Blue White Illustrated

H e won't enroll for another three months, but four-star defensive end Ryan Buchholz has already proven to be the ideal Penn State football player. For those who have seen him play, it's his relentless motor, play in and play out, that commands attention. No matter how talented you may be, you don't total 28 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and 15 pass de- :ections if you're a lazy player. Buchholz's o;-the-9eld demeanor is also likely to resonate with Penn State fans. "My mom always tells me that people tell her I act a lot older than my age," he said. "I always appreciate people saying that. I actually think that really shows on the 9eld, too. I always just let my play do the talking. I'll never overreact, I'll never get a dumb penalty. If we're down, I'll say something to the guys, but I'm not much of a screamer. "I just let my play do the talking. I try to lead by example." Buchholz, of Malvern, Pa., has always been a good athlete. He's the youngest of three, and his older brothers, Carl, 23, and Erik, 22, are both former Division I athletes. Carl wrestled at Rutgers and Maryland and joined the Terrapin football team as a walk-on his senior year. Erik was an o;en- sive lineman for James Madison. Ryan played 9ve sports when he was younger: football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and wrestling. He enjoyed some early success on the mat, placing at the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Association's East- ern Nationals tournament throughout el- ementary and middle school. "I went there probably six or seven times," he said. "It was actually at Penn State, at least a couple years, so I got to go up there a few times. It's kind of fun looking back on that. I think the best I ever placed was fourth, something like that. I placed a couple times. I did a bunch of other tournaments, too. That was just the best one in the region." Once he was set to enroll at Great Valley High School, Buchholz and his family agreed that it was best to cut a few sports from his schedule. It was a tough decision, but he gave up wrestling to focus on foot- ball and basketball. In three seasons, he and his teammates went 62-18 on the hardwood, including a run to the PIAA Class AAAA quarter9nals one year. But it was always obvious that football would be his sport going forward. He made the starting lineup at Great Valley as a soph- omore and had 11 sacks as a junior. This past season, he 9nished with 10 sacks. In addition to all the local awards he won in his 9nal two seasons – including All-League and All-District honors – Buchholz received 9rst-team All-State recognition from mul- tiple media outlets following his senior year. He was also named the state's De- fensive Player of the Year by Pa.Preps.com. However, it wasn't until recently that he con9rmed his participation in one of his biggest honors yet. "I just spoke with the people from the Big 33 [at the end of February] and told them I'm going to do it, I'm going to play," he said. "The Big 33 is a great game. It comes right before we're all going to enroll at Penn State, so the timing is tough, but I had to do it. I always watched that game growing up." Buchholz, who stands 6-foot-6, 241 pounds, was a member of the Rivals250, coming in at No. 222 overall. In addition to his four-star rating, he was the 17th- ranked strongside defensive end and the 9

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