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mately be tasked with having to defeat the leg- endary Jordan Burroughs for a spot on the U.S. team, that could push Joseph to 174 and possibly open the door for Mason Manville or Joe Lee (Nick's brother) or Pipher at 165. Manville is an- other Lion who is eligible for an Olympic redshirt in the Greco-Roman style. Whether incoming re- cruit Carter Starocci could make the cut to 165 is unknown. 184 And while we're looking at a potential lineup shuffle, this weight class is not immune. The ob- vious choice may be for Shakur Rasheed to main- tain his starting spot here, but Sanderson will have to answer the question about whether incoming recruit Aaron Brooks is just too good to keep out of the lineup. Or, would Brooks be content to sit out another year and take the Olympic redshirt he qualified for because he's a Cadet world champ and Junior World runner-up? 197 Want more questions that won't be an- swered until November? If Brooks goes at 184, then Rasheed could bump up to the next-to-last weight class where he's wrestled before. If not, in- coming freshman Michael Beard could step in. And don't forget about Kyle Conel, the transfer from Kent State who placed third at NCAAs in 2018. He received a medical redshirt because of a shoulder injury and decided to use his sixth year at Penn State. The rehab process from shoulder surgery is typically difficult, and that's what Conel is doing. 285 Defending NCAA champ Anthony Cassar being granted at least one extra year of eligibility and heading to just under 250 pounds means that Seth Nevills will have to wait at least one more year before he sees action again. Penn State has been able to put a number of dependable heavyweights on the mat in recent seasons, but Cassar already is on track to be the best since Olympian Kerry McCoy. ■ Match vs. Buckeyes highlights home slate They'll have to wait a couple of months, but at least Penn State wrestling fans now can plan their favorite season. The Nittany Lions' schedule has been made public, and fans can see that eight of the team's 15 matches will be wrestled at home but most of the must-see matches this season are on the road. Penn State travels to Ari- zona State, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Lehigh and Min- neapolis (twice). The Lions wrestle at home just once in November – Nov. 10 against Navy – and once in December – Dec. 8 against Penn. A full month later, with no scheduled holiday tourna- ment in between, the Big Ten schedule begins with three consecutive home matches against Illinois (Jan. 10), Northwestern (Jan. 12) and Rutgers (Jan. 19). Then it's off to Nebraska and Iowa on back-to-back late-January weekends and a trek to Wis- consin and Minnesota on Feb. 7 and Feb. 9, respectively. The one that people will be waiting for is Feb. 15 against Ohio State at the Bryce Jordan Center. There is a men's bas- ketball game at noon against Northwestern that day, so a quick turnaround will be nec- essary in order to prepare the BJC's raised-mat stage and get ready for another almost- guaranteed sellout crowd. Penn State faced the Buck- eyes in 2016 at the BJC and won, 24-14. Two seasons ago, Ohio State coach Tom Ryan was upset that the Lions chose to hold the match in Rec Hall; that ended as a 19-18 thriller in Penn State's favor when Anthony Cassar upset Kollin Moore at 197 pounds, and heavyweight Nick Nevills hung on to lose by a regular decision to Olympic and NCAA champion Kyle Snyder. Cassar is now the defending NCAA heavyweight cham- pion and will return for an- other season with the Lions. The regular season con- cludes with a match against American on Feb. 15, marking the first time the Lions and Eagles from Washington, D.C., have met. Penn State will defend its Big Ten tournament title at Rutgers March 7-8 and will again head to Minneapolis for NCAAs, which are set for March 19-21. There, the Lions will look to win their ninth NCAA crown in the past 10 seasons. NOTES The match with Ari- zona State completes a home-and-home series that started last season. … The match with Lehigh will mark the 108th meeting between the Eastern rivals. … Penn State hasn't faced Navy since 2005. … The trip to the Army-West Point Invite will be the team's first. –J.C. T H E S C H E D U L E

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