoist the team trophy last year, I know exactly what they were thinking.

Yes, it was simply amazing watching Roman Bravo-Young, Nick Lee, Carter Starocci, and Aaron Brooks be crowned individual champions, but a “What could have been?” question still lingered. Iowa’s 129.0 team points compared to Penn State’s 113.5 team points could have been much closer, or possibly reversed.

Joe Lee had what I would term “a season to forget” last year as he was inconsistent in dual meets and threw up a giant goose egg in the NCAA Championships by promptly losing both of his matches.

The Nittany Lions also accumulated zero points at 149 as Beau Bartlett had a tough Big Ten Championships and was unable to qualify for the NCAA’s.

This year will be different though for a couple of reasons.

Yes, Bartlett does have six losses on the season but take a look at the individual results:

12/05/21 Manzona Bryant (Lehigh) 6-5 decision loss
12/20/21 No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) 11-3 major decision loss
01/16/22 No. 15 Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) 4-3 decision loss in TB-2
01/28/22 No. 10 Max Murin (Iowa) 4-1 decision loss
02/04/22 No. 2 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) 4-2 decision loss
02/06/22 No. 8 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 6-0 decision loss

Outside of getting crushed by Diakomihalis and Lovett pitching a shutout, Beau has been in every single match.

And let’s not forget Bartlett’s 3-1 sudden victory win over No. 9 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) back on December 21st. Beau can hang with the best and with this win he proved he can also beat the best.

Why Beau Bartlett could be driving force for Penn State Wrestling

So let’s steer this back to the NCAA’s, because Bartlett is going to qualify this year.

Penn State Wrestling’s title hopes all lay in the hands of Cael Sanderson and his immensely talented wrestling team. There’s no reason to think Brooks, Starocci, Lee, and RBY can’t do it again. There’s also no reason to think Max Dean, Greg Kerkvliet, Drew Hildebrandt, and Brady Berge can’t make deep runs.

But here’s the thing, while this year’s Nittany Lion squad is the odds-on favorite in the NCAA team battle, the difference is razor-thin. And if there happens to be an early upset or toss-up match which doesn’t go Penn State’s way, then it makes Bartlett’s results even more important.

Because he clearly has the talent to be in the top 10 in the nation.

Will the Penn State faithful finally see it?

And more importantly, will the Nittany Lions need a round of 16 run or possibly an All-American run by Bartlett to once again be crowned champions of the wrestling world?

I think they will, but we shall see …