- Mitchell Mesenbrink, a Penn State wrestler, was not heavily recruited out of high school and chose to attend California Baptist University.
- Mesenbrink quickly became a star at Penn State, winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and finishing second in the NCAA Championships.
- Now a favorite to win the national title, Mesenbrink credits Penn State’s coaching staff and practice partners for his continued success.
There was a time when the nation’s most relentless, fast-attacking, high-scoring wrestling machine was quietly trying to find his way far from home.
Mitchell Mesenbrink was a hard-working, late-rising wrestler who wanted to become an orthodontist one day. He was good enough to win Wisconsin state championships but not to win over the nation’s top college programs.
He certainly didn’t cut a dominating image back then − or, still, even now. Not with his glasses, mop of curly, brown hair and ordinary build. Not the 4.0 student who plays the piano, the guitar and sings when he has the time and place.
He‘s one of the national title favorites in this week’s NCAA Championships in Philadelphia
Yeah, he doesn’t look scary,” his mother, Bernadette Mesenbrink, said with a laugh.
Rather, he was another kid who loved Penn State wrestling, who could roll off the names of its national champion heroes he grew up watching, but wasn’t ready for it himself.
