In most sports, like football, a team must watch its opponent’s film to learn its tendencies or ticks.

Beau Bartlett and Penn State wrestling, though, don’t rely on film, even during stout schedule stretches.

“No scouting. I really am just doing my thing,” Bartlett said. “I do my best to separate myself as an athlete and as a fan because I love wrestling.”

Bartlett has been a staple member of the squad this year, protecting a 13-0 record and entering two weeks of ranked duals as the No. 2 141-pound wrestler in the country. He has beaten notable opponents like No. 17 Kal Miller of Maryland and No. 18 Cleveland Belton of Oregon State.

“I love watching wrestling and I want to watch all of my friends’ matches,” Barlett said. “I want to watch all of them. I know I have friends on every other team. At least I’m close with members on every single wrestling team, but that takes a lot of energy. It drains me emotionally and mentally. So I just take it one match at a time as a competitor…wrestle a ‘nameless, faceless’ person, whoever is in front of me. I’m just going to wrestle and wrestle as hard as I can, and then I’ll go watch videos and enjoy and watch my teammates.”

Bartlett is set to wrestle former Junior World Team teammate No. 3-ranked Jesse Mendez of Ohio State on Friday. Mendez holds a 19-1 record this season with significant wins over No. 6 Cael Happel of Northern Iowa and No. 7 Brock Hardy of Nebraska.

“In wrestling season, I don’t watch too much wrestling. It’s because then I start overthinking,” Bartlett said. “I just can’t watch wrestling right now.”

Ohio State wrestled Michigan this past week in one of the most exciting dual matches of the year, and the Buckeyes exited victorious 20-19 when No. 12 Nick Feldman beat No. 6 Lucas Davison in the final match of the night.

“I don’t usually watch a lot of competition, but that [Ohio State-Michigan dual] was on and I watched the match,” Sanderson said. “It was a great match… I think they’re familiar with our guys. We’re familiar with their guys… So it’s not really about last week as far as preparing because, again, we’re trying to prepare year-round for these opponents and big matchups like this.”

The top-ranked Nittany Lions will host No. 6 Ohio State at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, February 2, at Rec Hall. The dual will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.