Blue White Illustrated

W RESTLI NG PSU to face Iowa in nonconference dual Big Ten's fiercest rivals will meet in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in December | I t began with a simple tweet in the middle of the afternoon. Penn State coach Cael Sanderson is a Twitter regular. At 34 years old, he is active with the latest social media trends and he currently boasts more than 30,800 Twitter followers. When he's not promoting his beloved sport or tweeting motivational quotes, like "Winning lives on the other side of fear, he's revealing his comedic " side with random gems such as this: "Neosporin + duct tape = first aid kit. " But on Sept. 5., he used Twitter as a platform to set up the most intriguing dual meet of the Nittany Lions' 2013-14 campaign. Less than one week earlier, Penn State had released its schedule with one glaring omission: Iowa. Due to the Big Ten schedule rotation, the rival Hawkeyes were left off the conference slate for the first time since the 1981-82 season. So Sanderson and Iowa head coach Tom Brands took matters into their own hands – or onto their Twitter accounts. "There seems to be something BIG missing on our schedules this year, Sanderson " tweeted to Brands, who had just recently created a Twitter account. "I agree, Brands responded in what was " his first-ever tweet. "Let's do something about it." "Let's figure it out, replied Sanderson. " "Rec Hall?" Penn State visited Iowa last season. The meet drew 15,077 fans, but prior to that, Iowa visited University Park twice in a row, during the 2010-11 and the 2011-12 seasons. So Brands replied, "I'm thinking Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Remember you owe us two in a row?" "Fair enough, wrote Sanderson. "Can " you guarantee we get the tiny locker room with the pink walls?" In just a small series of lighthearted tweets, the two head coaches and Olympic gold medalists had all but scheduled a nonconference dual meet. The next day it was made official with a news release that stated the Nittany Lions will travel to Iowa on Dec. 21 for a 9 p.m. dual meet vs. the Hawkeyes. How times have changed. While the idea first started to gather public attention on the Internet, Sanderson and associate head coach Cody Sanderson had been working to schedule the dual meet since the spring, when they first learned that Iowa wouldn't be on the conference slate. "We need to wrestle Iowa," Sanderson said in May. "We're still trying to figure out a way to wrestle them. They're certainly not coming back here, so we're thinking that we'll go back there. That's by far the biggest dual in college wrestling. " Finally – on Twitter of all places – they were able to finalize a deal. Even if the Nittany Lions have to dress inside the infamous pink locker rooms inside Iowa's football stadium. "We can guarantee the pink locker rooms, Brands tweeted, "and a sold out " I arena." NOTEBOOK Lions returning to BJC for match vs. Pitt National champs David Taylor (165 pounds) and Ed Ruth (184) have just one more season in a Penn State singlet, so Cael Sanderson is urging everyone to come out to watch the dynamic duo before their careers come to an end. But how can you do that if tickets are hard to get? As was the case last season, Penn State season tickets are sold out, and there will only be a handful of standing-roomonly passes made available in October. So, to allow more fans to attend a match, the Nittany Lions will play host to instate rival Pittsburgh at 2 p.m. Dec. 8 inside the Bryce Jordan Center, whose capacity exceeds Rec Hall's by about 10,000 seats. "As far as guys who are just fun to watch wrestle, I think David and Ed are remarkable, Sanderson said. "We hear a " lot about the season tickets. It's hard to get into the matches, so we're going to get one match over at the BJC this year to let everybody come and see them." Sanderson had initially hoped the BJC match would be against Ohio State (Dec. 15) or Oklahoma State (Feb. 16), but the BJC is occupied by the men's and women's basketball teams on both of those weekends. The Pitt match will be the Lions' first in the Jordan Center since Feb. 8, 2005, when they lost to the Buckeyes, 21-17. In 1996, Penn State hosted Iowa for a dual meet in the BJC and attracted 11,275 fans, a dual meet record for the program. Oklahoma State set to visit Rec Hall They were the top two teams battling for the team title in Des Moines, Iowa, at the 2013 NCAA Championships, and they will likely be the two top teams at the '14 tournament, too. But first, Penn State and Oklahoma State will square off against each other in a dual meet at 2 p.m. Feb. 16 in Rec Hall. The two teams last wrestled in Rec Hall in 1996, a match that Oklahoma State easily won, 26-7. – T.O.

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