Blue White Illustrated

July 2016

Penn State Sports Magazine

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Penn State's rising sophomore who already has made an appearance in an NCAA 9nal. Hall won twice in the championship round, once by 10-0 technical fall. One of Hall's next stops is to join Nolf at Penn State, but it's not yet clear if there will be another landing spot in between. Hall's ambitions on the mat extend well past his goals within the NCAA's brackets. He also chose PSU in part to continue freestyle training with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and to work out with its growing number of Olympians. For Hall, the Olympics are a legitimate topic of conversation, as he's considered to be one of USA Wrestling's rising young stars. In fact, he is so good that it's unclear when he'll arrive on campus. As a member of the U.S. Junior World Team, the possibility remains that Hall will train at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., before arriving at PSU. There's also dis- cussion that he will be able to take a red- shirt, or even a grayshirt, while training freestyle in State College, Pa., with the NLWC. He would then compete interna- tionally for USAW. No matter when he straps up the PSU singlet, however, Hall told FloWrestling in May, "I'm exited for the future at Penn State. ... That is a testament to Coach Cael, Coach Casey [Cunningham and] our lineup at Penn State. We're excited for the future." Suriano has some tall aspirations of his own for the next stop on his wrestling jour- ney, and he's likely to wear a Penn State singlet before Hall does. While there's al- ready a logjam in the upper-middleweights, where Hall would factor in – and Manville for that matter – there's an immediate need for a lightweight on PSU's roster. Weighing 130 pounds this spring, Suriano is a candidate to 9ll either the 125- or 133- pound vacancies, but most likely 125. The original plan upon his verbal commitment was to go to 125 while former Illinois trans- fer Jered Cortez went to 133 for the 2016- 17 season. Manville is set to arrive on campus this summer with Suriano. Having most re- cently competed at 152 pounds, he's most likely to redshirt his 9rst year while con- tinuing his Greco-Roman and freestyle pursuits with the NLWC. He will also compete unattached folkstyle on the open tournament circuit. As has been the trend for Sanderson, another strong contingent of highly rated wrestlers is set to enter the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, but this year there seems to be more of an Olympic feel to three of the team's top signees. No matter how respected it is, though, wrestling media haven't been recognizing the class as the No. 1 in the country. That recognition instead goes to North Carolina State, a team that placed ninth at the na- tional tournament in Madison Square Gar- den in March. The Wolfpack signed 11 re- cruits, a few of whom are among the high- est rated in the country. They have a longer list of incoming freshmen than the Lions do. They might have the higher ranking, too, but it's unlikely that those inside the LWC are concerning themselves much with the rankings right now. They're more worried about the Olympics. ■ N E W C O M E R S O F I N F L U E N C E Nick Suriano WT 125/133 HOME Paramus, N.J. SCHOOL Bergen Catholic CONSIDERED Arizona State, Iowa, Ohio State, Nebraska HIGHLIGHTS Compiled a career record of 159-0... Was a four-time state champion... Had 69 pins, 21 technical falls and 33 major decisions in his career... Was taken down only once in four years... Was a four-time winner of Beast of the East... Ranked No. 7 overall by FloWrestling and No. 1 at 126 Luke Gardner WT 141/149 HOME Pottsville, Pa. SCHOOL Pottsville CONSIDERED Edinboro, Central Michigan HIGHLIGHTS Placed 9;h in PIAA Class AAA as a senior at 145... Finished second in District 11 ... Compiled a 43-6 record as a senior... Finished with 144 career victories Devin Schnupp 125 WT 125 HOME Lititz, Pa. SCHOOL Warwick CONSIDERED Lock Haven HIGHLIGHTS Was a two-time sixth-place winner, most recently at 113, in PIAA Class AAA... Finished junior and senior seasons with a combined 85-9 record... Holds school record for career victories and pins Mason Manville WT 149-165 HOME Socrum, Va. SCHOOL Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) HIGHLIGHTS Finished as prep national champion in 2016 for Wyoming Seminary and in '14 for Blair (N.J.) Academy... Ranked No. 11 overall by FloWrestling and No. 1 at 152 Mark Hall WT 165/174 HOME Davison, Mich. SCHOOL Apple Valley (Minn.) HIGHLIGHTS Won six Minnesota Class AAA state championships... Finished with career record of 278-4... Won 9nal 171 consecutive matches... Ranked No. 1 overall by FloWrestling and No. 1 at 170 pounds... Helped his team to six state champi- onships A.J. Nevills WT 197 HOME Clovis, Calif. SCHOOL Clovis HIGHLIGHTS Was a three-time California state medal winner and one-time cham- pion... Went 45-4 as a senior at 195... Compiled a 138-29 career record... Brother of current Penn State heavyweight Nick Nevills –T.O. R E C R U I T I N G B I O S

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