Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1480138
4 8 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M The Lions also added to their 2023 class in late September when Oradell, N.J., Bergen Catholic standout AJ Fric- chione picked Penn State. Fricchione wrestles at 215 in high school and placed third in the state tournament at that weight as a junior. He figures to slot in at either 197 or heavyweight once he makes it to college. Indiana, Virginia Tech, Oregon State and Navy were also considered. "Penn State has been my dream school growing up as a kid. My father and I would always watch all the great wrestlers who came through Penn State," Fricchione told BWI. "I always thought to myself, I hope that can be me one day. When I visited Penn State, something really stood out to me, and it was that every single person in that wrestling room had a smile on their face. "Everyone who is there loves to wres- tle. Those are the guys I want to surround myself with." DAVID TAYLOR LEADS PSU EFFORT AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Numerous former Nittany Lions who are now a part of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, which is arguably the most successful Olympic Regional Training Center in the country, had a big September in the freestyle division at the Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. David Taylor (86 kilograms) won his second world title by beating rival Has- san Yazdani Charati of Iran 7-1 in the much-anticipated final. Yazdani had defeated Taylor to win the 2021 world title and entered the match ranked as the No. 4 pound-for-pound wrestler in the world, with Taylor at No. 5. The pair switched positions in the post-World Championship rankings Taylor reached the gold medal match thanks to three consecutive victories by technical fall. Zain Retherford (70 kilograms — 154 pounds) steamrolled his way to the gold medal match but finished with silver after losing a 10-0 decision by technical supremacy to Japan's Taishi Narikuni. From the NLWC, Kyle Snyder (97 kilograms) won gold, Thomas Gilman (57 kilograms) took second, and Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (74 kilograms), who competed for Uzbekistan, was fifth. On a final NLWC note, four-time world champion Kyle Dake is join- ing the training center. The four-time NCAA champ at Cornell is leaving that school's RTC to come train with the Li- ons in State College. He competes in international freestyle at 74 kilograms. FUTURE LIONS DROP WHO'S NUMBER ONE MATCHES Two members of the Penn State class of 2023 and one in the class of 2024 com- peted at the prestigious Who's Number One event in September in Austin, Texas. The meet matches up top-ranked prep wrestlers in each weight class. Future Michigan Wolverine Beau Man- tanona pinned Lions pledge and Beth- lehem Catholic standout Tyler Kasak in the 145-pound match. Kasak entered the competition ranked No. 1 nationally at 145, with Mantanona No. 2. The pair changed places in the mid-September rankings. Three-time Michigan state champ Josh Barr dropped a 5-4 decision to Pennsylva- nia native and Ohio State commit Rocco Welsh at 170 pounds. Barr had defeated Welsh in the 170 finals at Freestyle Na- tionals in Fargo this summer. The pair also switched places in the rankings, with Barr falling to No. 2 na- tionally at 170 and Welsh taking the top spot. Zack Ryder, who committed to Penn State in September, fell to Brayden Thompson, an Oklahoma State 2023 commitment, 4-3, at 182 pounds. Thompson is tabbed No. 3 overall in FloWrestling's pound-for-pound high school rankings and No. 1 at 182 pounds. Ryder is No. 7 overall and No. 2 at 182. Barr was No. 9 and Kasak No. 22 in the pound- for-pound ratings. ■ Former Penn State national champion David Taylor c la i m ed h i s seco n d wo r ld t i t le by d efea t i n g r i va l Hassan Yazdani Charati of Iran 7-1 at the Senior World Championships in September in Belgrade, Serbia. PHOTO COURTESY UNITED WORLD WRESTLING Wrestling Notes • Redshirt freshman Alex Facundo dropped a 5-4 decision to Efran Elahi of Iran in his opening match at 74 kilograms (163 pounds) at the U20 World Championships in Bulgaria in mid August. Facundo was elimi- nated from the competition when Elahi lost his next match. • In FloWrestling's preseason NCAA rank- ings, four Nittany Lions are among the pound-for-pound top 10 college wrestlers — No. 3 fifth-year senior Roman Bravo-Young at 133 pounds, No. 4 redshirt junior Carter Starocci (174), No. 5 senior Aaron Brooks (184) and No. 8 senior Max Dean (197). All four won national titles last year. Penn State is ranked as the nation's top tournament team, followed by six Big Ten squads in the top 10: No. 2 Iowa, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 9 Minnesota and No. 10 Northwestern. • Starocci will represent the United States at the U23 World Championships in mid-Oc- tober in Spain at 79 kilograms (174 pounds). • Three Penn State wrestlers will par- ticipate at the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic, Nov. 22, in Austin Texas. Starocci will face Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech in a rematch of last year's 174-pound national championship match, won by the Nittany Lion in overtime. Brooks will take on third-place NCAA finisher Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa at 184 pounds; and All-America heavyweights Greg Kerkv- liet and Iowa's Tony Cassioppi will square off. Kerkvliet finished fourth and Cassioppi seventh at the 2022 NCAA Championships. — Greg Pickel