Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1533674
APRIL 2025/VOL. 40, NO. 8 MANAGING EDITOR Matt Herb CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Stu Coman Cathy Jones Chris Riffer WEBSITE PUBLISHER Sean Fitz WEBSITE EDITOR Nate Bauer STAFF WRITER Greg Pickel RECRUITING REPORTER Ryan Snyder FOOTBALL ANALYST Thomas Frank Carr CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jim Carlson PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Althouse, Frank Hyatt, Steve Manuel, Mark Selders COVER PHOTO Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics DESIGN Jeanette Blankenship Chris Miller F F F PUBLISHER Mark Panus BUSINESS ANALYST Sarah Boone CIRCULATION MANAGER Tristin Shears ADVERTISING SALES Maria Taustine (502) 552-4390 CUSTOMER SERVICE Lauren Gordon, Cathy Jones (800) 421-7751 BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED (USPS 742-550) is published monthly, except June, by Coman Publishing Co., a division of On3 Media, Inc., located at 905 W. Main St., Suite 24F, Durham, NC 27701. A one-year (11 issues) subscription is $68.00. First-class, digital and foreign rates available on request. Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27701 and additional mailing offices. Printed by The Papers, Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Please send address correc- tions/changes to BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. For advertising or subscription information call 1-919-688-0218 or write BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. Site Lines C O M M E N T S F R O M T H E L I O N S D E N A T B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D . C O M W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ON PENN STATE'S PERFORMANCE AT THE NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS … What you are seeing with PSU wrestling is a run that hasn't been done in a long time, if ever. Ala- bama [football] is now having withdrawal [symp- toms] now that Nick Saban is gone. So, enjoy the run. PSU wrestling is awesome!!! — razpsu It's different being the hunted and not the hunter. The strategy other teams have taken against us is to lay back and make us initiate offense. If you look at the takedowns we do give up, almost all of them have been off of our shots, not theirs. Everybody has good defense and most guys can scramble. Your finishes have to be world- class. That's why Carter Starocci is so good. Watch his finishes. — grap54 The wrestling program has spoiled us as fans. We're now well into the realm of having very unrealistic expectations. The "scary" thing is, we know at some point this sort of dominance will end. Hopefully we won't see this for a good num- ber of years. — coastfan REASONS WHY PSU FOOTBALL FANS SHOULD FEEL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE 2025 SEASON … I don't think any team in the country has a bet- ter offensive line, running back, tight end combi- nation than we do. We should probably be north of 2,500 rushing yards in the regular season, and if our wide receivers play better than they did last year, our offense will be able to score on anyone. I'm not really worried that much about Drew Al- lar taking the next step as long as we have some production from the receiver corps. — CJPhilly I know Drew has areas he needs to continue to develop in, but to have an established, big-time quarter- back when you're pushing for another playoff run has to be near the top of the list. — JRPSU I'm looking forward to a more diversified passing game. As great as Tyler Warren was, our offense was easier to defend because he was the focus. Having more options will make our offense harder to defend and create more opportunities for big plays. — PhillipintheValley I am trying to relish the offensive line situation this year. The last time I think I actually felt psyched about our OL was the '08 group. — leftcoastlion In my 24 years of life, I've never felt like Penn State was as close to conquering the national landscape as we are right now and delivering a national championship. I feel like this team, even with flaws, can win a championship. — RD24 Everything except for the wide receivers and the depth on the [defensive] front seven. — doug21988 The whole she-bang. We have a good team that just had a lot of success. Two great coordinators. Good position coaches. Filled some gaps in the portal. Bring on the world! — DCPSU 4 A P R I L 2 0 2 5 Redshirt sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink was one of two Penn State wrestlers to win individual titles at the NCAA Tournament. Mesenbrink finished first at 165 pounds, while graduate Carter Starocci captured the 184-pound class. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS