STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Beau Bartlett was determined to wrestle last season, even if it meant sacrificing size and strength at a less-than-ideal weight class.

After an up-and-down year that saw him wrestle week after week often against bigger and stronger foes at 149 so Penn State could plug returning champ Nick Lee in at 141, Bartlett has moved back to a more comfy 141 pounds. He’s expected to fill that spot when the Nittany Lions open the season against Lock Haven on Friday.

“He had to kind of work hard to keep his weight up, and he's strong enough and just good enough that he was competitive there,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “I mean, he was right in the mix, but I think he feels a little bit more comfortable at 41.” 

And Sanderson likes him there too as the Nittany Lions will be able to deploy coveted redshirt freshman Shayne Van Ness at 149. 

Bartlett, under a stack of black hair, was all smiles before Penn State’s practice on Monday. Why? That’s when the Nittany Lions typically go their hardest and that’s how the former four-time national prep champion prefers to train.

He couldn’t do that last year. For a middleweight trying to keep weight on, usual tools of the trade like jump ropes and running sneakers were prohibited for Bartlett. Big meals? No problem there. Anything to keep the added weight on for what was a brutal slate last season.

“If you do that you start losing weight, and you get small,” Bartlett said. “So I’m able to do the things I've done for 21 years, running, jumping rope, doing everything that I love to do, wrestling hard and at a natural weight, I feel great.”

Bartlett went 15-10 overall with a 1-2 finish at the NCAA tournament last season. Thirteen of his 25 regular season matches came against Top 20 opponents. At one point Bartlett battled three Top 10 opponents in a 10-day span — Iowa’s Max Murin, Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso and Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett. 

He lost those bouts, but kept all three opponents from scoring bonus points.

“That was exciting, no regrets for that,” Bartlett said. “I’m happy I went up instead of redshirting. Redshirting, I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity. Would have had to sit behind the scenes and watch everyone else wrestle.”

Bartlett said he’s checking in eight pounds lighter on average than what he walked around at last season and he’s got a green light to go hard in the room. When he does, he picks from a familiar cast of teammates.

Lee is still around as a member of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and Bartlett tries to wrestle him “once or twice a week”. Zain Retherford and Kyle Dake are also NLWC members and training partners.

After spending last season up a weight, Bartlett has spent most of the offseason developing his offense. Most of his bouts at 149 were spent wrestling from behind, trying to defend and keep matches close.

Bartlett realized quickly, there’s a caveat to that approach. A match spent defending can be draining in the worst way.

“You can't really win too many big matches when you force yourself to go into sudden victory or overtime or the last 10 seconds,” Bartlett said. “I’ve gotten enough overtime. It wasn't fun. That was just what happened. That's just how everything rolled out. But I don't want to do that. I want to be the most dominant wrestler in the NCAA and I can only get there by scoring the first takedown, the last takedown, turns on top, pinning guys, doing big moves and establishing that pace over and over.”

RBY’S Victory Lap 

Roman Bravo-Young has little to prove to the college wrestling world, but the super senior is still back for what will be his fifth year of eligibility.

His biggest fans might need to be patient, however. RBY will chase his third NCAA championship at 133 pounds but will likely sit out a few select matches along the way.

“If we can kind of sit him, we will definitely be looking to do that,” Sanderson said. “The plan is just kind of wrestle a handful of matches.”

New AD, New Home?

New Penn State athletic director Patrick Kraft began his tenure in July and didn’t wait long to voice his support for Sanderson and his staff and commit to improving Penn State’s aging facilities.

Kraft, who said Sanderson can stay at Penn State “as long as he wants”, noted that the school’s Olympic sport facilities are in need of improvement, noting the men’s and women’s soccer teams and wrestling specifically.

While Penn State will wrestle two duals at the 16,000-plus seat Bryce Jordan Center, the team still calls Rec Hall home. The 6,500-seat gym has character and charm, but it can’t hold the number of fans who want Penn State wrestling tickets nor does it accommodate many modern amenities. 

“I feel like we see things very, very similarly and it makes my job a lot easier,” Sanderson said. “And you know, we're competing, he's competing, right? He wants to be the best athletic department in the country and doesn’t see any reason why we can't. And I think that's awesome. It's inspiring.” 

Sanderson was signed to a contract extension earlier this year with terms unspecified. The university has only publicized the salaries of Kraft and head football coach James Franklin. 

“Olympic facility wise, we're behind,” Kraft said. “And so we've got to really pick that up. We've got to focus on that piece right now. We've got good bones, but some of the things I'm just not happy with where we are.”