Utah Valley?!? Yes, Penn State will head across the country to Salt Lake City to battle the Wolverines of Utah Valley Saturday night at 9:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. local time). It marks the final road dual of the year for Penn State with only a home dual with Pitt left on the regular season schedule.

It may sound like a strange team to schedule but it’s not. Penn State associate head coach Cody Sanderson started the Wolverine program back in 2003 and was the head coach for 3 seasons before joining brother Cael at Iowa State. Scheduling them was most likely a move by the coaching staff to help out a fledgling program. Unlike the world of football where schools never drop the sport, wrestling is always on the chopping block in administrators’ minds thanks to Title IX. There is no women’s wrestling program and wrestling teams don’t make any money so they often fall victim to budget cuts. A major wrestling program like Penn State can help out young programs by bringing them some national attention even if it’s in a small way. Every little bit helps the sport, so good for Penn State.

Match-ups, predictions, and more below.

Continue reading this post »

Thanks to a weekend sweep of No. 7 Nebraska on Friday night and Michigan at Rec Hall on Sunday, the Penn State Wrestling team earned the inaugural Big Ten regular season dual meet title. Unfortunately, thanks to a win over Nebraska Sunday, Minnesota earned a share of that title with Penn State. Both teams finished with identical 7-1 conference records. Penn State hammered Nebraska 31-6 and beat up Michigan with a similar 34-7 score. Penn State lost only 4 matches all weekend and owned a lopsided 49-13 advantage in takedowns. Penn State still has two duals left before the conference tournament in early March but both the Lions and the Gophers are done in conference.

Continue reading this post »

Penn State will travel to Nebraska tonight at 8 p.m. and then return home to Rec Hall to welcome the Michigan Wolverines Sunday at 2 p.m. Both teams are ranked - NU is 7^th and UM is 12^th - so it will be a tough test for the Lions. It’s a big weekend for PSU because these are the last two duals with Big Ten teams and, this season, the Big Ten is officially recognizing the regular season dual meet champion(s), in trophy form. If Penn State wins both duals they will be guaranteed at least a share of that sweet, sweet trophy. This post will also serve as the open thread for the match tonight; I’ll be posting updates throughout the Nebraska dual.

Continue reading this post »

The Big Ten Wrestling championships start in just over a monthbut Penn State is in peak form right now. A week after dismantling Iowa 22-12, the Lions beat Ohio State 34-9 winning 8 of the 10 bouts. It was thorough domination, in its eight victories, Penn State did not give up a single takedown. I predicted a 25-13 victory for Penn State and I thought that was being overly optimistic. The Lions were solid at almost every weight class (except for 133), even Bryan Pearsall wrestled well in his 9-5 loss to 6^th-ranked Hunter Stieber.

Continue reading this post »

After a tough match against a top-5 opponent in Iowa, Penn State welcomes another top-5 opponent in the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes to Rec Hall Sunday for a 2 p.m. Big Ten dual. Penn State and Ohio State are similar in that they both beat Iowa bad. Ohio State won 21-9 a week ago and Penn State won 22-12 last Sunday. Both teams have moved up, Penn State took Iowa’s No 2 ranking and OSU moves to 5. It will be a familiar opponent for Penn State because Ohio State matches up very similar to the way Iowa did. OSU’s meat & potatoes are in their lighter weights, although they are a little more evenly matched than Iowa was. Penn State could be in for a letdown after the emotional win last weekend, hopefully they are ready, the Buckeyes will be a tough test.

Continue reading this post »

Usually a chance to watch two of the Big Ten’s best go toe to toe makes for a fantastic afternoon. Don’t get me wrong, watching Penn State win 7 matches in a row and beat the 2nd ranked Hawkeyes 22-12 was pure delight, but it couldn’t make up for the news of Joe Paterno’s passing. Penn State has a lot of rabid wrestling fans that follow our beloved Nittany Lions through good times and bad but we all lost a true treasure Sunday morning. Before the match started, Rec Hall had a moment of silence for Paterno that ended in a long standing ovation, it was a small gesture but one that almost brought me to tears.

We will miss you Joe!

Details of the beat-down after the break…

Continue reading this post »

As Penn State football fans there are a select few teams that bring Nittany Nation together in unity rooting for a big win. Sure we want to win every game but there are certain teams you really, really hate to lose to and really love to beat. The Ohio States and Notre Dames of the world just bring on a whole new level of fandom and a whole new level of satisfaction when ‘we’ beat them. I’ve been watching Penn State football since the 80’s and my most memorable game was Ohio State in 2005. It was just special in so many ways and I’ll never forget it.

As Penn State Wrestling fans though, there’s one team and one team only that bring out the best in us, and that team is Iowa. For decades, they were the king of wrestling, they can’t build a trophy case large enough to hold all their national championships and I can’t even count the number of Big Ten championships they’ve had. Beating them is beating the best in the sport, heck you even love to hate their coach with his mat-side antics and referee intimidation that borders on insanity. Yes, Iowa ranked #2 coming into a packed Rec Hall is about as good as it gets for a dual meet and we'll be treated to just that 2PM on Sunday.

Continue reading this post »

Penn State took on two Big Ten teams on the road this weekend and destroyed both of them. The Lions beat Northwestern 38-3 Friday night and then shut out Wisconsin 43-0 Sunday afternoon. It was Penn State’s first dual shutout in their Big Ten history and the first time Wisconsin was shut out in over half a century. Penn State’s only loss on the weekend was a close 2-1 bout between Dylan Alton and #3 Jason Welsh of Northwestern. The numbers are just plain crazy, as a team, Penn State gave up just 6 takedowns combined, while amassing 53. The Nittany Lions had 4 pins, 3 tech falls, 3 major decisions and one bout end on injury default. Penn State combined for 24 bonus points.

Continue reading this post »