Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528325
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 4 4 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska and Okla- homa State. MatScouts calls Forrest the No. 5 pound-for-pound wrestler in the country, while FloWrestling ranks him second at 132 pounds. Penn State also hosted two offi- cial visitors in mid-September. Tyler Dekraker of Blair (N.J.) Academy was on the sideline at Beaver Stadium with Sanderson. FloWrestling calls him the No. 9 high school wrestler at 132 pounds in the 2026 class. The junior has also visited Minnesota and Oklahoma. Florida junior Michael Mocco was also on hand. MatScouts calls the U17/ Cadet World champion the nation's No. 6 wrestler at 215 pounds. Five Lions Will Wrestle In All-Star Classic Five Penn State wrestlers will com- pete at next month's NWCA All-Star Classic exhibition event in State Col- lege. However, the Nittany Lions' de- fending 285-pound NCAA champion Greg Kerkvliet is no longer set to be in the event. The senior was slated to take on Ohio State's Nick Feldman in a bout between FloWrestling's top-ranked and No. 3 heavyweight. Iowa State broke the news when it tweeted that Yonger Bastida, who is ranked No. 6, would face Feldman in the event instead. No additional details were available from either Penn State or Flo, which organizes the event. But it will now be a situation in need of monitoring with the Lions sitting a month away from their regular-season opener with Drexel on Nov. 17 at Rec Hall. The other mem- bers of head coach Cael Sanderson's team slated to compete in the event are: No. 3 Beau Bartlett (facing No. 2 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State at 141 pounds — a rematch of the last season's national championship match won by Mendez); No. 2 Shayne Van Ness (facing No. 3 Ty Watters of West Virginia at 149); No. 4 Tyler Kasak (facing No. 5 Peyten Kellar of Ohio at 157); No. 2 Levi Haines (the national champ at 157 last year facing No. 3 Rocco Welsh of Ohio State at 174); and No. 1 Carter Starocci (facing No. 2 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa at 184 — a marquee matchup of national champs, Starocci four times at 174 and Keckeisen at 184 in 2024). The NWCA All-Star Classic is set for Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. ET. FloWres- tling will stream it to its subscribers.■ Date Opponent Time/TV Nov. 16 NWCA ALL-STAR CLASSIC 7 p.m. Nov. 17 DREXEL 1 p.m./B1G+ Nov. 24 Army Black Knight Invit'l* 10 a.m. Dec. 8 Lehigh** 2 p.m. Dec. 15 WYOMING 1 p.m./B1G+ Dec. 22 Binghamton^ 3 p.m. Arkansas-Little Rock^ 5 p.m. Missouri^ 7 p.m. Jan. 10 MICHIGAN STATE 8 p.m./BTN Jan. 17 at Nebraska 9 p.m./BTN Jan. 24 at Rutgers 8 p.m./BTN Jan. 31 IOWA^^ 7 p.m./BTN Date Opponent Time/TV Feb. 7 MICHIGAN^^ 6 p.m./BTN Feb. 9 MARYLAND 1 p.m./B1G+ Feb. 14 at Ohio State 7 p.m./BTN Feb. 16 at Illinois 2 p.m./B1G+ Feb. 21 AMERICAN 7 p.m./B1G+ Mar. 8-9 Big Ten Championships # Mar. 20-22 NCAA Championships ## * at West Point, N.Y.; ** at PPL Center, Allentown, Pa.; ^ Journeymen Duals at Nashville, Tenn.; ^^ at the Bryce Jordan Center; # at Evanston, Ill.; ## at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia 2024-25 Wrestling Schedule There was a lot to process when Penn State's full wrestling schedule was announced in September. A trip to Nashville, Tenn., for the Journeymen Du- als. Big Ten road duals against Nebraska and Ohio State, among others. Not one, but two matches in the Bryce Jordan Center. Here are our thoughts on the slate that Penn State will face during the upcoming regular season. 1. Penn State got its BJC picks right When the Nittany Lions' full schedule was unveiled, it was clear which two opponents warranted a change of venue. Those teams were Iowa and Michigan, and sure enough, Penn State moved both duals across campus to the Bryce Jordan Center. Listed second and fourth, respectively, in InterMat's preseason dual meet team rankings, the Hawkeyes and Wolverines are the best two opponents coming to State College this year. The Lions will welcome Iowa on Jan. 31 and Michigan on Feb. 7. Both matches will take place on Friday night. Some fans will surely wish the matches were on Saturday, but the timing is largely outside of Penn State's control, and this is a chance to see the Lions do battle with a couple of preseason top-five teams in the university's largest indoor venue. 2. There are only two double dual weekends On only two weekends during the regular season will Penn State face mul- tiple opponents. Both are in February. After wrestling Michigan at the BJC on Feb. 7, PSU will be back at Rec Hall to host Maryland on Sunday, Feb. 9. Then, the Lions face Ohio State in Columbus on Friday, Feb. 14, before heading to Champaign to take on Illinois on Sunday, Feb. 16. Most Big Ten schools have similar schedules with only two double dual weekends. But not all. Michigan State has four such weekends. The disparity probably has to do with venue availability. 3. Journeymen Duals are a highlight Penn State did not attend this event a year ago but decided to return in Dec- ember. We're glad that it did. Binghamton is unranked, and the Lions should romp in their tournament opener. After that, however, come more formidable tests against preseason No. 13 Missouri and No. 16 Arkansas-Little Rock. One of the most intriguing matches of the tournament will pit Missouri senior Keegan O'Toole against Penn State junior Levi Haines. O'Toole is Inter- Mat's No. 1 wrestler at 174 pounds, while Haines is ranked second. Haines is coming off a sophomore season in which he won the NCAA championship at 157. The Tigers also feature star senior Rocky Elam, who is listed fourth at 197, in addition to other ranked wrestlers. Little Rock has a couple of top-five wrestlers, too, in Nasir Bailey, No. 2 at 133 pounds, and Stephen Little, No. 5 at 197. — Greg Pickel Nittany Lions' Schedule Offers Numerous Highlights