Penn State Wrestling: Is Brady Berge down to 157?

Taking a look at a possible shake up in the lineup for the No. 1 ranked Penn State Wrestling Team

Just as the headline of this article states, there could be a shake up in No. 1 Penn State Wrestling’s lineup.

Based on his absence from the lineup recently and some interesting quotes from Cael Sanderson, is Brady Berge making a drop from 165 down to his native weight of 157 heading into March and the Big Ten Wrestling Championships?

If this is the case then cue up the Mr. Burns “Excellent” gif.

Because the biggest question regarding this move is how it would impact the Nittany Lions’ squad heading into the most important stretch of the wrestling season. Here’s a hint: It would be quite substantial.

But before we dive into it there is some major news which just hit college wrestling in the last couple of days.

Following his car accident, which thankfully everyone ended up being okay, the reigning NCAA Champion at 197, A.J. Ferrari, announced he would be missing the remainder of the 2021-2022 wrestling season for Oklahoma State. And this is reflected in the latest rankings from InterMat as half of the Penn State wrestling lineup is now ranked No. 1 in the nation with Max Dean taking over the top seed at 197.

Look, for as much crap as I have given Ferrari in the past for his antics and his strange obsession with telling the world how much he deadlifts, college wrestling is objectively 100% better when he’s healthy and competing.

There is simply no denying this. He is immensely talented, his future is bright, and he brings a spotlight to the sport. So we all wish A.J. a speedy recover and we hope to see you benching VW cars very soon!

Where was I? Oh yeah, Brady Berge.

I dropped this nugget in my latest edition of the Big Ten Wrestling Power Rankings.

"Reporter: Cael you mentioned Brady was working on his weight. Is that a decent to 157 possibly? Or is that managing his weight at 165? Cael Sanderson: Yeah both. Both if that makes any sense. It doesn’t. Does it. *evil grin*"

Now, unless you speak “One of the World’s Greatest Wrestlers” language, then there’s no way this makes any sense.

But, hold on.

Maybe it does makes sense. If and only if Brady Berge is trying to shed some extra weight he gained from eating TurtleTown’s delicious homemade fudge while in South Dakota.

It’s also worth noting that WrestleStat is now listing Berge at 157.

Let’s take a look at how a Brady Berge move could impact No. 1 ranked Penn State Wrestling

Impact No. 1 – Creighton Edsell vs. Terrell Barraclough

If Berge drops down to 157 then this means he will supplant Terrell Barraclough. Which then means Creighton Edsell will take over 165 once again.

And if you remember, prior to Berge making his comeback, Edsell was a top 25 ranked grappler according to InterMat. And for good reason.

Creighton started off the season sporting a perfect 5-0 record and beat No. 24 Lucas Revano (Penn) in a thrilling 6-4 decision in sudden victory.

Unfortunately the good times came to and end when Edsell faced No. 12 Austin Yant (N. Iowa), No. 9 Julian Ramirez (Cornell), and No. 7 Anthony Valencia (ASU) in his next three matches. And while Edsell lost all three, he was competitive and they were all decision losses.

Creighton has since rattled off four more victories to bring his record to 9-3 on season.

You might be asking yourself “Hey Chris, that’s nice and all, but what does it have to do with Terrell Barraclough?”.

Great question.

Which brings me to my main point. Winning National Championships in college wrestling comes down to having as many wrestlers as possible qualify and having those wrestlers go as far as they can. Points from both the championship brackets and the consolation brackets are important.

And between Terrell Barraclough and Creigton Edsell it’s clear Edsell has the best shot to qualify for the NCAA’s. Obviously it would be a huge boost to the team if Edsell qualifies and wins a couple of matches versus getting a nothing burger at 157 if things stay the same.

Hey, this isn’t anything against Barraclough. He’s looked impressive this season but the dude just can’t seem to get over the hump in big matches. His time is coming but it’s probably not going to be this year.