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If Nevills' chin hadn't been tucked so low, ready to spring through Jensen's cra- dle attempt, you might have been able to see the wry grin growing at the corner of his mouth. This was a trap, a counter for a pin. "He let the guy cradle him, which is not usually a good game plan," Sanderson said. "But he kind of broke through, and that's something you see him do in here all the time [in practice] and he's pretty darn good at it. I think this was a great weekend for him. He beat two guys who have been in the mix and competitive for several years. We're happy with where he's at, and I think his confidence is continuing to grow." For Nevills, it's been a long time com- ing. He broke his foot as a true freshman while wrestling as an unattached redshirt at one of the country's most prestigious regular-season tournaments, the South- ern Scuffle. The injury occurred in early January, and Nevills was held out of ac- tion for the rest of the season. It wasn't until the following summer that he returned to the mat. He was start- ing to get his agility back – his footwork in low leg attacks is what sets Nevills apart from opponents – and was prepar- ing for his debut season in Rec Hall when he suffered another setback. Tearing a muscle in his upper body, Nevills was forced to miss another chunk of his young career while recovering. "You miss a lot of training, you don't wrestle as many matches as your peers, and it can work on your mind a little bit," Sanderson said. "He was behind a little bit trainingwise." But Nevills worked with the intention of eventually getting ahead. In mid-Febru- ary, more than a year after his last match, he made his debut in a Penn State singlet. He lost his first one, a 1-point defeat against nationally ranked Lehigh heavy- weight Max Wessell, but went on to win his next five at open tournaments in order to maximize his match count. He entered the Big Ten Champi- onships with an outside shot at qualify- ing for the NCAA tournament but dropped two of three and fell short. He's since acknowledged that, while he was medically recovered, he was still regen- erating his upper-body strength when he made his return last year. Now he's ready to roll. Winning his first 12 in a row as a soph- omore shows just how ready he is, and it might only be a preview. Sanderson said that the cradle lure he used against Jensen is one of many tricks that Nevills has up his sleeve. "He hasn't really opened up his offense the way he can, but he hasn't had to yet," Sanderson said. "He has some great at- tacks. He can hit low shots in both direc- tions, which not many kids at other weights can do, so I think his best wrestling is still ahead of him." Nevills concurs. He's feeling good again, and his battles against Cunningham, Sanderson and Varner in the wrestling room are only making him better. "There's no hesitancy or thought about, 'Hey, am I going to get hurt again?' " Nevills said. "When I'm wrestling out on the mat, I'm just really confident and have [faith that] my teammates' confi- dence in me [is growing]. … Mentally and emotionally, I'm just a lot more [pre- pared] to compete and ready to battle for however long it takes to go out there and do my best and make the Nittany Lion fan base proud, myself proud and my parents proud." ■ F or the first time in five seasons, Penn State didn't compete as a team at the Southern Scuffle in Janu- ary. But it still had a presence. Before the start of the tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn., a moment of silence was observed for former Nittany Lion wrestler James Vollrath, who died Dec. 16 after battling Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Vollrath spent five seasons with Penn State from 2009- 2014. He was a freshman when Cael Sanderson took over as coach in '09. Vollrath finished his career with a 72-24 record, competing primarily at 157 pounds and helping Penn State to four NCAA and Big Ten titles. Arguably the biggest of those 72 victories came at the Southern Scuf- fle in 2013. That's when Vollrath upset Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer, who would go on to win three NCAA championships. En route to a second-place finish that year, Vollrath beat Dieringer, 2-1, in the semifinals. The win helped Penn State win the tournament champi- onship by more than 20 points over the Cowboys. Dieringer finished his career last season as a Hodge Trophy winner. He lost to only two wrestlers over the course of his career, and Vollrath was one of them. A 2009 graduate of Council Rock South in Bucks County, Pa., Vollrath recorded more than 130 career wins in high school and finished as high as eighth place in the state tourna- ment. In college, he followed in the foot- steps of his father, Bill Vollrath, who wrestled for the Nittany Lions from 1974-78. In addition to his father, Vollrath is survived by his mother, Emilie, brothers Billy and Rob, and sisters Jeanine and Christie. The family hails from Richboro. Rob com- peted alongside his brother for the Nittany Lions for one season. Vollrath studied kinesiology at Penn State and had hoped to start a business in the fitness industry. His hobbies included golf, poker and out- door grilling. –T.O. Cancer claims former Lion Vollrath VOLLRATH

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