The transfer portal continues to give wrestling fans the dose of excitement we all look forward to each off-season, and thus far, it has treated the Nittany Lions well. After landing Cal Poly's Bernie Truax earlier this week to fill the void of Max Dean, who graduated, Penn State added Cal Baptist's Mitchell Mesenbrink.
Mesenbrink announced his commitment to Penn State on Friday on a live stream, adding depth to the middle of the Nittany Lions lineup.
Mesenbrink only wrestled two collegiate matches this past year before moving back to his native Wisconsin. He then entered the transfer portal in March.
His arrival in State College will also be a nice addition to the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club room, as Mesenbrink won a silver medal at the U20 World Championships, losing his last match to Kanan Heybatov of Azerbaijan. However, his arrival on the World Team was awarded by beating 157-pound NCAA runner-up and now fellow Nittany Lion Levi Haines.
Mesenbrink will likely fill in at 165, where he wrestled this past season. This will give Penn State versatility to play around with 165, 174, 184, and 197, as the lineup seems somewhat fluid at this point. There has been talk of Aaron Brooks moving from 184 to 197, and Truax moving down to 184 from 197 as he was relatively light for the 197 class this past year, where he was an All-American. Meanwhile, Carter Starocci's future seems up in the air, as a Tweet from the 3x NCAA Champion just after the Finals in March seemed to indicate he was undecided between returning to the Lions for his potential fourth NCAA title, taking a redshirt to prepare for the Olympics, or transitioning to MMA, which has been in the plans for Carter.
Additionally, Alex Facundo was the Lions' 165-pounder this past year. After a disappointing end to the year, there could be some movement on where he fills in this upcoming season, although he will likely remain the starter at 165 moving forward.
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