Four more wrestlers with ties to Penn State clinch spot in Olympic Team Trials

Nate Cobler
·2 min read

Entering the final day of the US Senior Nationals, Penn State had five wrestlers with ties to the program looking to secure a spot in the Olympic Team Trials.

The Nittany Lions also had a current and two former wrestlers aiming to claim a title.

When everything was wrapped up on Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas, the three finalists lost, but four of those five wrestlers were able to clinch a spot in the Olympic Team Trials, which will take place April 19-20 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The four wrestlers to secure a spot were current wrestler Alex Facundo (74 kg), former wrestler Max Dean (86 kg) and future Penn Staters Luke Lilledahl (57) and Connor Mirasola (86).

Penn State’s Alex Facundo, seen here in a March photo, was taking an Olympic redshirt this season. He was able to secure a spot in the Olympic Team Trials on Sunday.
Penn State’s Alex Facundo, seen here in a March photo, was taking an Olympic redshirt this season. He was able to secure a spot in the Olympic Team Trials on Sunday.

Facundo and Dean were the highest finishers of the quartet.

Facundo opened the day with a 4-1 win over Tyler Berger to make the consolation finals, which secured his spot.

Facundo then took take care of Jarrett Jacques, 6-4, to finish third.

Dean received a forfeit to start the day from David McFadden, which gave him a spot. He got revenge in the consolation finals by topping Mirasola, 8-4. On Saturday, Mirasola sent Dean to the consolation bracket.

Mirasola used a 5-4 win over Evan Wick in the consolation semifinals to earn his spot in the Olympic Trials before falling to Dean.

Lilledahl was on the edge for his spot.

He suffered a 4-1 loss to Daniel DeShazer, which meant he had to win his next match to be able to advance. The high school senior responded by earning a 4-2 win over Josh Rodriguez, who was competing for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, for fifth.

Rodriguez was pinned by Liam Cronin in his first match of the day.

Penn State’s Beau Bartlett, seen here in a March photo, suffered a loss in the 65 kilograms finals of the Senior Nationals on Sunday.
Penn State’s Beau Bartlett, seen here in a March photo, suffered a loss in the 65 kilograms finals of the Senior Nationals on Sunday.

Those three finalists that suffered losses were Beau Bartlett (65 kg), Nico Megaludis (57) and Mark Hall (86), having secured their spots on Saturday.

Bartlett and Hall were unable to tally any points in their losses. Bartlett suffered an 8-0 loss to Andrew Alirez. Hall was shutout by Alex Dieringer, 6-0.

Megaludis took on Spencer Lee in the finals, where he suffered a 6-2 loss.

Terrell Barraclough (74 kg) needed just one win on Sunday to be able to wrestle inside the Bryce Jordan Center again. However, he suffered two losses to finish sixth.

Teammate Gary Steen was supposed to wrestle for seventh-place on Sunday, but his opponent, Brandon Courtney, forfeited, so Steen finished seventh.

Future Nittany Lions wrestler Joseph Sealey was wrestling for seventh, and was pinned by Joey LaVallee in 4:14.