Penn State Sports Magazine
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4 8 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State's wrestling sea- son is officially underway, and head coach Cael Sand- erson has his team set to fight for another national title in ad- dition to individual ones. The Nittany Lions kicked things off at the Journeymen Duals opposite Sacred Heart and Oregon State before taking on Army Nov. 18 after BWI went to press. The rest of the 2021 portion of the slate includes a dual meet at Penn Dec. 3 and a visit from Lehigh Dec. 5, fol- lowed by a trip to the National Collegiate Duals in Niceville, Fla., Dec. 20-21. LINEUP BATTLES EXTEND INTO SEASON It's a rite of passage for Penn State to use early-season competition to figure out its starting lineup moving forward. Things are locked in at 133 (senior Ro- man Bravo-Young), 141 (super senior Nick Lee), 149 (sophomore Beau Bartlett), 174 (sophomore Carter Starocci), 184 (ju- nior Aaron Brooks) and 285 (sophomore Greg Kerkvliet). Elsewhere, however, there are questions to be answered. Sophomore Robbie Howard is sidelined at 125 due to offseason surgery, which means that sophomore Baylor Shunk and junior Brandon Meredith will battle for that spot. Shunk, who is from nearby Centre Hall, Pa., didn't compete last year. Meredith went 13-16 as a redshirt freshman in 2019-2020 but wrestled only once last year, dropping a major decision. At 157, the conventional wisdom has been that sophomore Joe Lee will claim the position after going 6-7 last season, but he's being pushed by sophomore Ter- rell Barraclough. Freshman Alex Facundo, a four-time Michigan state champion, is expected to win out at 165. Finally, 197 pounds is up in the air, with returning All-American Michael Beard and Cornell transfer Max Dean locking horns for the starting spot. Beard, a red- shirt sophomore, went 10-6 last year and placed seventh at NCAAs. Dean, a junior, didn't wrestle last winter due to the Ivy League's cancellation of athletic events. "Some of those weights, we'll kind of play with that as we go along," head coach Cael Sanderson said. "It's still November, obviously, and we've got a long but excit- ing season ahead. So, we'll work through the lineup issues as we go along here." RBY PREPARES FOR FINAL RIDE All four of Penn State's NCAA cham- pions are back from a season ago, and all but 141-pounder Nick Lee have at least one more year of eli- gibility available beyond the cur- rent season. That said, 133 Roman Bravo- Young told reporters in November he's not planning to use the extra season given to all athletes by the NCAA because of the pandemic. "I'm thinking this is my last year," said the Tucson, Ariz., na- tive. "We'll play by ear, though." NITTANY LIONS EXCITED FOR COLLEGIATE DUALS Numerous top teams are slated to participate in the National Collegiate Duals Dec. 20-21. A chance to see some unfamiliar faces is one of the reasons Penn State will be one of them. The schedule for the event has not yet been set, but over the course of at least three matches, the Lions are not ex- pected to face any of the teams they will meet later in the 2021-22 season. "I know we're going to wrestle some really marquee dual meets in Florida, and that's something that we're looking forward to," head coach Cael Sanderson said. "We try to get a big event that the student-athletes look forward to around Christmas, and this makes a lot of sense. We're excited to go give it a shot." NITTANY LIONS IN FLOWRESTLING'S POUND-FOR- POUND RANKINGS Nick Lee was rated the No. 4 over- all college grappler in the country by FloWrestling, and was followed by Aaron Brooks at No. 5, Roman Bravo- Young at No. 6 and Carter Starocci at No. 8. All four are returning national champions. Cornell transfer Max Dean, an NCAA finalist in 2019, was listed No. 20. Penn State's five in the pound-for- pound rankings led the country. Big Ten rivals Iowa and Michigan tied for second with three each. ■ Nittany Lions' Lineup Continues To Take Shape G R E G P I C K E L | GPIC92@GMAIL.COM An All-American last season, sophomore Greg Kerkvliet returns to give PSU some stability at the 285-pound class. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS 2021-22 SCHEDULE Date Opponent Result/Time (TV) Nov. 13 Oregon State* W, 47-3 Nov. 13 Sacred Heart* W, 32-7 Nov. 18 Army 7 p.m. (B1G+) Dec. 3 at Penn 7 p.m. Dec. 5 Lehigh 2 p.m. (B1G+) Dec. 20-21 Collegiate Wrestling Duals^ TBA Jan. 7 at Maryland 7 p.m. (B1G+) Jan. 9 Indiana TBA (BTN or B1G+) Jan. 16 Rutgers 5 p.m. (ESPN/2/U) Jan. 21 at Michigan 6 p.m. (BTN) Jan. 23 at Michigan State TBA (B1G+) Jan. 28 at Iowa 9 p.m. (BTN) Feb. 4 Ohio State# 7 p.m. (BTN) Feb. 6 Nebraska 12 p.m. (BTN) Feb. 20 Rider 2 p.m. (B1G+) Mar. 5-6 Big Ten Tournament TBA (BTN/B1G+) Mar. 17-19 NCAA Tournament TBA( ESPN/2/U) * Journeyman Duals at Manheim, Pa.; ^ at Niceville, Fla.; # at Bryce Jordan Center