Blue White Illustrated

A s Penn State's Nikita Pavlychev wound up for an uncontested slap shot, a puck with the power to send the Nittany Lions to their first Frozen Four rested at the tip of his skate. Penn State had fallen behind early against Denver, the NCAA tournament's No. 1 overall seed, but two consecutive Nittany Lion goals had tied the score in the second period. A third would swing the momentum and the score entirely in Penn State's favor. Instead, Pavlychev's shot was deflected by Denver goaltender Tanner Jaillet. The rebound caromed out toward the neutral zone, and the Pioneers scored on the counterattack to retake the lead, 3-2. The future national champions scored twice more before the period came to an end. Penn State's season was over, and the better team had won. But the Nittany Lions had witnessed firsthand what championship-caliber hockey looks like. Now, with expectations as high as ever at the outset of the 2017-18 season, Penn READY FOR MORE Ice hockey team aims to build on last year's success | Iowa state champ joins Penn State's Class of 2018 Penn State has added another highly touted wrestler to its Class of 2018. A three-time state champion from Fort Dodge, Iowa, Brody Teske an- nounced via Twitter in mid-October that he is set to continue his wrestling career at Penn State. He enters his sen- ior season at Fort Dodge with a 135-0 record. FloWrestling.org ranks Teske as the No. 6 120-pound wrestler in the United States. He projects as a 125- pounder at the NCAA level and chose Penn State over Iowa, Iowa State, Min- nesota and Northern Iowa. "I saw all the other schools and took uno9cial visits, but I went back to Penn State on the 8rst week I could take an o9cial," Teske told The Des Moines Register. "Once I stepped on campus, saw how they trained, and got around the guys, I fell in love. The time, the place, the money – everything was right. I'm ready to jump in and be a Nit- tany Lion." Penn State enters its 2017-18 season without a determined starter at 125, following the transfer of former blue- chip recruit Nick Suriano to Rutgers. With Teske set to join the Nittany Lions the following season, he 8gures to 8ll a need in the lineup. He joins one of the best recruiting classes of Cael Sanderson's coaching ca- reer. Sanderson has already secured ver- bal commitments from six other prospects who are considered by Flo to be among the top 35 prospects in the senior class. Also committed are Gavin Teasdale (from Pennsylvania; projects at 125-141), Roman Bravo-Young (Arizona; 133-141), Joe Lee (Indiana; 157-174), Travis Wittlake (Oregon; 184), Michael Beard (Pennsylvania; 197) and Seth Nevills (California; 285).–TIM OWEN VARSITY VIEWS LAST LINE OF DEFENSE Jones is back between the pipes for PSU after starting every game as a freshman. Photo by Mark Selders/ Penn State Athletics W R EST L I N G

• Cover