Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink claims U23 world wrestling championships bronze medal

Penn State’s season-opening wrestling dual with Drexel is less than a month away, but the Nittany Lions’ Mitchell Mesenbrink got some international action in during the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania.

The redshirt sophomore upset a top seed on his way to a bronze medal finish at 74 kilograms on Saturday.

Mesenbrink began his day by racking up a 16-7 win over Iran’s Ali Abbas in his repechage opener. He then took on Bahrain’s Magomedrasul Asluev for the bronze medal.

The Nittany Lions wrestler came out firing several low single shots, but Asluev fought them off. Mesenbrink did tally a pushout point to lead 1-0 after one period.

In the second period, Mesenbrink collected a passivity point from Asluev, and then finished off two takedowns to earn the bronze medal with a 6-0 shutout.

Mesenbrink’s tournament started on Friday, where he made the quarterfinals after upsetting the No. 2 seed in Kazakhstan’s Murat Dzhakupov, 7-2, in the Round of 16. It was a match that the Nittany Lions wrestler, who was the No. 15 seed, trailed 2-1 after one period.

In the quarterfinals, Mesenbrink faced Japan’s Kota Takahashi, who was the eventual champion.

Takahashi recorded the first points with a takedown and leg-lace for back exposure. Mesenbrink responded with a takedown of his own, but was later hit with a penalty point for fleeing.

The pair traded takedowns before the period ended with Takahashi leading 7-4.

The second period saw Takahashi counter several of Mesenbrink’s takedown attempts early to extend his lead to 11-4. Mesenbrink recorded a takedown and back exposure late, but it wasn’t enough in the 11-8 loss, which sent him to the repechage after Takahashi made the finals.