Penn State Wrestling Fans!!!!!!!
Welcome back to the start of a new school year and what is going to be an exciting 2024-25 season. We had what some would call a fun filled summer and it continues for a couple more tournaments to wrap up the 2023-24 season and then the 2024-25 season begins. Every year things are going to be different and there is always going to be change but for us you march on towards what’s next and try to figure out how we can help the guys accomplish their goals.
After the NCAA season we hosted the Olympic Trials here at Penn State where we had 8 of the 12 finalist representing the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. In 3 weight classes we had guys wrestling each other to represent the USA at the Olympics. The ultimate goal is always to have an Olympian from our club at every weight class and we were really close to that. Roman Bravo Young made the Olympic team for Mexico at 57kg so we had 5 of the 6 weight classes covered in the Olympics. 3 of our 5 guys wrestled for medals and 2 of them were able to bring home Bronze medals. Kyle Dake brought home his second Olympic Bronze medal and in his first Senior level international tournament Aaron Brooks won an Olympic Bronze medal as well. Kyle Snyder fell just short of a medal taking 5th place. Zain Retherford was dealing with some health issues and was forced to pull out of the tournament after his first-round match and RBY gained some very valuable experience that will help him going forward. https://gopsusports.com/news/2024/04/20/three-olympians-and-a-trials-champion-for-nittany-lion-wrestling-and-the-penn-state-rtc-at-2024-olympic-team-trials
Upon conclusion of the Olympic Trials there were also some alumni/club members that decided to move on in their careers with the first of them being David Taylor as he accepted the job as Head Coach at OSU. Jimmy Kennedy, Thomas Gilman, and RBY (after the Olympics) all joined him at OSU as well. We are happy for all of them and their families, thank them for all they meant to Penn State, and wish them all the best going forward. We will miss having them here as they were a part of our family, but we are also really excited for them and this next chapter.
In July we had 3 guys compete in the U20 Pan Ams where all 3 (Zack Ryder, Luke Lilledahl, and Connor Mirasola) won their weight classes and Connor Mirasola was named outstanding wrestler of that tournament. Those 3 and Josh Barr also won the U20 World Team Trials, so they were able to compete in Spain this past week at the U20 World Championship. Team USA won the Team title and all 4 of our guys wrestled for a medal with 3 of them bringing home a World Medal. Luke Lilledahl-Gold, Zack Ryder-Silver, and Josh Barr-Silver. Connor Mirasola lost in the semifinal in a heartbreaking 5-5 match and then lost another tough one for Bronze so he ended up in 5th place. This was Luke’s second world title and the fourth year in a row he made the finals of the World Championships. This was Zack Ryders third straight World medal as he had been 3rd, 3rd, and now 2nd. This was Josh Barr’s first world championship, and he was able to bring home a Silver medal so all in all it was a great tournament for our young guys. https://gopsusports.com/news/2024/09/8/nittany-lion-wrestlers-bring-home-three-medals-from-u20-world-championships-in-spain
Next up we have 2 guys competing this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska in the Non-Olympic weight team trials. Levi Haines is competing at 79KG and Connor Mirasola is competing at 92KG this Friday and Saturday. It will be a fun weekend to watch Levi compete up a couple weights from last year and to watch Connor let it fly again this weekend.
In October we will have Mitchell Mesenbrink competing in the U23 World Championship at 74kg in Albania trying to bring home another World Medal. After the U23 World Championship the Non-Olympic weight World Championship will be held in the same spot so hopefully we will be there for a couple weeks. Mitchell and all the guys on the team have had a great summer of training and are all looking forward to competing soon.
In closing it has been an action-packed summer and we look forward to another action-packed college season. We are going to have a very fun team to watch, and we look forward to seeing the progress they made this off season. Our schedule should be released soon : ) so get ready to have some fun starting the weekend of November 15th in State College.
Thank you for all the continued support
GO LIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
