Penn State Wrestling is Well Represented at 2023 US Open

The 2023 US Open Wrestling Championships occur this week in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will feature plenty of both past and present Penn State wrestling team members. The men's freestyle portion of the tournament will take place on April 27th and 28th.&#xA0; You can watch or follow all the coverage on FloWrestling. rnrnThe US Open is a wrestling tournament consisting of the best American wrestlers. The winners of the tournament will move on to Final X in June where they will compete to determine who will represent the United States at the 2023 Senior World Championships. rnrnOf course, you cannot have a competition of the best American wrestlers without seeing plenty of familiar faces from the Penn State Wrestling room. I've counted seven current or former Penn State wrestlers competing in the senior men's freestyle . Let's take a look at the weight classes that involve a Nittany Lion so you know where to focus your attention.rnrn[nextslide teaser="Nick%20Lee%20%26%20Beau%20Bartlett" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_79325" align="aligncenter" width="590"] PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 3: Beau Bartlett of the Penn State Nittany Lions during a match at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania on December 3, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)[/caption]rnrn rnrnThe first weight class we'll look at is 65 kg . It consists of two wrestlers who wore Penn State Wrestling's blue singlet in college.rnrnFirst, we have Nick Lee, who is one of the favorites in the weight class. Lee wrestled at Penn State from 2018-2022 and was a 2-time National Champion. Since then, Lee has been focused on his freestyle career and has some very impressive victories under his belt. Lee is currently ranked 4th among American wrestlers in the weight class but does hold a victory over current #1 Yianni Diakomihalis.rnrnAdditionally, current Penn State Wrestler Beau Bartlett is also competing in the 65 kg weight class. Beau is coming off an impressive sophomore season where he finished third place at the NCAA Championships in March. It would take somewhat of a miracle run for Beau to win this thing, but hey, he went on a run during the NCAAs, so why not again?rnrn[nextslide teaser="Jason%20Nolf%20%26%20Vincenzo%20Joseph" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_81675" align="aligncenter" width="590"] PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 23: Jason Nolf of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates as he gets his hand raised after winning the 157 pound title during the championship finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 23, 2019 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)[/caption]rnrn rnrnNext up is 74 kg , where we also have 2 former Penn State Wrestlers battling it out. Jason Nolf, currently ranked as the #2 American in the weight class, is probably the favorite to win the US Open at 74 kg. Nolf wrestled at Penn State from 2015-2019 and was a 3-time NCAA Champion. Considering Nolf pinned the #3 wrestler in this class and his biggest competition at the US Open, I would say Nolf is a healthy favorite here.rnrnNolf will be joined in the weight class by his former teammate Vincenzo Joseph. Joseph was part of the Penn State Wrestling room from 2016-2020 and was a 2-time National Champion. Anyone who followed Vincenzo Joseph's college career knows to never count him out, even if he is an underdog. I think there is a good chance we see the two Nittany Lions square off in the finals for this weight class.rnrn[nextslide teaser="Carter%20Starocci" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_81573" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Penn State's Carter Starocci celebrates after his match at 174 pounds in the finals during the sixth session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Saturday, March 19, 2022, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich. 220319 Ncaa Session 6 Wr 060 Jpg[/caption]rnrnNext, we have 79 kg, where the Nittany Lions are represented by current wrestler and reigning 3-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci. Starocci is looking to continue the momentum from his 24-0 collegiate season.rnrnAs dominant as Starocci is in college, this won't be an easy task. 79 kg is arguably the deepest weight class of the tournament. Almost every wrestler competing has an impressive resume.rnrnStarocci came in third place last year at the world team trials after losing to Chance Marsteller. He will need to avenge that loss if he wants to win the US Open.rnrnIn college, Starocci hasn't been tested much. It will be a nice treat for Penn State fans to see him in a more competitive match to see what he can do when his back is against the wall. Starocci has been focused all year and knows that despite winning the NCAA Championship again, he has even more goals to achieve. Additionally, there have been rumblings over the past month about Starocci taking an Olympic Redshirt year. My guess is we'll know a lot more about that following the results of the US Open.rnrn[nextslide teaser="Aaron%20Brooks%20%26%20Mark%20Hall%20%26%20More" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_86365" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Penn State's Aaron Brooks reacts after scoring a fall at 184 pounds during the second session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Thursday, March 16, 2023, at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. 230316 Ncaa S2 Wr 047 Jpg[/caption]rnrn rnrnThe last weight class featuring athletes from the Penn State Wrestling room is 86 kg . This weight class gives us a pair of national champion Nittany Lions with Aaron Brooks and Mark Hall.rnrnAaron Brooks is a reigning 3-time NCAA Champion and looking to catapult that collegiate success to the next level. Brooks did not compete in freestyle last year, so it is a little unclear what to expect of him at this competition. Though as any Penn State Wrestling fan will tell you, Aaron Brooks is one of the best to represent our storied program and shouldn't be counted out against anyone.rnrnMark Hall wrestled for the Nittany Lions from 2017-2020, including a national championship in 2017. Since then, Hall has had some success at the freestyle level and is currently the third-ranked American in this weight class. I am hoping to see a Brooks versus Hall match.rnrnThe winner of this weight class would go on to face another Nittany Lion, Olympic gold medalist David Taylor, at Final X.rnrnAnd if the previously mentioned wrestlers weren't enough for you, you could also check out the Under-20 tournament which features three current Penn State Wrestlers.rnrnConnor Pierce will be competing at 70 kg and is a current freshman at Penn State. He was redshirted during the season and put up an 8-2 record. While freestyle and collegiate don't always translate, the US Open could give us a hint of what to expect in the future from the young Nittany Lion.rnrnJack Kelly will be competing at 86 kg and just finished his second year at Penn State as a redshirt freshman. At Penn State, Kelly is behind Starocci at 174lbs so we haven't seen too much from him yet. He has a 14-13 record in 2 seasons so far.rnrnThe newest member of the Penn State Wrestling Room, Mitchell Mesenbrink, will be competing at 74 kg . Mesenbrink just transferred to the Nittany Lions on Friday and already has a list of freestyle accolades under his belt.rnrnGood luck to all Penn Staters, past and present, this week in Vegas!rnrn[story_link_next description="Penn%20State%20Adds%20All-American%20Grad%20Transfer" url="https://victorybellrings.com/2023/04/20/penn-state-wrestling-adds-grad-transfer/" /]

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