Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1512721
4 6 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State added a new commitment in November to its 2024 recruiting class. The Nittany Lions welcomed another Pennsylvania stand- out to their already strong haul, with Ty Watson, three- time district champ and two- time PIAA placer from Penns Valley, committing to head coach Cael Sanderson's pro- gram on Nov. 9. A two-sport star, Watson is Centre County's all-time leading scorer in football, ac- cording to the Centre Daily Times, but he will stick to the mat at the next level. "It was between West Vir- ginia and Penn State," Watson told the newspaper. "It was an easy decision for me. I just felt like the place that I chose would be way better and an opportunity for me to succeed at the higher level. "I went down there [to West Virginia], and I really enjoyed it. It really reminded me of around here. It was mountains and lakes, where you could go fish and hunt. I really liked the coaches. "At Penn State, all of the guys were awesome. They showed me around. The coaches were really supportive and just talked me through everything." In other recruiting news, several fu- ture Nittany Lions made FloWrestling's pound-for-pound ranking of the best high school wrestlers in the country ahead of the 2023-24 prep season. Senior 182-pounder Zack Ryder of Minisink Valley, N.Y., leads the way at No. 2. Senior 126-pounder Luke Lille- dahl of Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pa., is No. 7. Junior 152-pounder PJ Duke, also from Minisink Valley, is No. 9. Wyoming Seminary 160-pound senior Joe Sealey is No. 14, while 132-pound senior Mason Gibson of Bishop McCort in Johnstown, Pa., checks in at No. 22. Senior brothers Connor (195 pounds) and Cole (220 pounds) Mirasola of West Bend (Wis.) West are No. 11 and No. 13, respectively, giving the Nittany Lions seven of the top 22 high school wrestlers in the nation. In addition, junior Dalton Perry of Central Mountain High in Mill Hall, Pa., is ranked No. 13 in the country in the 138-pound class. Alex Facundo Set To Redshirt Penn State made a major lineup de- cision before its first dual meet of the year, announcing that redshirt sopho- more Alex Facundo will take an Olympic redshirt this winter. That move means redshirt freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink will take over the 165-pound spot in the team's lineup in his first season since transferring from Cal Baptist. "I'm just ready to have fun," Mesenbrink said. "It's just go- ing to be great. It's fun that it's finally here, that the season's here. We train every single day. When you put in perspec- tive that one match is minus- cule compared to the amount of time we spend in the train- ing room, you realize that it's not as big as everybody cooks it up to be. But it is really fun." Mesenbrink took silver in the 70-kilogram weight class at the U20 World Champion- ships in 2022 and won gold at 74 kilograms at the same event in 2023. Lions Win Four Of Five At NWCA All-Star Classic Five Nittany Lions com- peted in the NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 21 at Rec Hall. The exhibition event did not count from a records perspective, but it will help shape both the in-season rankings and postseason seedings. Four Penn State wrestlers won their matches, all of them decisively. Second-ranked redshirt sophomore Shayne Van Ness beat No. 3 Kyle Parco of Arizona State, 5-1, at 149 pounds. At 174, to p - ra n ke d se n i o r C a r te r Starocci rolled to an 11-0 major deci- sion triumph over a familiar opponent in Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis. At 197 pounds, senior Aaron Brooks, who is No. 1 in his new weight class, beat No. 3 Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State 11-2. And, in the final bout of the night, top-ranked heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet smoked Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force by technical fall 18-2 in 4:48. The only Nittany Lion to lose was graduate Bernie Truax. The newcomer and No. 2 wrestler at 184 pounds fell Nittany Lions' Recruiting Efforts Continue To Yield Results G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Redshirt sophomore Alex Facundo will redshirt this season, opening up a spot in the starting lineup at 165 pounds for newcomer Mitchell Mesenbrink. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE