more games and be able to text him and
tell him, 'This is what I thought. This is
what you can do.' But, right now, I know
that myself and the other guys here are
trying to give him and the rest of the guys
on the team as much as they can take."
For Frazier, a big part of that e=ort is to
encourage individuality. He knows he
stands where many college players strive
to be, but he wants them to ;nd their own
way to reach that pedestal. His message
to the team: "You should put yourself in
a position where you want to be better
than me, to where you don't have to go to
the D-League, to where you don't have to
do certain things, to where you don't have
to sit out a year with an Achilles injury.
Really, just live your life. Do your own
way and continue. Everybody has their
own path to their dreams, and I don't
want you to follow that. Don't try to fol-
low mine or anybody else's." ■
O
n Blue White Illustrated's message
board, it was a topic that sparked the
creation of at least nine threads with
2,560 replies and a total of more than
288,000 views. Some may regard it as
the biggest storyline of the college
wrestling o=-season – an o=-season in
which Cael Sanderson was briecially con;rmed the reports on Aug.
8 when it removed the Paramus, N.J.,
native from the o>cial roster.
"Nick Suriano recently requested a
release so that he could transfer to Rut-
gers," a Penn State spokesman said in a
written statement. "We granted this re-
lease. Subject to Big Ten policy, any
intra-conference transfer is required to
sit for one year before they are again el-
igible to participate. Nick is open to
transfer to Rutgers and will be subject to
that school's policies (conference or
otherwise) on transfer and eligibility
status. We support and work within the
Big Ten policy."
The latter portion of the release from
the PSU athletic communications de-
partment was in response to a report by
NJ.com that suggested Penn State was
blocking the request.
In accordance with conference rules,
Suriano would lose a year of competi-
tion by transferring to another Big Ten
school. The only way to bypass that eli-
gibility reduction is if both schools sign
a waiver, which Penn State has not been
willing to do.
As of mid-August, Suriano had yet to
publicly acknowledge his decision to
leave the defending NCAA champions.
Blue White Illustrated was unable to
reach him for comment.
As a true freshman in 2016-17, Suriano
started his career by winning 16 of his
;rst 17 matches. Then in Penn State's
Dual Championship Series match at
Oklahoma State in February, he rolled
his ankle. He defaulted that match due
to injury before forfeiting his ;rst bout
at Big Tens, which marked the second
and third losses on his record. He did
not compete at NCAAs, either, although
he wasn't o>cially ruled out of compe-
tition by Sanderson until the day before
the tournament began.
Without Suriano, Penn State has four
125-pounders on its roster in junior
Kenneth Yanovich, sophomore Patrick
Higgins and redshirt freshmen Devin
Schnupp and Justin Lopez.
■
Big Ten policy complicates
Suriano's attempt to transfer
|
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Page injures ankle
at USA Basketball camp
Penn State's outlook heading into the
upcoming season su=ered a potentially
serious blow when ;rst-team All-Big
Ten guard Teniya Page was injured dur-
ing an instrasquad scrimmage while
participating in a USA Basketball U-23
camp at Colorado Springs, Colo., earlier
this month.
Page's right ankle was injured in what
was described as a "fracture/disloca-
tion." The severity of the injury was not
known at press time.
"The statement issued by USA Bas-
ketball is the most up-to-date informa-
tion we have on her injury at this time,"
Penn State coach Coquese Washington
said. "Penn State Athletics and our
medical team are ready to support
Teniya through her diagnosis, treat-
ment and rehab, and we are con;dent
she will make a full recovery."
Page averaged 19.9 points per game
during her sophomore season, ranking
;?h in the Big Ten.
■
W R E S T L I N G
Hall claims second
Junior World crown
Penn State's Mark Hall rolled
through the ;eld at the Junior
World Championships in Tam-
pere, Finland, amassing a 5-0
record en route to the 74kg title.
Hall, an Apple Valley, Minn., na-
tive who will be a sophomore at
Penn State this coming season,
posted a 10-3 decision over
Muhammet Kucukyildirim of
Turkey in the semi;nals to earn a
spot in the 74kg ;nal. He then got
the fall over Isa Shapiev of Uzbek-
istan in only 42 seconds to win the
title Aug. 1. It was Hall's second
consecutive Junior World champi-
onship.
■
