Penn State wrestling gets its 1,000th victory with win over Rutgers. Here are 5 takeaways

Just days after a historic night for Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson and his 200th career win with the Nittany Lions, the program made history with its 1,000th victory.

The win came Monday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center, where Penn State beat Rutgers, 35-3. It became the sixth wrestling program to mark the 1,000 wins milestone, joining Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Oregon State and Iowa State. The Golden Gophers accomplished the feat most recently in 2021.

“We’re very proud to be a part of this program, the tradition and more so just the people that have been involved in the program, former coaches and the alumni are the best of the best kind of people,” Sanderson said. “We’re happy to carry this flag here, but proud to be at Penn State, and happy to be at Penn State.”

The Nittany Lions pulled the victory off without Carter Starocci, and the Scarlet Knights were missing several starters of their own.

Here’s a look at five takeaways from the dual.

Barraclough could be starter anywhere

Every time Starocci has missed the lineup this year, Terrell Barraclough has filled in for him admirably.

Barraclough is now 2-1 in duals this year when filling in, as he pulled off a 4-3 upset win over No. 13 Jackson Turley. The junior gave up a takedown early in the first period, but escaped easily.

The second period saw Barraclough collect a reversal about midway through, and he rode out Turley for the remainder of the period. Barraclough used his tough riding to not allow Turley to escape in the third period, which allowed him to get a riding time point for the winning score.

“It was sweet. I’ve been bumping up a weight. I’m making close to (1)65 pretty much every time, and just to know that the guy thinks that he’s bigger, stronger and faster than me,” Barraclough said, “and beating him, it’s like, ‘Yeah, in your face.’”

The last time he was in the lineup was during the Michigan road trip at the end of January, when he had to take on the Wolverines’ Shane Griffith to open the trip. He suffered a 2-1 loss to Griffith, but nearly had an upset there. The junior followed that up with an 8-1 win over the Spartans’ DJ Shannon.

Barraclough is 12-2 on the season with the other loss coming to Mitchell Mesenbrink in the Black Knight Invitational at the end of November, 8-5.

“I just plan on wrestling no matter what. This is the place that I want to be. If you look at all the guys that are in our starting lineup, they’re national champ caliber,” Barraclough said. “I’m in there competing with the best of them. I know I’m ready whenever coach Cael needs me, and tonight was that night. I’m always ready to go no matter what.”

Is Nagao regressing?

Transfer Aaron Nagao was the lone Penn State wrestler to fall on Friday night.

It was his third loss in the last five matches he has wrestled. The more interesting aspect is that the 9-6 sudden-victory loss to No. 10 Dylan Shawver was Nagao’s third ranked loss.

All of the losses have come against top-15 opponents.

The first was Michigan’s Dylan Ragusin, who was No. 6 at the time, pinning Nagao in sudden victory on Jan. 19. The other was Ohio State’s Nic Bouzakis, who was No. 12, dominating Nagao in a 13-7 win on Feb. 2.

“He wrestled a tough opponent. He was in on the legs multiple times, so it’s just little tiny things. I have a lot of confidence in him,” Sanderson said. “When you have the character that he has, he’s going to just keep getting better. His best will be when it counts the most.”

Mixed emotions about Monday night wrestling

Wrestling fans are accustom to dual meets being on the weekend, with an occasional Thursday dual sprinkled in here and there.

But to have a match on a Monday is rare. And for Penn State to have it right after an emotional dual with Iowa, made things quite interesting.

“I got an exam on Thursday, so that put a little bit of stress on it,” Barraclough said with a laugh. “Now, I got to study.”

Sanderson acknowledged his appreciation for the 12,049 fans that made the trek to the BJC with an impending snow storm coming. He went on to say that it wasn’t the best situation since people would be having to travel, and be at work the next day.

“I think it was a little lower energy, especially coming off of some big duals, just a couple days ago and last week. That’s kind of why we were trying to come up with something that would be a little bit more exciting,” Sanderson said with a laugh. “So (we) did the throwback colors and all that kind of stuff.”

Cochran comes up BIG again for PSU

Lucas Cochran is listed at 197 pounds on the Nittany Lions’ roster.

He has filled in three times this year, but only one of those was at his listed weight. The sophomore dropped that match, 20-6, to Lehigh’s Michael Beard on Dec. 3.

The other times, Cochran has wrestled up at heavyweight and came out a winner, despite giving up 50-plus pounds. Monday saw him get the biggest win of his Penn State career when he topped No. 8 Yara Slavikouski, 7-3.

Cochran got the crowd to their feet when snapped off a first period takedown. He tacked another takedown on in the third period to the delight of the fans.

“I didn’t know I was going to wrestle until like halfway through the duel, but I was ready to go. I’m just feeling grateful to have the opportunity to wrestle,” Cochran said. “Moments like those, like coach Cael always says, come and go quickly, so just got to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Freshmen slowing down as postseason looms

Braeden Davis and Tyler Kasak have seen a lot of success as true freshmen, but as of last Friday, they each suffered a loss. It was Davis’ first loss of the season, and Kasak’s first loss to someone that isn’t a teammate.

On Monday night, they both got victories, but it wasn’t easy as it has been.

Davis need a takedown 19 seconds into sudden victory to earn a 4-1 win over No. 19 Dean Peterson. Kasak had a pair of first-period takedowns, but that was all his offense in a 7-5 win over No. 26 Michael Cetta.

Kasak was called for a pair of stalls in the third period, so he hung on for the win.

No. 1 Penn State 35, No. 14 Rutgers 3

Monday at University Park

125: No. 2 Braeden Davis, PSU, dec. No. 19 Dean Peterson, 4-1 (SV)

133: No. 10 Dylan Shawver, R, dec. No. 6 Aaron Nagao, 9-6 (SV)

141: No. 1 Beau Bartlett, PSU, dec. Max Hermes, 4-1

149: No. 10 Tyler Kasak, PSU, dec. No. 26 Michael Cetta, 7-5

157: No. 1 Levi Haines, PSU, pinned Dylan Weaver, 1:31

165: No. 7 Mitchell Mesenbrink, PSU, tech. fall Anthony White, 18-3 (6:56)

174: Terrell Barraclough, PSU, dec. No. 13 Jackson Turley, 4-3

184: No. 6 Bernie Truax, PSU, dec. Shane Cartagena-Walsh, 7-0

197: No. 1 Aaron Brooks, PSU, pinned Michael Toranzo, 1:55

285: Lucas Cochran, PSU, dec. No. 8 Yara Slavikouski, 7-3

Takedowns: R 4, PSU 15

Records: Rutgers (10-5, 3-4 Big Ten), Penn State (9-0, 6-0)

Next match: Nebraska at Penn State, 4 p.m. Sunday