Three with ties to Penn State wrestling secure Olympic Trials spots at US Senior Nationals

Nate Cobler
·5 min read

There were an estimated 20 wrestlers with ties to Penn State that were expected to compete in the US Senior Nationals, setting their sights on the Olympic Team Trials.

When wrestling got underway Saturday in Fort Worth, TX, there were 16 wrestlers competing.

And once the day came to an end, three of those wrestlers had secured a spot in the Olympic Team Trials, which will take place April 19-20 inside Penn State’s own Bryce Jordan Center. Five others need at least one more win to get there.

Beau Bartlett (65 kg), Nico Megaludis (57) and Mark Hall (86) were those three who secured their spots. Luke Lilledahl (57), Terrell Barraclough (74), Alex Facundo (74), Connor Mirasola (86) and Max Dean (86) are those wrestlers needing at least one more victory.

Bartlett, Barraclough and Facundo are current Penn State wrestlers while Megaludis, Hall and Dean are all former NCAA champs for the Nittany Lions. Lilledahl and Mirasola are future Penn Staters.

Penn State’s Beau Bartlett, pictured on Dec. 3, was able to secure an Olympic Team Trials spot by making the finals of his 65 kilogram class on Saturday at the US Senior Nationals.
Penn State’s Beau Bartlett, pictured on Dec. 3, was able to secure an Olympic Team Trials spot by making the finals of his 65 kilogram class on Saturday at the US Senior Nationals.

Bartlett, Megaludis and Hall will be the lone wrestlers looking to win the Senior Nationals on Sunday afternoon.

Bartlett opened his tournament with a 12-1 technical fall over Luke Pletcher. He then used back-to-back 5-5 wins to make the finals.

Bartlett topped Matthew Kolodzik in the quarterfinals, and Joey McKenna in the semifinals. He’ll take on Andrew Alirez.

Megaludis only had to wrestle two matches to make the finals. He shut out Liam Cronin, 7-0, in the quarterfinals. He then earned a 10-0 technical fall over Lilledahl. Megaludis now faces Spencer Lee.

Hall collected three wins en route to the finals. He had an injury default from Donovon Ball. Then, he edged Taylor Lujan, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Hall topped Mirasola, 9-2. He’ll face Alex Dieringer Sunday afternoon in the finals.

The highlight of the day was Mirasola topping Dean, 9-6, in the quarterfinals. The future Nittany Lion led 3-0 after one period as he took Dean down midway through, and picked up a push out point.

Dean took the lead on two takedowns and back exposure, 6-5, with 20 seconds left in the match. With 13 seconds left, Mirasola responded with a feet-to-back for the winning score.

Mirasola then dropped that match to Hall and was automatically in the consolation semifinals, where he’ll take on Evan Wick Sunday morning.

After the loss to Mirasola, Dean rebounded with a 7-0 win over Michael O’Malley. In the consolation quarterfinals, the former Penn State wrestler topped Lujan, 12-6. Dean faces David McFadden for a spot in the consolation finals on the line.

Penn State’s Terrell Barraclough (left), seen here in a December 2022 photo, is one of five wrestlers with ties to the Nittany Lions needing one more win to secure an Olympic Team Trials spot.
Penn State’s Terrell Barraclough (left), seen here in a December 2022 photo, is one of five wrestlers with ties to the Nittany Lions needing one more win to secure an Olympic Team Trials spot.

Barraclough and Facundo faced each other in the quarterfinals with Facundo coming out on top, 3-2. Facundo suffered a 6-0 loss to Alex Marinelli in the semifinals to be sent to the consolation semifinals, where he’ll face Tyler Berger.

Barraclough rebounded from the loss to top Yahya Thomas, 8-1. He then gave himself a chance at an Olympic Trials spot with a 3-2 defeat of Joey LaVallee. Barraclough faces Jarrett Jacques in the consolation semifinals.

The future Nittany Lion in Lilledahl made the semifinals with a 10-0 technical fall over Terrace Andrews. He followed that up with a 6-2 win over Brandon Courtney in the quarterfinals.

Lilledahl was sent to the consolation semifinals with the loss to Megaludis in the semifinals. The high school senior faces Daniel DeShazer for a spot in the consolation finals.

The others that competed were current Penn State wrestlers Ball (86, 1-2), Gary Steen (57 kg, 2-2), Timothy Levine (65, 2-2), Cael Nasdeo (57, 0-2, greyshirting), and Josh Barr (86, 3-2); former wrestler in Morgan McIntosh (86, 1-2); and future Nittany Lions in Joe Sealey (74, 2-2) and Cole Mirasola (97, 1-2).

Nittany Lion Wrestling Club connections

Outside of Dean, the NLWC had two other wrestlers competing in Josh Rodriguez (57 kg) and Aarif Asif (86).

Rodriguez gave himself a shot of securing an Olympics Trial spot by reaching the semifinals. He topped Lee Celestino with a 10-0 technical fall.

Rodriguez then topped DeShazer, 3-1, to make the semifinals, where he suffered a 12-1 technical fall loss to Lee. He’ll face Cronin for a spot in the consolation finals. If Rodriguez wins, he’s got himself an Olympic Trials spot. If he loses, he’ll have to win his next match, which would be the fifth-place bout.

Asif went 0-2, with one of the losses being a 10-0 technical fall to Barr.

Penns Valley native makes Olympic Trials

There was a local flair to the wrestlers competing on Saturday afternoon, too.

Michael Rogers, who competed during his freshman and part of his sophomore season for Penns Valley before transferring to Wyoming Seminary, took part in the Greco Roman portion of the Senior Nationals.

Rogers competed for the NLWC in the 130 kilogram weight class. He made the quarterfinals Friday afternoon, where he suffered a 9-1 loss to Adam Coon.

Rogers worked his way through the consolation bracket with an 8-0 win over Malcolm Allen. Then, he made the consolation semifinals with a 5-5 win over Kaleb Reeves.

Rogers suffered an 8-0 loss to Donny Longendyke in the consolation semifinals, and then got his Olympic Trials spot by receiving a forfeit from West Cathcart in the fifth-place match.