Penn State Wrestling Fans!!!!!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas to everyone as we wrap up the fall semester of classes and competition. The US open was this past weekend and that was the final competition for the fall semester. We competed in 2 tournaments, 2 dual meets, the All-Star Classic, and the US Open for some. It was a good first semester.
As usual we are looking for guys to continue to make progress each time they are able to get out and compete and so far that has been the case. As mentioned last year the NCAA rules now allow true freshmen to compete in 5 events and still be able to redshirt so we have been able to take most of our young guys to events this first semester with a lot of promising results. At the Journeyman event in Bethlehem, PA we had 20 guys competing and 11 of them went unbeaten. Several of those guys were freshmen or redshirt freshmen so that was exciting. Our next event was the Black Knight Invite and we had 17 guys competing with 5 of them winning titles. Because the All-Star event was a couple days later for 5 of our other starters, they did not compete in this event but rather went and competed in the All-Star match which was hosted in Rec Hall. Four of the five in the All-Star event won their matches and the other one learned some valuable lessons which will pay off later in the year. Unfortunately for Shayne VanNess it will be the last time we get to see him wrestle this year as he was injured shortly thereafter and will be out for the remainder of the year. Injuries always stink but they are part of sport, and we know how tough Shayne is so he will be back stronger than ever. After the two tournaments and the All-Star match we then started our dual meet season against a tough Lehigh team and a scrappy but banged up Hofstra team. We won 15 of 20 matches and were able to get some valuable experience for several new guys. Lastly, we had 1 starter and several others on the current roster compete in the US Open in Fort Worth, Texas. This event was 1 of the 3 final ways to qualify for the Olympic Trials. Top 5 from the US Open, the NCAA champion at each weight, and then the last chance qualifier after the NCAA tournament are the final ways to qualify for the Olympic Trials which take place at the Bryce Jordan Center in April. Beau Bartlett and Alex Facundo both qualified for the trials with a 2nd and 3rd place finish. Terrell Barraclough missed qualifying by 1 spot by taking 6th but had a great tournament and Gary Steen also placed 7th which is a great accomplishment. We had several of our incoming recruits compete as well with 2 of them qualifying for the Olympic Trials. We are excited about the future of all these guys.
We have finished up practice and competition now for the first semester and have sent the guys home for Christmas break. We encourage our guys over break to get workouts in obviously but to really spend time with their families and get recharged to finish strong as it goes fast. It will not be long and I will be sending out my post season recap as we are about 3 months away from this season being complete already. When we come back after Christmas we are in the heat of battle and it will continue right through the national tournament.
In closing, former Penn State wrestler Clay Steadman has been doing “Where Are They Now” podcast with Penn State wrestling alumni and those have been uploaded to the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club- Rokfin page for those that are interested. There are about 10 of them in there now for people to enjoy and that number will continue to grow. https://www.rokfin.com/NLWC
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and thank you for all the continued support.
GO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!
